The A-Team
PG-13, 99m., 2010
Cast: Liam Neeson, Bradley Cooper, Sharlto Copley, Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, Jessica Biel, Brian Bloom, and Patrick Wilson
Directed by Joe Carnahan
Screenplay Joe Carnahan, Brian Bloom, and Skip Woods based upon the 1980s TV show
 
The A-Team is a big, wild, and un-P.C. knuckle punch of a summer ride.
 
Based upon the campy 80s action TV series of the same name, a team of hot-doggin’-bruised forearm military men led by Hannibal Smith (Liam Neeson, at his stoic cigar chompin’ best). The men at his side are Templeton “Face” Peck (Bradley Cooper doing his smarmy and swaggered best), a sly Guido type, who is quick with his hands and mind, H.M.“Howlin’ Mad” Murdoch (Sharlto Copley of District 9 in a go for broke, zany performance), a brilliant but mad-capped pilot, and B.A. Baracus (UFC Fighter Quinton “Rampage” Jackson), a tightly wound pit bull with his signature “Pity” and “Fool” tattooed on his mammoth knuckles.
 
As the motley crew spans the globe, made apparent by title cards like “Somewhere in Mexico” to "Iraq War" to "West Banks of Germany," each man has his specialty and intro screen smashing sequence.
 
The assignment in the film is to retrieve special money engraving plates, which will lead the team to being double-crossed by a rouge black ops agent named Pike (Brian Bloom, also co-writer of the movie) and the CIA, lead by the fit and spray-tanned group of Patrick Wilson and Jessica Biel.
 
On a whole, the plot is just a macguffin for director Joe Carnahan and writer Bloom to relish in the dirt, blood, and sweat of these red-meat eating characters and the ongoing plot and battle sequences feel like an expensive afterthought.
 
One of the great surprises here is actor/co-writer Brian Bloom’s performance as Pike, at unknown screen actor who usually specializes in video game voiceovers. Here he shows real menacing talent with his steely blue eyes and deep-graded voice. A darkly comical scene involving him and a car full of dim witted CIA agents about the nature of killing a man with a silencer shows how he and director Carnahan like to focus on the little details of  action with character.
 
While there are plenty of big absurd action moments from exploding planes, cargo docks going up in flames, and a falling tank that defies the law of physics, the movie is also chock full of small surprises from a fireworks fight involving real fireworks to Murdoch’s cooking recipes involving gun powder and anti-freeze. At times it does get out of hand with a “How’s My Driving?” bummer stick on the free falling tank, yet what lies in the success of big obnoxious summer movies are those little attention to details.
 
With The A-Team, the mid-point in the summer of mercenary action team movies is here, from last month’s little seen The Losers to August’s grand opus The Expendables. It may not be an A kind of movie but with a B, The A-Team gets the job done, while well-peppered in gunpowder and sweat.
 
Grade: B

_{"Just sliding down a building with my feet. No big deal."}

Warning: If you thought the last trailer for The A-Team was ridiculous you better redefine your idea of the word. Otherwise this new trailer will boggle your sense of reason so completely that you may need to self inflict pain in order to keep a firm grasp on reality. Most of this is Rampage Jackson‘s doing.

Liam Neeson, Bradley Cooper, Sharlto Copley, and the aforementioned gravity-defying Jackson all look like badasses in the action-packed trailer, but I think it’s Patrick Wilson who really deserves a shoutout. Not only is he playing the villain, which we don’t see much from him, but there’s no indication that he’s in danger of losing his testicles in this movie. After Hard Candy and Barry Munday, Wilson must have wanted to branch out and take on one of those "non-castration" type of roles.

Check out The A Team trailer after the jump, if you’re capable of suspending your sense of disbelief.

The A-Team Trailer 2 – Watch more Movie Trailers

There’s a batch of new photos for The A-Team online. Here’s a list of things peculiar/wrong with the picture above:

1.) Rampage’s eyeline.

2.) Green-screen FAIL.

3.) Videogame tanks.

4.) This was filmed on the set of MacGruber.

5.) Rampage’s eyeline.

This does not bode well for Rampage’s acting skills. He can’t even look at the same sh*t everyone else is looking at. The craft services guy must be carrying around a tray of mini quiches.

(via Coming Soon)

CHECK OUT THE REST OF THE PICS AFTER THE JUMP.

A low-res trailer for Smokin’ Joe Carnahan‘s The A-Team has leaked online. All in all, it looks pretty fun and over the top. The action has been drastically updated since the 1980′s series. For instance, a tank fights a jet… thousands of feet above the ground. Take that Live Free or Die Hard!

It actually reminds me somewhat of the Charlie’s Angels movies except it won’t make you want to choke out Cameron Diaz. Which is no small feat.

Everyone in the cast looks good too, including Rampage Jackson. Check it out after the jump before it gets yanked.

A-Team Trailer – TheFilmStage.com from Clive Owen on Vimeo.

(via /Film) 

Typical "Entertainment Tonight" puff piece here, but something worth checking out at the 1:30 mark. Is it just us, or does District 9‘s Sharlto Copley, who’s been cast as Howlin’ Mad Murdock, look a whole helluvalot like Dirk Benedict’s version of Face from the original "A-Team" series?