Lately we’ve been seeing a lot of remakes and re-imagining of old movies and series. We’ve had remakes of Halloween, Nightmare on Elm Street, and even the Karate Kid to name only a few of these. Now, like any reasonable person, I get a little worried when someone in Hollywood decides to “re-imagine” something. More often than not it ends in tears and psychological damages. So, it’s not hard to explain that when I sat down to see the A-Team in theatres I was slightly worried and braced myself for the worse. So, does this movie cause more damage than good, or is it this a plan that really comes together?
New Beginnings
Now, this movie is, in a way, a prequel to the original television series. The first part of the movie is devoted to telling the story of how the team came together during a mission in Mexico. The movie then goes into the story of how the team is framed and dishonourably discharged. The team, Col. John “Hannibal” Smith (Liam Neeson), Lt. Templeton “Faceman” Peck (Bradley Cooper), Cpl. Bosco “B.A.” Baracus (Quinton Jackson), and Murdock (Sharlto Copley), is assigned to do a black ops mission into Baghdad to steal back US printing plates and the 1 billion dollars printed with it. However, upon the completion of the mission the money and plates are stolen and the team’s commander is assassinated. With no one to confirm the legitimacy of the team’s mission, they find themselves under arrest. Now, the story has changed with the times. The original story has this aspect of the story occurring of Vietnam, while this new movie has the story happening in the Middle East.
The Good
The movie starts off by kickin’ it old school. They use the original theme to the television show and continue using it throughout the movie. They also stick true to the characters original personalities while giving them a bit of a new school flare.
Next, this movie doesn’t lose sight it’s an action movie. While it develops the plot in some of the slower parts, it makes up for it some epic and badass scenes that quickly follow. Also, I was pleasantly surprised to see that I hadn’t see bits and pieces of them in trailers.
The Bad
It’s true that the original series was a little over the top at moments. There were even a few times were simple facts of physics were outright ignored. We, as viewers, accepted this. However, this movie found a way to take it one step further in over the top action scenes and outrageous plans. While visually they look nifty, they seem hard to fathom.
When re-makes are done, it’s quite common to see the original cast make an appearance or have some sort of role in the movie. The remaining members of the original A-Team were approached for cameos in the new movie. Both Dwight Schultz and Birk Benedict (Murdock and Peck respectively) accepted the cameo roles while Mr. T turned it down. After the length and popularity of the series, I had hoped that the cameo roles might have been a little larger, but they amount to blink-and-you’ll-miss-it appearances.
The Final Verdict
This movie makes a great summer block buster and is enjoyable all around. It’s nice to see that this new movie stuck close to its roots while giving it a new feel. All in all, it makes it easy to see through some of this film’s shortcomings. Go check out this film for a good time.
