The film opens as we see Hannibal (Liam Neeson) being held captive by corrupt Mexican officers. When the men leave to meet with their leader, Hannibal escapes and pursues them. Along the way he meets B.A. Baracus (Quinton "Rampage" Jackson) who decides to help Hannibal when he realizes that they were in the same, elite group of army rangers. The two procede to catch up the the officers who are in the middle of questioning Face (Bradley Cooper) who is involved in Hannibal's plan. B.A. crashes in the area, rescues Face, and then the three rush to the nearest hospital (while being pursued) to find their last member, Murdock (Sharlto Copley) who gets them all into a helicopter and flies away triggering an action scene that gave me chills for the next five minutes.
Then, "eight years and eighty successful missions later," we find the team stationed in Iraq, now considered a very popular top notch team. Hannibal gains information that a case full of U.S. treasury plates are in the possession of terrorists. So he and his "A-Team" set out to retrieve the plates. The mission is successful but when they return, Hannibal's commanding officer is murdered and the evidence goes missing. As a result of this, the four men are tried and sent to prison since no one could prove that they were acting on behalf of the United States. Of course prison couldn't hold the four men and soon enough they all escape and go on another mission to track down the man who framed them and get back their reputations.
Last month I read an article on "The A-Team" in an Entertainment Weekly. The director of the film, Joe Carnahan, stated in the article that in the film there would be an action scene so cool that if you didn't like it, you didn't like movies. A very big statement I know and while I'm not quite sure which scene he was referring to, I can think of at least three scenes that can fit the bill. "The A-Team" was filled with all kinds of action which included the team flying helicopters, planes, and get ready for this...TANKS! Right now you're probably saying the same thing B.A. said..."WHAT? You can't fly a tank fool!" And who better to engage in this action than the four leads of the film: Liam Neeson and Sharlto Copley have proved themselves to be great action stars from their films "Taken" and "District 9" respectively. "Rampage" Jackson who fights for a living, and Bradley Cooper showed that he is more than capable of being an action star. In my opinion, a better team of actors couldn't have been chosen. Classic scenarios from the show like B.A. and Murdock's arguments and B.A.'s fear of flying are very much present in this film which give the movie a comedic twist.
Sadly, the film suffers from being a little too fast-paced which keeps the film from having a strong plot line and room for character development. It seems that the makers of the film went on the basis that the viewers would automatically know the characters thus the four main protagonists were given no introduction. When looking at the plot line, I felt the same. It was almost like watching the TV show with better acting, action, and special effects.
"I love it when a good plan comes together." Thankfully, Hannibal's "good plans" give us a whole lot of high octane action and comedy that in the end, makes me forget about the weak story and lack of character development. Two and a half stars out of four.
"The A-Team" has a running time of 117 minutes and is rated PG-13 for intense sequences of action and violence throughout, language and smoking.
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