The New Review - The A-Team Blu-Ray

The A-Team movie poster

This one is near and dear to my heart...

The New Review

"The A-Team"
Starring Liam Neeson, Bradley Cooper, Quintin "Rampage" Jackson, Sharlto Copley


Background Check: The A-Team. Don't know who they are? Then you haven't been alive or awake the past around 20 years... and if not, you've heard of them. An extremely popular TV series during the 80's, it told the lives of 4 men, John "Hannibal" Smith, Templeton "Faceman" Peck, "Howling Mad" Murdock, and Bosco "B.A." Baracus... and this series is what made Mr. T a household name for playing B.A. Grew up watching this series along with Transformers... hoped they wouldn't screw it up...

Concept: A 4 man group of the elite, the best of the best, specializing in things that MacGyver would only dream of. They were framed, sent to high security prisons for a federal/national crime they didn't commit... only to break out and seek to clear their names... eventually becoming heroes for hire in the aforementioned TV series...

Execution: First of all, the cast was what I would've picked. Liam Neeson as Hannibal, well, Liam's accomplishment are well know. Bradley Cooper as Face, have you seen "The Hangover"? Rampage Jackson as B.A. all he had to do was be a bad ass, and his UFC accolades speak volumes. Sharlto Copley as Murdock... that was my worry. This was Copley's second movie, first one being the leading role in "District 9", but it didn't really showcase his humor... BUT, he ended up being Murdock... not LIKE Murdock, he WAS Murdock... great picks all around... as for the movie, it was an origin story, something the series never really did. How did they meet? What was their first mission? Why is B.A. afraid to fly? What exactly was the crime they were framed for? All of those given answers in this movie... the feel and the flow of this movie was almost exactly like watching the old series, which is what made this movie shine... you wanted to see what happened next, what crazy plan Hannibal was coming up with, and exactly how that plan was executed... all while developing the brotherhood that was evident in the TV series...... movie flowed well, with little shortage of action...... except the infamous tank scene... it broke the flow, and almost broke the movie for me... but it survives, to lead to one more great mission... and ultimately a great movie...

Extra Points: the character development was spot-on, and the action was great for what it was, where it was... precise to even a hair... the ending snapshots and the famous tag-line from the series wrapping it up, made it FEEL like my fave live-action series growing up...... and I don't quite remember if the theatrical version had them, but the extend has cameos from Dirk Benedict and Dwight Schultz, the original Face and Murdock... plus the iconic A-Team Van... and the theme song makes it too...

Rate me please:
Cast: 9.5/10               
Characters: 9.5/10
Story: 10/10
Visual: 9/10
Sound: 9/10
Humor: 10/10
Action: 9.5/10
Flow: 6.5/10
Closure: 9/10
Extra Oomph: 10/10

Total Score: 92/100       Pretty Damn Good    

In closing: The movie was great, a real blast, no pun intended. Sharlto Copley's Murdock steals the show and breaks up the action in a way that only an artist can do, and with exceptional delivery... which helped the movie in more ways than one. The infamous tank scene really kills the flow of the movie, not only for what it was, but where it was in the movie, but left enough time for this amazing cast to crank out what I would consider an A-Team performance to keep the audience(me) hooked to find out what happens next... cast took a slight hit because other than Jessica Biel, there wasn't must support for the main crew... though, Gerald McRaney being in it was kinna cool, even if just for the nostalgia *for those not playing the home game, Gerald McRaney was the star of his own sitcom series in the 80s also revolving around the military called "Major Dad"... yeah, I remember it...... great movie all-around, aside for that fucking tank... but then again, that's just my opinion...

It's all a matter of opinion: I cannot stress enough that THIS is my opinion, you can either agree with me or not... I don't have to justify my opinion, because *clear throat* that's what this blog is about. Whether I like it or not doesn't mean you have to or not...... it's just my justification for giving you all MY recommendation...... which leads me to my FINAL JUDGMENT

FINAL JUDGMENT: If you were a fan of the TV series like I was, then BUY IT... BUY IT NOW... If you've never seen the series but love action films with funny, BUY IT NOW... if neither of these apply, then get it from the RedBox...... and then proceed to BUY IT ANYWAY...
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There it is folks... a 92 for "The A-Team" movie... if you are a diehard fan, make it closer to 100... but watch out for falling tanks...

When it's over, come back and thank me...

Tune in next time for The New Review of "Despicable Me"