Caffeinated Clint
By Clint Morris
An explanation of ‘fun’, for the few gloom-doused naysayer’s that have never experienced it:
1. what provides amusement or enjoyment; specifically : playful often boisterous action or speech
2. a mood for finding or making amusement
3. a : amusement, enjoyment
b : derisive jest : sport, ridicule
4. violent or excited activity or argument
5. Joe Carnahan’s film version of popular ’80s series ”The A-Team”
“Be Patient”, I constantly tell my daughter, “and it’ll all work out”. And never has that saying been any truer than in regards to the taxing, long-gestating journey of The A-Team movie. It may have taken a dozen scripts, just as many attached directors, and a decade to find the right faces to bring those beloved characters back to life, but was all worth it. I love it when a movie comes together.
Not so much a ‘reinvention” of the series (you can’t reinvent something so beloved, you have to, painful as it may be, attempt to replicate it) as it is an ‘extension’ of it, ”The A-Team” has, above all, the fans interests at heart. And so it should, without their devotion and commitment to supporting five seasons (1983-1987) of the TV classic (created by ’80s staple, Stephen J.Cannell and Frank Lupo) then we’d never have met B.A, Faceman, Hannibal, or Murdock – let alone ever accepted calling someone a “fool” to be a perfectly good, and more so, passably cool, retort in an argument. And it’s Carnahan’s allegiance to the original series that’s one of the key reasons why this series-cum-film succeeds while so many others have failed.
”The A-Team”, though criticized at the time for promoting violence (what a load of rubbish – very rarely did anyone ever get killed, let alone get seriously injured, on the series), was a fun action/adventure series that – as the opening few minutes of each episode reminded us – chronicled the adventures of a fictional group of ex-United States Army Special Forces who work as soldiers of fortune while being on the run from the military after being branded as war criminals for a “crime they didn’t commit”.
The film is essentially the same bag – though, with its hefty budget (said to be in the vicinity of, well, a lot!), everything’s been, well, “biggened” – four innocent soldiers-of-fortune team up to not only clear their names but have a little fun in doing it – blowing up as much stuff and getting their giggles in outsmarting the bad guys.
Just as they did in the original, Col. John “Hannibal” Smith (Liam Neeson), Capt. H.M. “Howling Mad” Murdock (Sharlto Copley), Lt. Templeton “Faceman” Peck (Bradley Cooper) and Sgt. B.A. “Bad Attitude” Baracus flee prison (in a typically ingenious and traditionally ridiculous fashion) in an attempt to clear their names. Determined to capture the quartet for separate reasons are Capt. Carissa Sosa (Jessica Biel), who is merely doing her job, and the smarmy Colonel Lynch (Patrick Wilson), who only has his own interests at heart.
Whether it’s by sea, air (something flight-scarred ‘B.A’ doesn’t approve of) or land, ‘The A-Team’ must use both brains and brawn to keep one step ahead of those that either want to see them back in prison or, in the case of Lynch, permanently silenced.
Just as director Carnahan (”Smokin’ Aces”, ”Narc”) doesn’t try to do anything different than to make “a big-screen version of the TV series”, his cast, for all intents and purposes, are there to merely channel their precursors. And in this case, it works a treat.
Nobody wants to see the beloved foursome given a cinematic equivalent of a Rhytidectomy – they want them returned unharmed and untouched. They want to see the same faces (the costume and make-up department have the gang looking exactly the same as they did in the original series – right down to Liam Neeson’s dyed – or is it? – grey hair, B.A’s Mohawk, Murdock’s sloppy cap, and Faceman’s five-o-clock shadow and never-out-of-place hair) with the same mannerisms (Murdock’s as crazy as ever – he’s even got the ‘sock puppet’ that played a prominent role in the earlier seasons of the series), equipped with the same quips (Yep, B.A still sprouts “Fool” every few seconds; Hannibal still loves it “when a plan comes together”), getting about in the same vehicle (yep, the van makes a comeback – – just don’t grow too attached to it). And good on Carnahan for recognizing that.
The feature film versions of ”The Saint”, ”The Beverly Hillbillies” and ”Batman” wouldn’t have worked had those behind those respective features simply kept the look, feel and tone of the original series on which the three were based on. By the time those properties made their cinematic debut, they were extremely passe and clearly needed a revamp (even right down to the costumes – in Batman’s case, anyway). ”The A-Team” though, being that it’s central characters aren’t superheroes or secret agents but merely crafty fugitives, and remembering that the series wasn’t as much a product of any particular time or place, is a bit like a good bicycle – it still runs as good ever, just needs a bit of air pumped in its tires, which Carnahan and his team (which also includes prolific filmmaking brothers Ridley and Tony Scott, serving as producers) most certainly take care of before putting tube to tar.
As such, Liam Neeson is doing George Peppard doing ‘Hannibal’, Bradley Cooper is doing Dirk Benedict doing ‘Faceman’, Sharlto Copley is doing Dwight Schultz doing ‘Murdock’, and Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson is doing Mr T doing ‘B.A’ Baracus. They don’t really add anything to the characters, but they don’t really take away anything from them either. And it’s wonderful – like catching up with old friends. Sure, some of the actors seem better cast than others (Though I don’t doubt casting the part of Hannibal, particularly since he was played by the late great George Peppard, would’ve been difficult, I’m still not convinced Liam Neeson works), with Cooper and Jackson faring the best, but all-in-all, the four do a good job of mimicking their predecessors. And that’s all this calls for.
In addition, Patrick Wilson, playing against type (The ”Watchmen” and ”Lakeview Terrace” star usually plays the squeaky-clean good guy), makes for a wonderfully devilish and hilariously immature villain. And it’s always great to see veteran actor Gerald McRaney (”Simon & Simon”, ”Major Dad”), here suitably cast as Colonel Morrison, used to full effect. But hot young thing Jessica Biel, as expected, hasn’t so much been recruited for her acting talents as she has her fine legs.
The casting is crucial for a project like this, but equally so is the script – and if it had been shoddy, than not even the reanimated corpse of George Peppard, back to play Hannibal, couldn’t save the film. Audiences have great senses when it comes to Frankenstein-ien crafted film efforts these days, which is likely why writers Carnahan, Brian Bloom (who also has an acting role in the film, playing slick villain ‘Pike’) and Skip Woods (currently working on the next ”Die Hard” film) spent quite a bit of film perfecting it, before even check the classifieds for a used GMC Van. Their tale is tight, vibrant, expansive, spectacular (the action sequences in it are outstanding!), and, mostly, loyal. This is ”The A-Team”. No doubt about it.
I pity the fool that misses this must see flick – it’s better than the last Iron Man, James Bond and Die Hard combined!
Extras
Carnahan gives good commentary – and no exception here! In addition there’s a bunch of fun featurettes on : the visual effects, the characters, the action sequences and so on; deleted scenes; a mash-up montage featuring the A-Team tune (very cool!), and an amusing gag reel.
