The A-Team
Starring: Liam Neeson, Bradley Cooper, Quinton "Rampage" Jackson, Sharlto Copley
Director: Joe Carnahan
Rating: 3.5/5
With the likes of Charlie's Angels and Miami Vice coming to the big screen in recent years it seemed only a matter of time before The A-Team followed in their footsteps.
And this summer Liam Neeson, Bradley Cooper, Quinton "Rampage" Jackson and Sharlto Copley do exactly that as the bring Hannibal, Face, B.A. and Murdock to the big screen.
Four American soldiers who are in Iraq are sent on a mission to recover plates for printing 100 dollar bills that were used to print a billion dollars. After doing the job and returning to the base their commanding officer is killed in an explosion and the plates are stolen by another operative.
Accused of killing their superior office and stealing the plates for themselves they are court martialed, stripped of their rank and sent to different prisons.
6 months later, the leader, Hannibal Smith is visited by a CIA spook who tells him he knows where the man who took the plates is and wants him and his men to recover it.
The four bust out of jail and go rogue as they try to get the plates back as well as clear their names.
Now what you have to remember that the summer is blockbuster season and these movies are CGI fuelled with big budgets and are not mean to win Oscars.
And The A-Team is no different so I damn anyone who takes this movie too seriously... just sine back and enjoy a really great ride.
I appreciate that the plot does take a bit of a back seat to the rather ridiculous action, the flying tank just so happens to by my favourite, but it really does work.
What is great however is that the action and the computer generated effects never overpower personality and it's the four central characters that really drive this movie.
Neeson is perfectly cast as the forward planning Hannibal, who is always one step ahead of everyone else, but it's Murdoch who steals the show as the great pilot who is more than slightly unhinged.
The four of them banter well together and it's these central relationships that provides all of the comedy as the four of them looked to have had a great time.
What I will say though is the movie did miss a great villain, Patrick Wilson's Lynch really doesn't cut the mustard which is a shame.
If you accept this movie for what it is, a rip roaring adventure that's exciting and funny without taking itself seriously at all then you, like me, will have a blast.
If you are expecting a movie that concentrates on plot and characters then you will be disappointed as the outrageous action does take centre stage.
This is a TV to big screen movie that really does work and I defy you not to have a blast and a laugh whilst watching it!
The A-Team is out now
FemaleFirst Helen Earnshaw