“They specialize in the ridiculousness” is a line Jessica Biel spouts early on in The A-Team, and that line represents the film as a whole. It’s nothing but ridiculous. This is the exact idea everyone has for a summer blockbuster: non-stop action, one-liners, not too grounded in reality and flat-out absurd.
For what it is, The A-Team works very well. It embraces its cartoonish elements and knows exactly what type of movie is. It delivers where it needs to and does so enjoyably. Plenty will say it takes itself too seriously- most likely because of the Cooper/Biel romance- but that couldn’t be further from the truth. If anything, it barely takes itself seriously at all.
Code-named Hannibal (Liam Neeson), Face (Bradley Cooper), Murdock (Sharlto Copley) and B.A. Baracus (Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson), these four soldiers make up “The A-Team.” They’re the best of the best. The film opens with the most cliche-ridden, obvious origin story around: we see how Face and Hannibal meet Baracus and Murdock. It’s laughably contrived, but that’s also a part of the film’s charm.
After a few years together, the decorated team are sent on a top secret mission in Baghdad that goes bad. The team is set up, court-marshaled and locked away. With the help of a mysterious C.I.A. agent named Lynch (Patrick Wilson), they get their chance to break out and clear their names. Their main goal: retribution and uncovering who set them up. It won’t be easy though, as they will have to handle with Face’s cliched old flame Charisa Sosa (Jessica Biel).
It’s all very paint-by-numbers. It hits all the beats you would expect a film like this to. It’s following all the tropes we’ve seen before and it knows as much. This is a total homage to 80′s action films, and it fits right in with that era. It’s pure B-movie cheesiness and all. The show itself is nothing but campiness, and they’ve seemed to carry over that element heavily. All the one-liners and gaps in logic are all present, and in welcomed form.
Even approaching a near two-hour running it time, it never loses steam. While just about all the moments between Biel and Cooper are a bit tiresome and dull, it’s not too prominent of a sub-plot. Every action set piece is distinct and well done. There’s no frantic quick cutting – except for a few small moments – but it’s mostly well-choreographed and comprehensible. The climatic battle is where it loses its cohesiveness, but those final action beats still work due to a few nicely done moments here and there.
Director Joe Carnahan showed an eye for action in his wonderful BMW short Ticker, not to mention as well the underrated Smokin’ Aces. Here he shows a true knack for crafting competent action. Carnahan definitely revels in the more ridiculous side of things this time around, but it’s all exciting nonetheless. He never worries about realism and for a film like this, that’s a good thing. Carnahan handles the tone so well he can getaway with having a tank fight off fighter jets midair. It’s silly for sure, but in the best and most self-aware way possible.
Meanwhile, Neeson continues his streak of being a man’s man. While he’s done plenty of action films in the past, he’s now starting to standout in that arena. Neeson is a commander on screen, hamming it up a bit here, which audiences will be grateful for. Copley shows he’s got comedic chops and is capable of more than what he showed in District 9. Jackson isn’t an annoying Mr. T lookalike at all and Cooper shows he’s decent at playing the same character over and over again. Cooper has his charms, but this is a character he seems to get stuck playing rather too often i.e. the cocky one.
Unless this becomes a major franchise, The A-Team will most likely be forgotten. There’s plenty of films just like this and plenty of more that work even better. That said, it’s hard to deny that the film is a highly enjoyable action romp. It fares far more favorably than most of the films we saw this past summer.
Video: While a film like The A-Team plays much better with a crowded theater, it plays just as well in a home theater with its fantastic blu-ray transfer. With a very poppy aesthetic, the bright and bold colors truly standout in HD. At times, it’s so cartoony it looks like a strip straight out of comic-book. The color pallet looks gorgeous in HD. When the film isn’t going for pure explosive eye candy, the darker lit and smaller moments still look incredibly detailed. With the smoke from Hannibal’s stogie to the wrinkles on his face, all the minor details look excellent. The cheesy CGI may look a little off in this crisp clarity, but that only further heightens the cartoon-esque tone, in a good way.
Audio: Explosions and rockets hardly ever sound this beautiful. The sound-design and mixing were topnotch to begin with, so it comes to no surprise that the film sounds just as excellent with surround-sound. The film can go from loud and bombastic to quiet in an instant, although the more bombastic moments are the scenes that truly leave the lasting impression. All the minor background sounds are perfectly clear and the same goes for all the conversations. Nothing sounds off in this audio-transfer, every gunshot and line of dialogue is crisp and easy on the ears.
Special Features: The bonus features is where this release is slightly fumbled. There’s a few interesting tidbits here and there, but nothing entirely notable. The blu-ray features an extended cut, which amps up the language and throws in a little more blood. Those moments are welcomed, but a few of the new character beats? Not so much. The original cut had smooth and steady pacing, this unrated version feels a little too long. There’s also The Devil’s in the Details: Inside the Action with Joe Carnahan, which is a bonus view mode featuring Carnahan. A straight audio commentary with Carnahan would have been much more suitable. Carnahan is reliable when it comes to delivering informative and entertaining commentaries, but after a while this bonus view feature gets a bit dry. There’s the standard collection of deleted scenes and the typical gag reel, which are, again, standard. The only recommendable feature is Plan of Attack, a slightly in-depth making-of. It features interviews with Carnahan and the cast. It provides a nice inside look into the stunt-work and behind-the-scenes footage.
The A-Team is now available on Blu-ray. Are you going to pick it up?