I am a quasi child of the 80’s, I was only 7 when we were out of the ‘me’ decade.  I do have fond memories of things from the 80’s, a lot of it were things I saw later in the 90’s.  This weekend seems like it should have a been a great weekend for me, a ‘Karate Kid’ and ‘A-Team’ movie premiered.  I was not.  ‘Karate Kid’ took a beloved, albeit cheesy, movie and made it into a serious movie and stripped out the story.  Fail.  It made a lot of money, but for god’s sake, it wasn’t even about karate.  The ‘A-Team’ on the other hand took the correct route.  They made a fun ass movie.

Be forewarned with this one, turn off your brain before entering the theater.  You have to accept a lot of things to make this work, for one the repeal of all laws of physics, but if you can do that you are in for a fun ride.  There are definitely a lot of times I want my action movies to think more, not in this case though.  I wanted a cheesy, funny trip down memory lane and that’s what I got.

The story kind of follows what story there was in the TV show.  A military unit, wrongfully accused, goes on the run and helps people.  That’s about it and for the most part that’s what you get here.  The movie follows the guys trying to clear their names and bring justice to those that set them up.  If you really think about it, the plot doesn’t make a lot of sense and there are huge plot-holes around.  Also, a lot of the action is filmed in ultra-close-up and shakey-cam.  Dammit filmmakers, stop doing that.  I want to see the bad ass action scene, not get motion sickness.

For the most part those are my main gripes.  Sure it’s stupid, but it’s my kind of stupid.  What really makes this work are the actors, which across the board are pretty good.  Hell even Jessica Biel did fine.  Patrick Wilson was great as the slimey Lynch from the CIA.  His scenes were constantly some of the funniest.  The main props go to the A-Team themselves.  Lliam Neeson is great as always as Hanibal, the man with the plan.  He didn’t do anything extremely special, but it worked because Neeson himself is so likable.  Bradley Cooper is great as always.  He fit the role really well and really took command of the movie at points.  Hell ‘Rampage’ Jackson as BA kind of worked.  He never had a ton to say, but he delivered them well enough.  He had some funny lines and carried off the physicality of the role.  Shartlo Copely as Murdock stole the show though.  I have loved this guy since ‘District 9′ and I am glad to see him getting some high-profile work.  He was continuously hilarious but never became annoying.  It’s hard to see him in the movie and not smile, the man has a gift.

All in all, if you like big dumb action movies, this will be right up your alley.  If you prefer a more thinking man’s approach, stay away, you just won’t get it.

Buy It

If you like these kinds of movies, go see it in the theater and make sure to pick it up when it makes it to DVD, this is one you can definitely re-watch.

See you on the other side – Derek