A-Team

I'm old enough to remember the original series and it was typical American gung-ho mass produced tv. This however is an exciting and fun re-visit to the theme and everything 'The Losers' could have been. Liam Neeson seems to be in every film I watch at the moment but as he proved in 'Taken' he is a believable action hero and does a fine job as Hannibal Smith, leader of the A Team. If comparisons have to be drawn then the only letdown for me was Quinton Jackson as BA Baracus but only because Mr T was such an iconic figure as proven by his re-appearance in the Snickers ads, bet you wouldn't recognise the rest of the team so easily. Overall this is 80 minutes or so of enjoyable adventure with lots of fireworks and stunts and just what the doctor ordered for a dull Sunday afternoon, pass the popcorn!

I was very pleasantly surprised by this. Taking its time to introduce us one by one to its stars, sometimes in very funny ways, it makes sure you like them before the main plot even begins. Sharlto Copley's Murdoch is very funny, and Bradley Cooper's 'Face' gets a brilliant introduction that kept me chuckling.
Liam Neeson is noweher near as offputting as a white-haired 'Hannibal Smith' as I feared, actually coming across as solidly commanding and giving the film a nice firm central character to revolve around. And 'Rampage' Jackson is excellent as 'BA' adding layers of depth to the character that I don't recall the series ever revealing.
It's a plot that's rich with action and events, taking us from the formation of the team to their disgrace and attempts at redemption, and the bad guys are enjoyably slimy and despicable. Twists (some obvious) abound, and although Jesica Biel is charismatic as the army Captain chasing them down, she actually serves little purpose in the plot.
Carnahan, director of the stupendously daft 'Smokin' Aces' has already shown he can handle an ensemble cast, but better still he can handle action. Here he proves it's no fluke, with multiple action sequences. While they rarely dip into brilliance, they're always excellent, and some moments really get the pulse pounding. The script is also creative with its mayhem and there are many moments that you're unlikely to have seen before in an action pic.
The casting is perfect. As a group the leads couldn't be more likeable, or feel like a more enjoyably varied bunch, and as someone who watched a vast amount of the A-Team as a kid I didn't mind their re-invention one bit. (I got tired of the series once I was old enough to realise it was absurd that almost nobody ever got shot with THAT amount of bullets flying around).
People do get killed in this, and there are moments that amusingly toy with the series history that some die-hard fans may rebel against, but it's always a huge amount of fun, and never anything less than a greatly amusing thrill ride.

The movie is a fun and 'explosive' action movie that can be watched once in a while. It will not be sitting somewhere and collecting dust after watching it once.

For the American buyers, even though the BD is listed as Region B/2, it is actually Region A/1 and B/2. Therefore it will play on the NA blu-ray players also. The DVD however, is Region B/2. This edition also comes with 4 postcards/posters of the main cast, which are the size of the blu-ray case.

So it is definitely not a waste of your money because, for the price you get the Extended Triple play edition with all the extras.