Post by mizhowlinmad on Jun 12, 2010 11:47:12 GMT -5
Just to let everyone know beforehand...
I'm not sure *any* version of The A-Team done as a movie, without the benefit of bending the space/time and historical continuums, could have lived up to my lofty expectations.
And this one didn't either. Although it was fairly close.
I am really torn, because I *sort of* see the need to update the show and characters to make them more accessible to a modern audience. However, I'll always love the show and its peculiar zaniness for what it is. If you're looking for Aquamaniac suits, down on their luck clients, cheesy bad guys, and invisible dogs, this isn't the movie for you. There is plenty of humor, but it isn't the main thrust of the movie, which somewhat disappointed me.
I think it will benefit from repeat viewings on DVD, since it is just so much sensory overload that it's hard to take everything in on the big screen. With apologies to the flying tank, it has all the subtlety of an elephant being dropped off a skyscraper. (Maybe that will be in the sequel.)
Like several others have mentioned, there were things I really liked and things I didn't like at all. Let's start with the positive, shall we? ;D
* Sharlto Copley IS the saving grace of the movie. His Murdock is remarkable and funny and clever. There are so many things I could say about his performance, but I'll save them for further discussion later. (Again, I couldn't hear some of his dialogue because I was either laughing too hard or something was blowing up at the time.)
* Murdock (and Face) do their accents pitch-perfect. Murdock's accent sounds more Ozark/Arkansas than Texas to me.
* The cinematography is quite nice, although I got a bit numbed to the extreme close-ups after a while.
* There are some absolutely priceless nudge-nudge wink-wink tributes to the show, including getting B.A. ready to fly, Hannibal calling Face "Kid," the VA hospital breakouts, a couple of really clever and really funny disguises, and of course, the very clever DS and DB cameos at the end.
* The stunts are completely over-the-top, but you love every minute.
* I was pleasantly surprised with Bradley Cooper as Face, but good God, I wish he'd gone clean-shaven.
* The running Alpha-Mike-Foxtrot joke is a great one. ;D
* No unnecessary sex scenes, thank goodness.
* Some excellent stunt work.
Now, for the stuff I had issues with:
* What in the WORLD were they doing with B.A. and the "nonviolence" subplot? It made no sense whatsoever. He spent half the frickin' movie doing basically nothing (and if I'd been him when Pike called Murdock an A-hole, I'd have torn him a new one right then and there.) The whole subplot reminded me of Pedro Cerrano in MAJOR LEAGUE 2 (and that movie was very forgettable.)
* Also, it was a funny moment, but why the hell squish the van in the first reel? That's tantamount to Lassie getting bitten by a sidewinder in the first reel of LASSIE, COME HOME.
* Whatever "it" is, Liam Neeson and Rampage Jackson didn't quite have "it" as Hannibal and B.A. They tried valiantly, but in the end I couldn't quite buy their performances.
* Jessica Biel's character is about as necessary as a spoiler on a Yugo. (That also being said, DCIS is a *civilian* branch of DoD. My dad used to work for them.)
* I know people "expect" profanity in a movie like this nowadays, but it seemed over-the-top and very non-TAT to me.
* I wish they'd gone with a "helping clients" theme rather than a Blackwater-CIA-Stockwell type plot. Just sayin'.
* Only the last act of the movie takes place in L.A. Of course, it's left wide open for a sequel.
* I really hate the whole "intercutting the plan with the execution of the plan" method. Maybe that's just me. I felt like I was watching CSI or MONK.
* Lynch and Pike are just annoying. Sorry.
I'm going to see it again tonight, so maybe I'll be able to pull some more out of it. Right now I can only (generously) give it a B or B-minus.
~Heather (miz)
I'm not sure *any* version of The A-Team done as a movie, without the benefit of bending the space/time and historical continuums, could have lived up to my lofty expectations.
And this one didn't either. Although it was fairly close.
I am really torn, because I *sort of* see the need to update the show and characters to make them more accessible to a modern audience. However, I'll always love the show and its peculiar zaniness for what it is. If you're looking for Aquamaniac suits, down on their luck clients, cheesy bad guys, and invisible dogs, this isn't the movie for you. There is plenty of humor, but it isn't the main thrust of the movie, which somewhat disappointed me.
I think it will benefit from repeat viewings on DVD, since it is just so much sensory overload that it's hard to take everything in on the big screen. With apologies to the flying tank, it has all the subtlety of an elephant being dropped off a skyscraper. (Maybe that will be in the sequel.)
Like several others have mentioned, there were things I really liked and things I didn't like at all. Let's start with the positive, shall we? ;D
* Sharlto Copley IS the saving grace of the movie. His Murdock is remarkable and funny and clever. There are so many things I could say about his performance, but I'll save them for further discussion later. (Again, I couldn't hear some of his dialogue because I was either laughing too hard or something was blowing up at the time.)
* Murdock (and Face) do their accents pitch-perfect. Murdock's accent sounds more Ozark/Arkansas than Texas to me.
* The cinematography is quite nice, although I got a bit numbed to the extreme close-ups after a while.
* There are some absolutely priceless nudge-nudge wink-wink tributes to the show, including getting B.A. ready to fly, Hannibal calling Face "Kid," the VA hospital breakouts, a couple of really clever and really funny disguises, and of course, the very clever DS and DB cameos at the end.
* The stunts are completely over-the-top, but you love every minute.
* I was pleasantly surprised with Bradley Cooper as Face, but good God, I wish he'd gone clean-shaven.
* The running Alpha-Mike-Foxtrot joke is a great one. ;D
* No unnecessary sex scenes, thank goodness.
* Some excellent stunt work.
Now, for the stuff I had issues with:
* What in the WORLD were they doing with B.A. and the "nonviolence" subplot? It made no sense whatsoever. He spent half the frickin' movie doing basically nothing (and if I'd been him when Pike called Murdock an A-hole, I'd have torn him a new one right then and there.) The whole subplot reminded me of Pedro Cerrano in MAJOR LEAGUE 2 (and that movie was very forgettable.)
* Also, it was a funny moment, but why the hell squish the van in the first reel? That's tantamount to Lassie getting bitten by a sidewinder in the first reel of LASSIE, COME HOME.
* Whatever "it" is, Liam Neeson and Rampage Jackson didn't quite have "it" as Hannibal and B.A. They tried valiantly, but in the end I couldn't quite buy their performances.
* Jessica Biel's character is about as necessary as a spoiler on a Yugo. (That also being said, DCIS is a *civilian* branch of DoD. My dad used to work for them.)
* I know people "expect" profanity in a movie like this nowadays, but it seemed over-the-top and very non-TAT to me.
* I wish they'd gone with a "helping clients" theme rather than a Blackwater-CIA-Stockwell type plot. Just sayin'.
* Only the last act of the movie takes place in L.A. Of course, it's left wide open for a sequel.
* I really hate the whole "intercutting the plan with the execution of the plan" method. Maybe that's just me. I felt like I was watching CSI or MONK.
* Lynch and Pike are just annoying. Sorry.
I'm going to see it again tonight, so maybe I'll be able to pull some more out of it. Right now I can only (generously) give it a B or B-minus.
~Heather (miz)
