Review of The A-Team (2010) by Halfwelshman — 21 Feb 2012

I never watched the TV series, so can't really comment on the film's faithfulness to it, but director Joe Carnahan has delivered a really entertaining action movie regardless. The new team are a pretty decent ensemble, composed of Liam Neeson doing his very best gravelly voice, Bradley Cooper being cool, Quinton "Rampage" Jackson looking formidably strong and Sharlto Copley acting full-on-bonkers.

It's not great character development, true, but it's an action movie, and each of the team do exactly what their role requires of them. Elsewhere, the cast are less solid, with Jessica Biel playing a wooden DCIS captain, Patrick Wilson playing a cartoony CIA agent, and Brian Bloom is a bland antagonist as the leader of a private security firm.

The A-Team offers much in its first half - it's fast-paced, action-packed, and most importantly of all, it doesn't take itself too seriously. The rest of the film is a little hit-and-miss, with a convoluted but dumb plot full of unnecessary and predictable plot twists, and the film as a whole probably runs a good half hour too long.

But if you're prepared to stop thinking for a couple of hours, then The A-Team can be really enjoyable - it's got enough action, explosions and buddy-comedy to be a cracking ride, despite it's gruelling run-time, stupid plotting and mixed quality cast.

It's unavoidably moronic, true, but it's also undeniably fun.