A-Team

REVIEW: The A-Team IMDB

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MOVIE INFO

• Producer -
• Director - Joe Carnahan
• Primary Actors:
  • Liam Neeson - Hannibal
  • Bradly Cooper - Face
  • Jessica Biel - Charisa Sosa
  • Quinton 'Rampage' Jackson - BA Baracus
  • Sharlto Copley - Murdock
  • Patrick Wilson - Lynch
  • Geral McRaney - General Morrison
  • Brian Bloom - Pike

INTRO STUFF

• CHUCK
  • Website, Bioshock 2...again, and a song performed my cousin
• MIKE
  • Vacation, Red Dead Redemption, Alan Wake

SYNOPSIS

• In a world, where reboots increase the campy factor by five, one group take cheesy source material and makes a credible franchise out of the ashes...

WALKING IN F&T (FEARS & THOUGHTS)

• CHUCK
  • It is going to be awesome...it was awesome
• MIKE
  • Cheesy fun, summer popcorn...nothing more...

FIRST ACT

• The A-Team getting to know each other? Interesting - made the story everyone's story since you were able to see them from the beginning.
  • jumps out in front of him in the desert? of all the places to not have visibility the desert is not one of them (this is certainly a movie that does not need very much thought...)

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  • The van!! with side pipes!
  • The introduction with murdoc - he lit Face's arm on fire with oxygen? - he smelled gasoline
  • smashing the van with a giant air conditioner
• I really liked how they brought everyone togehter for thieir first mission, but I did not know it was their first...or that Face and Hannibal knew each other...
• Mexican Karate-Guy...not something you generally think of...
• Hannibal uses a Mini14 from the back of the van...this was their hero rifle in the old series.
• Mexican General was the archetypical over-the-top villan from the old series.

• Graphics "Somewhere in Mexico..." and "Somewhere else in Mexico..." Loved it...

• Wow, how unpolitically correct!! loved it! They blow up the Mexican helicopter as it crosses the border!

...LATER SCENES

• In Iraq (successful withdraw)
  • they make fun of Blackwater
  • loved the comradery shown by their team these years later. Sosa shows up, talks to Face, Murdoc and Face start singing a guitar song together...loved it.
  • Sharlto gets to use his native accent at the news podium

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  • Face is recovering from some injuries...nice to see that these guys actually bleed and get hurt.
  • Semi was totally the truck out of the Road Warrior

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  • The mission to get the plates and the money
    • Loved the transition from planning to executing - a great way to not waste our time since it was a long movie
    • Loved the V-22 section, but they don't have guns mounted under the V-22...just a FLIR. (maybe it was an AV-22...lol) - pretty sure they didn't make the 'AV-22', even the Marine's MV-22 doesn't have guns on the front.. open the cargo door..then yes.

• Prison
  • Hannibal's escape
    • Cuban, what a shame!!! Showing his patriotism? (I think it was more a comment on a waste of a cigar, as he was going to "die" after lighting it...)

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  • Murdoc's escape
    • 'el diablo'
  • Murdoc flies the C-130 - "You're confusing, Basco and the buttons"
    • Flares were handles badly...you only usually use 2, but I get that they could only work once, according to the script.
  • "Predator" is controlled by humans, with a 10 second delay...no machine guns, and not capable of dogfighting

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  • Land the tank in the lake - the old couple arguing and the typical 'you and your nagging' that rings through all cultures.
• Steal the plates mission
  • Why didn't Hannibal just shoot Pike in the head...Pike turns out to be a psychopath (yeah, start of the bad was right there...already hit him with an S-Class - which would really hurt...)

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  • Why didn't BA just shoot Pike with another granade as Pike was shooting at Hannibal? (because he was a kinder, gentler, BA...) - it was a kinder gentler gas granade...
  • Pike was both compotnet, smart, and was actually RELOADING...

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  • Aftermath: the reval of the general...forshadowed way too much, I figured it out a minute before the he was unmasked...
  • AC-130 attack, loved the CoD reference there (Death from Above) but those things engage from at least 10,000 feet, would not have been able to low-level strafe a target, but I understand we had to see the attack coming...(yeah, I figured it was another Predator at first flying in by their laptops pictures)

• Entering the country
  • Swapped passports - he spoke Swahili, awesome!
  • The giant amphibious airplane - flashbacks to Golden Monkey (I was thinking the original Raiders of the Lost Ark)
  • Their plane hooks up with a cruiseship, which magically turns into a freighter...

• The pier mission
  • Kind of goofy having BA dodge giant falling shipping containers
  • Made Pike to seem like an evil mastermind - he knew what they were doing "it is a diversion" then he goes psychopathic and shoots the snipers to take their guns. "IT'S A TRAP"

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  • I wish they would have just used miniatures for the containers falling, the CGI was pretty darned bad...
  • What was up with Face making the plan, was that something that Bradley Cooper had negotiated into his contract for more screen time???
  • Who thing was pretty by-the-numbers, almost a bit on the boring side...I just wanted to get to the end, see what the reveal of the plan was...

RANDOM THOUGHTS

• Bad guys - not an evil mega corp...nice, but the CIA didn't seem to have any fans in the script room.....Mr. Lynch and Mr. Lynch
• Dived into philosophy a bit, interesting. Those type of ventures can usually turn out very sloppy and seems dangerous, especially for the 'A-Team'. (I would call it pop-philosophy at best)
• No cameos...I liked that...would love to see the surviving members again, but it really would have taken from the film...
• Flashback involving the Face-Phone was unnecessary, we remember the ringtone and all...stop talking down to us...

...THE ACTORS

• Actors:
  • Liam Neeson - Hannibal
    • Great job - almost felt a few scenes like he was going to pull out a light saber
    • Bruce Willis was rumored to play the role - I am a huge Bruce Willis fan, but I don't think he would have made a good Hannibal...no hair!!
    • Brought a level of seriousness to the project...less of a caricature than the others...

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  • Bradly Cooper - Face
    • Great actor - played the part well
    • Any excuse they could get for him NOT to be wearing a shirt...

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  • Jessica Biel - Charisa Sosa
    • Didn't know it was Jessica Biel
    • I did, Scarlet Johnassen last week, now her...
    • What was her sidearm, that was cool...

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  • Quinton 'Rampage' Jackson - BA Baracus
    • Absolutely loved the crushing body throw in the end
    • Looked a little uncomfortable behind the camera a few scenes
    • Wish he had been a little more 'Mr T.' in his acting
    • He got the shaft in terms of character development from the script

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  • Sharlto Copley - Murdock
    • He is the next 'Gary Oldman' - he is the man!
    • Woody Harelson was rumored for the role - he is crazy enough to do the role, but Sharlto Colpey is the man.
    • I agree, I was a little worried about how he would handle a much-beloved character (or was it just Dwight Schultz).

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  • Patrick Wilson - Lynch
    • Great casting, loved his mannerisms for the character
  • Geral McRaney - General Morrison
    • Major Dad!! He'll never shake Major Dad from my memory.
    • He will always be one of the Simon brothers to me...

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  • Brian Bloom - Pike
    • Was he wearing make up or was it just me? Everyone always wears makeup in movies...lol...
    • He was correct, it was a suppressor (not a silencer) and it is attached counter-clockwise...

QUESTIONS:

• What was the song that played on Face's phone given to Sosa? (Can't Buy A Thrill by Steely Dan)

• I guess BA reinlisted after that initial mission? (yes, Hannibal told him so in the van after they first meet...)

THE MACGUFFIN:

• The plates to manufacture money (always a great MacGuffin, as you never have to worry about a dollar value that may seem really low in a few years, or too much to realistically transport...)

Sponsorships

• Budweiser (can they sponsor us???)

• Lamborgini - not so much of a sponsorship as a super sweet Lambo

Quote of the movie

• "Overkill is underrated" by Hannibal

CLOSING THOUGHTS
CHUCK Rating: 4.0

• Positives
  • Great action, great sequences, and just a fun, fun movie!
• Negatives
  • BA seemed to come up short for the role, but it could have been because everyone else was so well suited for their roles.

MIKE Rating: 3.5

• Positives
  • Nice reboot of the series...actually tells us something that we had not already seen in the series..kind of a "prequel-reboot"
  • Good Performances all-around

• Negatives
  • Poor third act, more of the same...like we were even wondering who the "general" was...