Big, brash and silly this is a great update of a classic bit of TV trash.
“He’s trying to fly that tank”
Remakes and updates are dangerous territory. There’s the risk of destroying fond memories or of throwing money at a project that simply doesn’t match up to the original. A-Team manages to be a great modern version of something which, when I went back to watch it recently, was really rather crap.
With the special effects being done by WETA and several other houses, you know this is going to be just chock full of graphics, stunts and over-the-top silliness. It certainly doesn’t disappoint. Any of you who care about the laws of physics would be well recommended to take a “suspend belief” pill before settling into your seat.
The film very much acts as a “how it all began” story, sticking fairly well to the original premise. One major difference, though, is that people do get shot and killed – something that never seemed to happen in the TV series. Hannibal (Liam Neeson) is the head honcho with all the ideas, Quinton Jackson is a huge, mohawked BA Baracus, Bradley Cooper woos the ladies as Faceman and Sharlto Copley is a suitably bonkers “howling mad” Murdock.
Jackson, in honesty, is a little clunky and hard to understand at the start of the film. I’m guessing he’s an ex-wrestler or something and making a break into films due to his bulk. The rest of the cast are pretty much spot on. The banter between them is also sharp and got quite a few laughs from the Vietnamese crowd (and myself).
For some reason it still felt a little over-long and segmented, but perhaps that was down to me being ridiculously tired when I watched it. It’s definitely over-the-top, has some utterly stupid stunts (even moreso than The Losers, which is saying something) and almost certainly will lead to a sequel.
Dare I hope for as good an update for Airwolf?
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But do they still use the same great theme music? I always thought that the A-Team was a take on Garrison’s Gorillas (sic) which itself was a Dirty Dozen for American primetime tv audiences. I’ll probably never know for sure as I don’t think any of the series survived.
The theme music does make an appearance, yes, with a full rendition during the closing credits – which I forgot to mention are followed by two scenes enjoyable by fans of the original series.