Unbored

I’ve never actually seen the A-Team TV series, so I might not be the best qualified person to comment on the latest movie remake of yet another 80s show, but I have seen the Family Guy spoof episode (many times), so I’m going to give it a whirl. (Real hardcore fans of the A-Team, look away now!)

In my usual formula, before I start bashing, let’s get the good points out of the way. This film is entertaining, very funny and is definitely going to stand out as one of the better films offered up by the summer of 2010 (Piranah 3D? Uh, no thanks!)  It is also, or so I am told, pretty loyal to the original show in terms of tone, character and story. Liam Neeson is the only instantly recognisable actor among the ensemble, but the others hold their own and probably do the original characters justice. In fact, I think I probably enjoyed this movie more than my cinema-going companion who had seen the TV shows, as I wasn’t comparing the two.

What I was doing was predicting what would happen about half an hour before it did. Maybe it’s because I’m a writer and so I know the ‘tricks’, or maybe it was pretty transparent to everyone, but I saw nothing unfolding on the screen that I hadn’t already anticipated in kind. Or maybe that was the point – think like Hannibal, always be one step ahead, have an idea, a plan?  I’m willing to give the writers of the film the benefit of the doubt on this one, because it was actually really well written in the grand scheme of things. It just wasn’t clever; the ‘twists’ were about as twisty as MacDonald’s fries. (Hint/spoiler alert: if you don’t actually SEE a character die onscreen, he ain’t dead; and there is NO reason for a two minute long movie kiss, no matter how much you wanted the couple to finally lock lips, except to facilitate the ending the way they did. (Conveniently, the ending, as with most movies these days, seems to facilitate a sequel, should the money crunchers down in Hollywood deem that a good idea. But I digress.)

This film won’t hurt your head like an Inception (which I’ve actually yet to see) or an Ocean’s 11, and second viewings probably won’t yield anything that you didn’t catch at the first. But maybe that’s not a bad thing. Maybe that was the point of television shows like The A-Team – they were fast paced and macho and there were lots of explosions and shoot outs, but you could still tune out for 50 minutes and not have to use your head very much. It’s the antidote, which funnily enough actually existed before the affliction, to shows like Lost, which definitely have to be followed and paid attention to. Forget the physics, forget the improbability (or impossibility)of the events unfolding before you; suspend your disbelief for a while, and enjoy. I know I’ve dedicated a while to doing so, but I don’t think this is a film that is meant to be analysed too much. Though, if you ever want to know how to fly a tank…

While it’s definitely a ‘bloke’s film’, don’t think the girlfriend won’t enjoy it just as much. Face is just handsome enough to get us thinking, and we’ll enjoy the personal development of BA as he faces his fear of flying and discovers that it’s okay to “pity the fool”, so long as you do it with compassion (or, “it’s okay to murder, Ghandi said so”, if you choose to take a more cynical approach to that particular message). Heck, some of us might even warm to the female Army agent working against them, thrown in specifically to keep our interest. Those of us who hadn’t already pegged her as exactly such a device that is…

(As a sidetrack, the Family Guy spoof got the flavour and the characters down pretty well, though I personally am not that attracted to Quagmire, and don’t think Peter could give (or take) a good butt whooping as well as Hannibal.)

So, if you don’t expect too much from your films, and want to enjoy two hours of explosions, testosterone and Liam Neeson’s deep deep voice, (and don’t mind painfully cheesy dialogue) then the A-Team is definitely worth the price of a cinema ticket. It will definitely do well at the box office, and will probably hit the shelves just in time for Dad’s Xmas stocking. Watch out for the box sets of the show on special offer too, because these sorts of films inevitably inspire nostalgia in people. I might even give them a look in myself.