Dvd review: The A Team

It’s the A team!

Adapting “the A Team” certainly it’s not an easy thing. “The A team” it’s one of those things that you remember fondly, and at the time it was an huge success, right into the zeitgeist,  but you don’t remember an episode or a story in particular, you remember the catchy music, the mottos “I love it when a plan comes together”, Mr T haircut. Mainly you remember the outstanding chemistry, the sense of pure fun that emanated from the screen but the stories, considered by themselves, where daft.

So in a sense this movie is a faithful adaptation, being the usual brainless blockbuster with a stupid plot. Jokes aside, the director, Joe Carnahan, who also took writing duties, clearly failed on both front here. He didn’t manage to create a reasonable and compelling plot for this remake and he also failed to deliver the same kind of over the top mindless fun that was the trademark of the original, apart from a tank scene that you can easily spot on the trailer.

The casting was smart and suited to the material. Liam Neeson, even on autopilot, is a perfectly acceptable Hannibal, Sharlto Copey of District 9 fame and Quinton Jackson, a Mixed Martial Artist, deliver the best bits and a sense of joyous fun while Bradley Cooper is still lacking in comic timing but at least is credible as Face.

One last gripe. As usual Hollywood saddles us with an origin story but why they did it here is really beyond my comprehension. We were perfectly fine with that little bit of voiceover with the original, we don’t need anything more than that so why do the whole movie around that “crime they didn’t commit”? Do they really think that today’s moviegoer will be lost if they don’t see it?

Overall this is a not very good movie that should have been left in development hell, easily skippable.