The A-Team (2010)

The A-Team (2010)

Dir. Joe Carnahan

It goes without saying that you can't replace the actors from the original TV series and hope to please everyone — people WILL be upset — so let's forego that and get on with what we actually do get from the reboot.

The introduction of each character sets the tone: fun, punchy and slightly tongue-in-cheek. As a starting point in a venture that aims to replace a much-loved team, it's genuinely okay. I'm not going to single any particular actor out and say they were unequivocally the worst, but I will say that I feel Liam Neeson as Hannibal was the most successful. He'd the air of experience and confidence that the role needed.

For a time I enjoyed the lightheartedness of it, but after it had used up all its potential it seemed as if the filmmakers had stopped caring about both the relationships of the characters and the sense of fun it had successfully established at the beginning, perhaps assuming that by then we'd have forgotten, too.

The downhill slide continued steadily until, in the last half hour, it degenerated into just another loud action movie trying to be clever, making it as forgettable as most of Hollywood's other attempts at the same thing. Ultimately, the The A-Team update suffered from an incorrect ratio of 'Hollywood upgrade' and 'much-needed charm'.

As if in apology, just before the credits it drops in a classic A-Team moment that only served to remind me that it was inferior to its TV counterpart. The post-credit scenes had the same effect.

Also, the entire film had some irritating-as-all-hell blue lens flare added in post. Please stop that shit, Hollywood. It's not clever or sophisticated. It's annoying and immersion-breaking.