The A-Team (2010)

 

Synopsis: Hollywood turns yet another beloved TV series into a big-budget action flick without the slightest understanding of why people loved the show in the first place. 

Blurb From the DVD Jacket: “There’s more action - and more attitude - in The A-Team Extended Edition, which includes a never-before-seen version of the film with spectacular added footage not shown in theatres!” 

What Did I Learn?: 1) Overkill is underrated. 2) It’s not who you know, it’s how you know them. 3a) There’s a plan in everything; 3b) No matter how random things may appear, there’s still a plan. 4) The CIA has rules, and they’re cooler than the rules followed by the US military. 5) Never cuff a man in a seated position with his hands behind his back.  

You Might Like This Movie If: you're ok knowing there's no such thing as an original idea in Hollywood these days. 

Really?: Hoo-wee, where do I start? None of the action scenes are the least bit plausible (most of them involve split-second timing, and each member of the team being in exactly the right place and knowing exactly what to do), I had a bit of trouble believing Murdock could speak Swahili, or that Hannibal apparently has the ability to recite anything Gandhi ever said from memory, so maybe I’ll just concentrate on the bizarre origin story presented in this film. 

Let me see if I have this straight… B.A. and Murdock are both ex-military (not sure if B.A. was honourably discharged or not, and Murdock is in a Mexican insane asylum), but Hannibal encounters both of them for the first time during a mission in Mexico (Hannibal actually shoots B.A. in the arm and carjacks his van, yet the latter actually agrees to help him out!), and then recruits them into his commando unit. Is that even possible? 

Rating: Having never seen The A-Team movie until recently, I can see how and why it underperformed at the box office, and nobody has bothered to make a sequel. This over-the-top CGI infested action flick is far more reminiscent of The Losers than the 1980s television show, and it possesses neither the charm nor the humour of the latter. Check it out if your really want to see Dwight Schultz and Dirk Benedict in small cameo appearances (Benedict later regretted his decision, by the way). 5.5/10 stars. 

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0429493/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0