Higgens Network: The A-Team

After the screening of Prince of Persia, there was a little kid in the audience jumping off chairs because he was pretending to be Daston. When The A-Team concluded I spent the next two days randomly singing the movie’s theme song. It’s not just because those handful of notes are insanely catching, but this film does have an addicting quality to it.

Yes, I know, this movie is incredibly ridiculous. This is in the group of action movies where they ask that you don’t look into their smaller details. Like how Hannibal knows all of this intel or what was the point of buying 3D glasses when planning a getaway. I recognize these flaws, but they don’t weigh down the movie for me.

The film is more focused on having a good time. Stuff will explode, helicopters will dive, and good golly the plan will lovingly come together. The first plan in the movie is the birth of the A-Team. Hannibal (Liam Neeson) needs to rescue Face (Bradley Cooper) and meets up with two fellow Rangers, the muscular fighter B.A (Quinton “Rampage” Jackson) and the insane pilot Murdock (Sharlto Copley from District 9). They are the perfect combination of brains and violence. Over the years they succeed in a ton of missions for the U.S. Army, but then they’re framed.

It appears that the A-Team were trying to steal the movie’s maguffin (This time it’s U.S. Mint plates) so they are dishonorably discharged and arrested. With no surprise to any of the characters, they eventually break out of their respected prisons and team up to clear their names. It also comes as no surprise their way of achieving these tasks is awesomely convoluted.

On their trail is Charisa Sosa who is played by Jessica Biel. She’s a soldier who was demoted after the maguffin fiasco so she really wants the maguffin back. Unfortunately she doesn’t play a part in the plot at all. She keeps having scenes with characters that don’t change their paths in the slightest. She gets a backstory clumsily told through dialog but it just feels random. Biel is fine in the role, but she could be completely edited out of this film. If that happened, people would be outraged at the lack of a token hot chick in an action movie. Some things you just don’t mess with.

Along with its ridiculousness, the film maintains its enjoyable tone by having characters worth hanging out with. Unlike the heroes/rip-off in The Losers this group doesn’t just about how great they are. They are cool and are almost always wisecracking. The jokes are fine, but most of the time it feels like a missed opportunity for some really memorable punchlines. Still, actors like Cooper and Copley really have the appropriate charisma to pull it off. Patrick Wilson’s villainous character starts to get a bit joking near the end, but it seems a bit inconsistent with how he played the rest of the movie.

When a film has a charm like this one, the film works more than it should. It’s nowhere near a perfect movie but there are exciting moments in its action scenes. In such a very weak summer, it’s relieving to be able to recommend this light movie. Do do-do-do DUN DUN DUN.