.: Roberts' Reviews - Movie Reviews :.

1. On January 23, 1983, I was glued to Channel 11's NBC affiliate for the premiere of a show called The A-Team. The commercials and promos leading up the launch were titillating - full of action and all the excess that made the 80's so special. After the NBC Peacock showed its colors, I was treated to the following intro:

"(Ten years ago / In 1972), a crack commando unit was sent to prison by a military court for a crime they didn't commit. These men promptly escaped from a maximum security stockade to the Los Angeles underground. Today, still wanted by the government, they survive as soldiers of fortune. If you have a problem, if no one else can help, and if you can find them, maybe you can hire... The A-Team."

The show starring George Peppard, Dirk Benedict, Dwight Shultz and mohawked Mr. T was a hit right out of the gate and continued for multiple seasons and 98 episodes until the curtain went down on March 8, 1987.

When word came that The A-Team was getting the big screen treatment, I was actually excited. Most of the reboots of 80's franchises have fallen on their faces like a drunken Gary Coleman, but the possibilities were great (at least in my eyes) to turn a big motion picture into something fun, frantic and fracnhise-able.

Casting for the big screen version was Liam Neeson as leader Hannibal Smith, Bradley Cooper as Lt. Faceman Peck, Sharlto Copley as Murdock and Quinton 'Rampage' Jackson as B.A. Baracus. Not exactly who I had envisioned taking over the iconic roles, but worthy and capable choices all the same.

The movie picks things up right from the beginning. We get to see how the team was assembled. How Hannibal shoots B.A. upon first meeting. How Murdock was chosen on a whim as they needed someone to fly them out of a sticky situation. And how B.A.'s fear of flying came to pass. The opening sequence which takes place in Mexico could have been titled A-Team: Origins.

The film then quickly fast forwards and we catch up with the team in Iraq. They have now been together for a while and are working with the military on covert missions. Their new mission as doled out by General Morrison (Major Dad's Gerald McGrady) has the team trying to intercept a truck full of counterfeit American currency and the metal plates used in the process.

The intercept was an exciting action sequence and the A-Team succeeds in intercepting the convoy. But before Hannibal can light a cigar in representation of a job well done, Morrison is murdered and the plates go missing.

A military trial blames the A-Team for the losses and the four members are split up and sentenced to prison. That could have spelled the end for the elite squad, but when a CIA agent by the name of Lynch (Patrick Wilson) comes looking for Hannibal's help to retrieve the missing plates and soon a plan is hatched and all four team members escape their various prisons.

This doesn't sit well with Agent Sosa (Jessica Biel) who begins a manhunt that will help her rack up frequent flyer miles as she tracks down the reassembled team.

In one action packed sequence after another we watch as the A-Team tries to clear their name and retrieve the missing plates while attempting to elude both Agent Sosa and a double cross from the CIA.

The A-Team was written and directed by Joe Carnahan and is exactly what a summer movie should be. It was fun, action packed and gets neither too serious or too campy not to revel in all the excitement.

The four leads do a bang up job and will have you leaving any comparisons to their original portrayers in a matter of a few scenes. Liam Neeson looks exceptionally comfortable in his first action role since Taken and Bradley Cooper shows us that he is more than tanned abs, a good smile and the other guy from The Hangover.

The final action sequence which includes the explosion of a rather large vessel on the docks was big scale and heart pounding - even if some of the CGI takes away from the entertainment value.

With likeable characters and well crafted action scenes, the A-Teams only real drawback was in the less than stellar script and the woeful overacting of Patrick Wilson. As CIA agent Lynch, Wilson goes from believable to cartoonish and if this guy is any indication of the maturity of the CIA, then the country is doomed.

Opening last week, the A-Team has not performed well enough for them to quickly greenlight a sequel. The Karate Kid kicked B.A.'s ass and the film might struggle to recoup the $110 million production budget. But don't let the numbers fool you. The A-Team was a fun film that gives you exactly what you should have been expecting when you bought the ticket.