Movie Review: The A-Team. Turn off your brain and enjoy

The A-Team. Starring Liam Neeson as Hannibal, Bradley Cooper as Face, Sharlto Copley as Murdock and Quinton "Rampage" Jackson as B.A. Oh yeah, Jessica Biel, Patrick Wilson and others are in it too.

I just got back from The A-Team and I have to say, I really enjoyed myself. Now, don't get me wrong, this is a DUMB movie. This is not an academy award contender. This is not going to be the highlight of these actor's careers (well, maybe Rampage), but this is a whole lot of fun. Non-spoiler summation: If you want an enjoyable "popcorn" movie, go see The A-Team. Now I will go into a little more detail on the film and my thoughts. Again, I will try to avoid any important spoilers, but read the rest at your own risk.

The "plot" of the movie is that 4 Army Rangers band together to right a wrong. There. That's the plot. Sure, there is a little more meat to the movie, but that is what you really need to know about the story. Yes, there are details about how they all meet, who done them wrong, how they right said wrong and so forth, but really they are all rather superfluous to enjoying the film. If, like me, you were alive in the 80's you know what the A-Team was/is, even if you didn't enjoy it back then and it is still pretty much the same this time around. There is an older, white haired leader, a handsome con-artist, a crazy pilot and a huge bruiser with an odd haircut. The actors are different from the 80's, but the characters are basically the same. Everyone in the film does a pretty good job with their roles with 2 stand outs. One is Sharlto Copley. You may (and should) have seen him in District 9 as the nebbish Wikus who gets turned into an alien. He has the funnest of all the characters as the certifiable Murdock. He has the funniest lines and the least "drama" to his character. As this is only his second exposure to North American audiences, I think folks will like him. The other is Quinton Jackson. For those of you who do not know him, he is known as "Rampage" and is a Mixed Martial Arts fighter in the UFC. This is his first acting gig and I think he does a fine job. This role was initially done by Mr. T, who came from a background as a bouncer and fighter to become who he is today. I think Rampage could do the same thing if he chooses to stop pounding on people. The writers even throw him a little existential angst to show he is more than just 2 fists, and he handles it well.

So why is this movie dumb? Well, without spoiling anything and assuming you have seen the trailer or TV commercial, they fly a tank. Yes, fly a tank. And this is not the most unbelievable part of the movie. But you should NOT go into this thinking "Oh that could never happen" or "guns don't work that way" or "they'd never actually survive that" or whatever. That isn't the point. The point of this film is for the actors to have fun with the audience while you sit back in your seat, munch a fistful of popcorn and laugh at the screen and cheer for the good guys. And I think it does a pretty fine job of it. I recommend you see The A_Team, I just recommend you turn off your brain once the theater lights start to dim.