BEFORE: Liam Neeson carries over as the spies/special agent chain kicks into high gear.
THE PLOT: A group of Iraq War veterans looks to clear their name with the U.S. military, who suspect the four men of committing a crime for which they were framed.
AFTER: I didn't watch the original TV series very often - I caught a few episodes, probably, but quickly determined there was a formula. Find a cause, battle the bad guy, devise a plan, build some stuff, shoot some stuff. Crack some corny jokes, get B.A. on the plane, and light up a cigar. Network TV can be comforting when it offers up a resolution once a week, but this doesn't always translate into a successful movie.
I think this film worked it out, though, by dividing the plot into three sections: the caper that brings the team together, the caper where the team gets hosed, and the revenge caper. So, it's kind of like "The Italian Job", with an origin story tacked on the front.
The plans here are very elaborate, especially the third one which gets visually compared to the "cups and balls" magic routine/shell game, but the reference doesn't really work. Maybe it was supposed to, but we don't get to see the part of the plan that was meant to resemble that. Too bad. The second caper is more exciting, but relies on screenwriter science rather than actual science - special effects used to make the caper work according to the plot, and not necessarily to the laws of physics.
Actually, get the Mythbusters on the line for several of the stunts, if they haven't done a show on this already. Specifically, the helicopter stunts, the airplane disaster, and what follows after that. I just don't think the force of gravity is counteract-able, that's all I'm sayin'. If a person fell out of a plane, with no parachute and fired a machine gun at the ground before impact, do you think that would save their life? No? Well, then the physics in this film don't work either.
It's a fine line, showing the A-Team confusing their enemies without confusing the audience. I had to run a few sequences over and over just to see what the moves were - which implies either bad camera work or bad scripting, if the elements of the plan aren't being highlighted as they occur.
NITPICK POINT: The team goes to a lot of trouble to clear their names after the death of one person - but how many other people got hurt or killed in the process of clearing their names? Though I will concede that the film does mention that being wrongfully imprisoned does not make breaking out of prison legal.
Also starring Bradley Cooper (last seen in "He's Just Not That Into You"), Jessica Biel (last heard in "9"), Sharlto Copley (last seen in "District 9"), Quinton "Rampage" Jackson, Patrick Wilson (last seen in "The Phantom of the Opera"), Gerald McRaney, Brian Bloom
RATING: 6 out of 10 bazookas
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