The A-Team
If nothing else, Joe Carnahan’s globe-hopping action thriller based on the ’80s TV series made me wonder what a “Mission: Impossible” film directed by him would’ve looked like (he was once attached to “M:i-III”).
I don’t remember much from the show, but I do enjoy this movie. Yes, it’s too loud and too chaotic at times (too much “Smokin’ Aces,” not enough “Narc”), but the characters are fun, and the story, well, we don’t really get too many mindless summer movies like this anymore. I kind of miss it, especially when it’s done this well.
Our story starts in Mexico, with Col. “Hannibal” Smith (Liam Neeson) in the clutches of a corrupt Mexican general, his handsome second in command “Faceman” Peck (Bradley Cooper) is about to die at the hands of a jealous husband and mark, a fellow former Ranger B.A. Baracus (Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson) has just gotten his ride back after stealing cars for a local thug, and Murdock (Sharlto Copley) is, well, in the nut house. How they all come together for the first time is exciting in one of those pre-credits Bond sequence ways that is more fun to watch than to hear explained. All you need to know is that they become the go-to team of rangers for missions that are next to impossible. In the final days of the Iraq war, however, a job comes their way from a mysterious CIA agent named Lynch (Patrick Wilson) that gets them wrongfully imprisoned as traitors. For the rest of the film’s 2 hours, these four are crossing the globe, doing the impossible to clear their names, with a military officer (Jessica Biel) on their trail, but unsure of which side she’s on.
If the film sounds like April’s “The Losers,” well, it’s just bad timing that they were released around the same time. In the end, that film was better- the characters were more entertaining, and the action and story was easier to follow. Here, while the action is fun in that crazy action movie way, it’s pretty difficult to follow a train of thought through the haze of hastily-edited images on screen. As for the cast, the main four actors couldn’t be better cast- each inhabit the personalities and qualities of these characters perfectly (with Wilson providing a smart and enjoyable antagonist for them, although even he has his moments of “duh”-ness). Neeson hasn’t been this fun in a while, Cooper is all charm, Jackson is fantastic in Mr. T’s iconic role, and “District 9’s” Copley has Murdock’s near-insanity down cold. And Carnahan is clearly having a blast bringing this franchise (and all it’s silliness) onto the screen. Still, it all feels a little-too old-school ridiculous to be a memorable summer treat. You likely won’t remember it long after watching the theatre.
