THE A-TEAM (2010 - Cert 12A)

Another 80's throwback and another attempt at tapping into the nostalgia that we all feel for something we grew up with. From when I first heard that this was in production I was never for one second confident that it was going to be able to emulate the joy that I felt with Hannibal, Face, Murdoch and BA on Saturday afternoons, just like if they said they were going to make McGuyver or Airwolf into a film, if I want to revisit those days I may as well just buy the box set for next to nothing and chill out on the sofa. Why go to all the trouble of trying to get others to fill those well worn shoes and dart about in that familiar van?



Having now seen it (on TV as I was never excited enough to watch it at the Flicks) I was right in my assumption, it just didn't live up to or recreate that excitement I felt when I was younger. Whether that was due to my headstrong nostalgia or my unrealistic expectations doesn't really matter, it just didn't do the job.

That isn't to say that it isn't without any merit whatsoever though.

Rather than assume we all know what they are, the film is an origins story, telling us how The A-Team became soldiers of fortune, heroes in Iraq in covert operations, double-crossed and turned into fugitives fighting to clear their name. Hannibal (Liam Neeson), BA (Rampage Jackson), Face (Bradley Cooper) and Murdoch (Sharlto Copley) are introduced, no, thrown at us in an action sequence that transported me straight back in time, not to Saturday tea time, but to the 80's when action entertained, when it surprised and when it exhilarated. Nowadays we've seen everything, dinosaurs once impossible are now on BBC and ITV primetime, aliens destroying cities used to be made from tiny models, after Independence Day it can be done with a couple of clicks of a mouse (over-exageration I know, I'm not belittling the talent in CGI). It's hard to do something that we haven't seen before, but Joe Carnahan (Narc and Smokin' Aces), combines over the top action (helicopter looping the loop), humour (Bradley Cooper rolling down a hill entombed in a roll of tyres) and a touch of the familiar (the black van and 'I pity the fool' references) to get us on the edge of our seat. As an opening to the film, it really does work. It thrilled and amused in equal measure, and there is a definite joy in seeing Hannibal chomp down on a cigar and Face flash a smile at a woman. However, much in the same way that there is pleasure in eating Arctic Roll, it's short lived as you realise that taste is just a flash of the familiar and that you'd much rather be tucking into a Magnum double caramel or a cornetto enigma.

As the film progresses it all wears thin rather quickly. The nods to the TV series fade into inconsequence, the amusing quips from Murdoch become less frequent (and less funny), the humour and charm fade and all you are left with is action sequences (outrageously blasé action sequences) that are hurled at you by Carnahan. They are still enjoyable scenes but by the time we've seen a tank falling out of the sky on a parachute firing at fighter drones (halfway through the film) there is a feeling that we've peaked and it's gradually downhill from here.

There is a plot that thinks it's akin to the double crossing and second guessing of Bourne or the Craig-era Bond, but doesn't really make sense and lacks any real depth which means that not understanding doesn't really matter and you don't really give a hoot as to who the bad guy is. A love-story strand is introduced as well as a strange and worrying thread where BA finds peace with himself only to discover by the end that violence does indeed solve problems that feels sinister and off-tone with the rest of the film.

Essentially when the film reaches the second half, the action dries up and plot takes over (ineffectually) with (failed) attempts at characterisation, all coming together for a totally outrageous and overly unrealistic (yes, even compared to the tank bit) finale that tries to be a lot cleverer than it actually is. Despite 50% of the film falling away there are times when it does work. The main cast are all decent and entertaining enough, particularly Copley, and the first two or three set pieces make this the film that The Expendables desperately wanted, and ultimately failed, to be.

Just about worth a watch but you'd be better off watch any of the Die Hard films or any early Arnie to Sly films.