The A-Team

I sniff nostalgically. I grew up on it and Carnahan et comp. were able to modernize it very solidly without creating digital none-sense for young people. On the contrary, it may in fact be too nostalgic and laughs at the current mass conceptualization of blockbusters. I had a great time, if it wasn't for a few "over the line" attempts at making it more serious, it would be an almost perfect relaxing snort of amusement. Hats off to the wonderful chemistry in the central quartet and also to Carnahan, who managed to direct the action scenes with the sophistication of a gambler. Definitely the best blockbuster of the cucumber season; I'm just sorry that it won't continue... (14/06/2010)

An awful B-movie. Awful garbage. And awfully entertaining. Not on the action side, though; there’s very little of that and what there is terribly confused due to deranged editing, but after the ungainly introduction as soon as it establishes itself as a buddy comedy full of over the top scenes in “best 3D effect ever" style, then... Then you can either angrily get up from your seat and go home muttering about dumb Hollywood, or you can remain seated and abandon yourself to harmless, mindless fun. And at least it’s meant to be fun; I must admit that I expected something more like “it’s so bad, it’s genius". (10/06/2010)

The A-Team is fun. The A-Team is funny. The A-Team is certainly not smart, but it knows that very well, and it doesn’t pretend to be something it’s not. When I saw it in the movie theater, I was bothered by the slightly complicated plot and the hasty editing, which made several scenes a mess. But after watching the (extended) DVD version, all the criticisms are gone and I give this more than two-hour, but incredibly fast-paced blockbuster a fifth star. Great! The action scenes are beautifully over-the-top and a joy to watch, whether it's the famous falling tank from the trailer, the opening helicopter chase, the team's liberation from prison, the action in Frankfurt, the finale on the docks, and so on... The actors are precisely chosen and everyone enjoys their part (Neeson's line "So, Satan walks into this bar..." could become iconic). Silvestri's soundtrack (his most original thing since Van Helsing) deserves a mention.__ P.S. A 3D film in a German hospital... That scene is unprecedented. (18/06/2010)

(extended) I was terribly surprised at how The A-Team worked. The characters entertain you, the jokes are funny, the action is action-packed and appropriately spectacular. Too bad Carnahan has a bit of a problem with the action scenes. The spectacular special effects ones are fine because they work according to pre-set templates anyway, but the contact action and some of the shootouts are an unbelievable mess. The final scene in the dumpster is especially awful, with the fight scene shot under the kind of light that Marlon Brando's monologues are shot under at the end of Apocalypse Now. But the bad guys are great. So there are four of them in total, and it gets a bit messy at times, as they aren’t classically intertwined, but you can see how the director misses Ray Liotta (with whom he's done every film so far) in the movie. Not only are the three of them typologically the same, have the same means of expression and act the same way, but even the character is similar to many of his movie characters. I enjoyed their non-violent portrayal as overgrown brats addicted to video games who masturbate with a gun in the other hand, and lucky enough to have been given millions of dollars worth of military toys in their lives. The most fun is when the three of them end up in the car together, because the suppressor-screwing scene (I'm guessing it's just in the extended version) is perfect. I'll even forgive the cell shading explosions and the few tense relationship scenes. The A-Team is a blockbuster as it should be, because everything that should work in this type of movie works there. (29/12/2011)

The ultimate rattle that catches the momentum and doesn't let go until the end. Carnahan, under the production whip of the Scott brothers, throws in one "over the top" scene after another, but in the action inferno, he still manages to shoot deadly catchphrases at you with incredible cadence. The central quartet plays the most searing instrumental in years, and the result is a pure 1980s flick that the twenty-first-century coat fits like a glove. Sure, it's blatant none-sense, but I was still vibrating from it the next day. I'll forgive the digital silliness at the end and I’m giving it full stars. I don't think the film will get less stars from me upon a second viewing. Edit: Indeed, it did not. Even for the second (third, fourth,...) time, this is one of the most entertaining action movies in recent years. (19/06/2010)