The A-Team

The A-Team is fun. The A-Team is funny. The A-Team is certainly not smart, but it knows that very well, and it doesn’t pretend to be something it’s not. When I saw it in the movie theater, I was bothered by the slightly complicated plot and the hasty editing, which made several scenes a mess. But after watching the (extended) DVD version, all the criticisms are gone and I give this more than two-hour, but incredibly fast-paced blockbuster a fifth star. Great! The action scenes are beautifully over-the-top and a joy to watch, whether it's the famous falling tank from the trailer, the opening helicopter chase, the team's liberation from prison, the action in Frankfurt, the finale on the docks, and so on... The actors are precisely chosen and everyone enjoys their part (Neeson's line "So, Satan walks into this bar..." could become iconic). Silvestri's soundtrack (his most original thing since Van Helsing) deserves a mention.__ P.S. A 3D film in a German hospital... That scene is unprecedented. (06/18/2010)

The phrase "much ado about nothing" can hardly be more fitting than here. I would still be willing to forgive The A-Team for not coming up with a proper and original story, but I won't forgive the fact that all the expected and praised action seemed dull and overstuffed clutter with zero build-up and a desperate lack of catchphrases and insight. The 3 stars are more or less because I really like Neeson and Cooper and because, despite the bland result, the A-Team at least made a good effort to pay homage to and build on the classic action films that were taken for granted in Hollywood twenty years ago...))) I recently read that if Chuck Norris eats a whole box of sleeping pills, it will show up in one blink..., I watched the supposedly most stylish and over-the-top action movie of recent years, and by the end I was sleeping like a baby... 55% (10/12/2012)

(extended) I was terribly surprised at how The A-Team worked. The characters entertain you, the jokes are funny, the action is action-packed and appropriately spectacular. Too bad Carnahan has a bit of a problem with the action scenes. The spectacular special effects ones are fine because they work according to pre-set templates anyway, but the contact action and some of the shootouts are an unbelievable mess. The final scene in the dumpster is especially awful, with the fight scene shot under the kind of light that Marlon Brando's monologues are shot under at the end of Apocalypse Now. But the bad guys are great. So there are four of them in total, and it gets a bit messy at times, as they aren’t classically intertwined, but you can see how the director misses Ray Liotta (with whom he's done every film so far) in the movie. Not only are the three of them typologically the same, have the same means of expression and act the same way, but even the character is similar to many of his movie characters. I enjoyed their non-violent portrayal as overgrown brats addicted to video games who masturbate with a gun in the other hand, and lucky enough to have been given millions of dollars worth of military toys in their lives. The most fun is when the three of them end up in the car together, because the suppressor-screwing scene (I'm guessing it's just in the extended version) is perfect. I'll even forgive the cell shading explosions and the few tense relationship scenes. The A-Team is a blockbuster as it should be, because everything that should work in this type of movie works there. (12/29/2011)

From the first to the last minute, it's ruggedly honest, exhilaratingly blockbuster-like, and unfortunately also scriptwise bite-sized. However, as a whole, A-Team surprisingly holds together despite the patched-together individual missions, problems, and locations. Some things are so exaggerated that even the least perceptive smile feels ashamed (tank), while other times it goes full throttle, taking your breath away (imaginative chemistry in the photobooth, rappelling from a skyscraper, or every scene with Bradley Cooper, who effortlessly steals the whole film and doesn't even break a sweat). I didn't believe in this return to the past at all, but now I can be even more satisfied. (07/30/2010)

I sniff nostalgically. I grew up on it and Carnahan et comp. were able to modernize it very solidly without creating digital none-sense for young people. On the contrary, it may in fact be too nostalgic and laughs at the current mass conceptualization of blockbusters. I had a great time, if it wasn't for a few "over the line" attempts at making it more serious, it would be an almost perfect relaxing snort of amusement. Hats off to the wonderful chemistry in the central quartet and also to Carnahan, who managed to direct the action scenes with the sophistication of a gambler. Definitely the best blockbuster of the cucumber season; I'm just sorry that it won't continue... (06/14/2010)