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.

DISTRICT 9 (2009)

James Cameron's Sanctum in 3D. The latest example of the recent trend in cinema-land of well known, successful directors having their names attached to projects where they seem only to really be producers or, at the most, some sort of advice hot line for the less celebrated film-makers that are given their big opportunity. Its clearly a marketing ploy and you can see the attraction for studios, it acts as a bit of an endorsement.


There haven't been many occasions where the film might actually be one made by the big name endorser. Perhaps The Orphanage ('presented' by Guillermo Del Toro), a Spanish chilling horror film that had all the hallmarks of a Del Toro film - an eerie and chilly atmosphere, some striking and at times terrifying imagery, but at the centre of it a touching and human story.


District 9 is another. It could easily be a Peter Jackson film. Anyone watching this and Bad Taste back to back will be forgiven for thinking that it was all put together by the same brain. It was conceived when Peter Jackson was due to be working with Neil Blomkamp on a adaptation of the video game Halo. With that film put on hold, they decided to make a feature length film based on Blompkamp's short film 'Alive in Joburg'. So it would appear that Jackson was involved in the film from an early stage and any accusations levied at the attachment of his name of a total marketing gimmick can be ruled out.





Again set in Johannesburg, it portrays Earth in the present day, when a giant UFO appears and breaks down above the city. Years later the aliens aboard the ship become aliens in the terrestrial sense - immigrants. Tensions rise between the humans and the aliens and the visitors are eventually housed in District 9, which is for all intents and purposes, a slum, a shanty town, on the outskirts of the city. The setting of South Africa and the division in society means that the political and social themes are not exactly subtle. They are set up very well though in a mockumentary style opening that grounds this very fantastical idea in reality. It jumps from the tragedy found in the poverty of the slums to the humour to be found in aliens mixing with humans - sort of Men In Black but more satirical.


Once the world is set up, we meet Wikus Van De Merwe (Sharlto Copley), working for the private security company tasked with relocating the aliens to Disctrict 10, 200km outside of Johannesburg. I'm not going to go into detail as to how the story plays out but his future becomes intwined with and dependant on the survival and freedom of the aliens, culminating in a wonderfully over the top all out action final act. This is when I think that Peter Jackson puts his stamp on proceedings. The alien weaponry cause all sorts of carnage (including a projectile pig. Yes that's right, a projectile pig) and the blood and guts spill, splash and coat the shanty town. The action manages to reach that boiling point of exhilaration and laugh out loud shock. Kick Ass did it and District 9 does it too. And then some. The girlfriend, a little on the squeamish side, spent much of this hidden behind a cushion. 


So there is a lot going on. Part mockumentary, part satire, part social commentary and then later an all out action science fiction film. It could easily all fall apart, but aside from the mockumentary format coming and going and at times not suiting the narrative, it rattles along at a healthy pace, keeping you entertained and never leaving you sure where it's about to take you. The real key to the film keeping me engaged was the central performance of Copley. Weedy loser at the start but going through a metamorphosis (in more ways than one) of desperation and resignation to ultimately become the hero of the piece. I was with him every step of the way, culminating in a very touching final shot. Its a great turn by an unknown and takes the film above what could quite easily (without Jackson and the money that comes with him) fall in to cult, straight-to-DVD territory, elevating to something much more than that. Hollywood has noticed with the role of Murdoch in A-Team and Men In Black 3 to follow. I've not seen the A-Team yet but I believe that Copley's talents, based on District 9, are greater than this type of film and he deserves a different type of role.  


District 9 is not exactly original though, the spaceship is very Independence Day, the action is like Bad Taste meets Starship Troopers and there are elements of The Fly , but Blomkamp (and Jackson I'm sure) take these influences and put them all together into a film that feels fresh, excites, touches and also asks the viewer to stop and think as well. 


Not quite classic Sci-Fi, but certainly knocking on the door.