The A-team - Better than most people expected

The big screen adaptation of the eighties TV show ‘The A-team’ feels like it’s been in production ever since the series started.  Every big name actor in the business seems to have been linked to one of the four central parts at some stage.  So, when the casting was finally settled, it was never destined to please everyone.  However, I think they did a pretty good job.

You don’t need to know much about the TV series to watch the film.  It’s all explained as if it’s new.  A group of elite U.S. soldiers are framed for a crime they did not commit and are forced to go on the run in order to prove their innocence.  All four cast members do pretty good jobs at keeping all character traits in line with their small screen counterparts, while, at the same time, putting enough in it of themselves.  However, it’s actually the ‘least used’ of the four, Sharlto Copley as ‘Howling Mad’ Murdoch who steals every scene.

If you’re seriously considering watching The A-team then you need to be okay with action that’s slightly more ‘tongue-in-cheek.’ The ‘Bourne’ films and Daniel Craig’s stint as Bond have got people used to ‘serious’ action again.  The A-team is keeping with possibly the eighties/early nineties where the action scenes were pretty over the top and unbelievable, but, if you’re okay with that, you should just enjoy the daftness and break open the popcorn.

Unlike the TV show ‘Face’ gets a ‘love interest’ in the form of Jessica Biel.  This is the main area of the film that seems a little forced, but, with any major theatrical release, they seem to feel the need for some sort of relationship to be put forward.

Don’t expect a great intellectual thriller with plenty of twists and turns.  Just settle down and put your brain on hold.  You won’t need it for the A-team.  And, if you’ve never seen someone ‘fly’ a tank, you will have after you’ve watched this (it made me laugh).

7/10 if I woke up on Groundhog Day and had to watch this again, I could live with that