The A-Team

This week's highlight was a girls-only field trip to the local movie theater. Just in time for my 105th birthday, The A-Team movie has FINALLY come to fruition, like a present from the universe. BTW, this won't be so much a review as a commentary, since 1/2 of my reading audience was with me at the movie, including Easter Island.



For the second time this year, Liam Neeson has signed on for something with the potential for pure awesome. Luckily, unlike the train wreck that was Clash of the Titans, The A-Team almost totally lived up to the high expectations set by my A-Team crazed teenage self. Each weekday I would rush home from school and wait impatiently through three hours of bad TV (complicated by my mother's stubborn resistance to the cable "fad", requiring me to constantly adjust antenna).

I have to admit being concerned about casting. Short of bringing George Peppard back from the dead, there seemed to be really no good option for Hannibal Smith. Mel Gibson was rumored for years to be taking the role, but when they were considering Mel Gibson, he still had that weird Lethal Weapon mullet. Then, seemingly out of nowhere came Liam Neeson. Both guys have action and serious roles behind them, but Liam Neeson is taller and played Dark Man so, in my opinion, was just a better choice. As Hannibal, Neeson just seemed to channel his inner George Peppard right down to the hair style. He's no Samuel L. Jackson, but Liam Neeson is climbing the charts on my cool list.

Rampage Jackson was okay as BA (a little wooden, but he does look the part), and we're still about 15 years out from hearing me complain about Bradley Cooper taking off his shirt (Face). Sharlto Copley was good enough as Murdock to make me want to stop stalling on watching District 9. The best moments in the moment belonged to this guy, from painting his face half blue and quoting Braveheart, to twirling around on chopper blades while singing "You Spin Me Right 'Round", to knighting a guy with a pair of 3D glasses.

Maybe the biggest surprise, and the one that spawned the most debate after the movie, was the appearance of '80s child star Brian Bloom as one of the bad guys. He grew up to be bald, but past that looks EXACTLY the same, which put most of us in the "OH MY GOD BRIAN BLOOM I HAD A POSTER OF THAT GUY MOST BEAUTIFUL EYES IN HOLLYWOOD DIDN'T HE HAVE A BROTHER HE IS SOOOOOOOO HOT FANGIRL SCREAM!" camp, except Imposter Jen (not to be confused with Junior), who said, "Really? I don't think he's hot at all." We're having her vision checked.

A good chunk of this new incarnation is the origins story, which witnesses the demise of BA's van (sort of how the owl didn't make the cut in Clash of the Titans) and brings Murdock and BA into Hannibal's line of sight. From there, it's a typical weak A-Team plot, from cartoonish bad guys to Face making out with anything with the right configuration of body parts. The difference is the witty script, which is extremely aware of the type of show The A-Team was, and seems determined to stick to the rules. Brian Bloom was one of the writers. He is getting hotter all the time!!! At one point, Face actually escapes from a band of corrupt Mexican soldiers by rolling down a hill inside a tower of tires. Very much like the original.

There's lots of pseudo-intrigue and double crosses and explosions, etc. etc. I'll definitely buy it on Blu-Ray when it comes out...the only part we didn't like, and EVERYONE agreed, was the Easter Egg at the end of the credits. So, Easter Island makes us wait until this final scene, and they trot out Dirk Benedict and Dwight Schultz. Granted, they're in their mid-60s, but most of the girls agreed that we all had a crush on Dirk Benedict at one time, and seeing him old was just sort of something we wish we could take back. Thanks, EI!!

Anyway...
Overall Rating: Pure Awesome
Marcia Rating: We took her with us and it was Marcia-safe, but she preferred The Losers
Brian Bloom Rating: Not replacing Future Husband Jeffrey Dean Morgan anytime soon, but WOW!!