The A Team Review: "A" Plus! I Pity The Fool, and Other Predictable Puns!

So, I just got home from watching the new A Team movie, starring Liam Neeson, Bradley Cooper, and Jessica Biel, among others. I freaking LOVED it! To give you an idea, it's Qui-Gon Jinn, Phil from "The Hangover", Wikus from "District 9" with less sanity, and an MMA fighter taking people out. It was without question the best movie of the summer thus far (Sorry, but nothing will beat Toy Story 3, just sayin'). It has the well thought out and beyond ridiculous action of Prince of Persia, with the non-stop and often overflowing wit of Iron Man 2.

The cast was awesome. Neeson continues his badass streak from "Taken", while adding in a few good laughs of his own. Cooper supplies the sleek factor, moving the plot, cracking up audiences, and still blowing up a lot of crap in a cool fashion. Quinton "Rampage" Jackson, a prolific MMA fighter, fit perfectly. His acting wasn't very good, which made him a perfect Mr. T substitute. And Sharlto Copley of District 9 fame, was, in his own words, "Bat-shit crazy", and a hell of a lot of fun to watch. Jessica Biel didn't really add much, as per usual, but fit the part of essentially emotionless hot girl. Patrick Wilson (Night Owl from "Watchmen") made a surprisingly awesome villain as well, combing the realistic corrupt government guy with the archetypal madmen with a taste of theatrics.

For anyone who walks out say "Wow, the action was SO fake!", honestly, why in the world did you go see the movie? Seriously, even if you don't know much about the TV show (like myself), and didn't catch ANY of the trailers, you have to have figured out in the first 5 minutes what it was going to be like. As ridiculous as it was, the action was both clever, inventive, B.A. (get it? Like the character?), and often times hilarious ("No, they're trying to fly that tank...").

The dialog is what really surprised me. I was not expecting to laugh as much as I did. Obviously Rampage's character can only be so funny as the angry black guy, but the biggest source of comedy to me was actually Copley, not Cooper, despite how hilarious he was in "The Hangover". Cooper still was quite humorous, but the sheer craziness of Murdock had me literally loling (not the instant message version, which usually means you find something funny enough to chuckle quietly at best). And it was all much faster than I expected. I assumed that there would be well-timed one liners, and there were. But the fast-paced quips the A Team threw back and forth shocked me, and I think that you can easily watch this movie again and find a great gem that you missed the first time.

Overall, I loved The A Team and I think it's a perfect summer flick. It's certainly not going to win an Oscar, but it is completely entertaining, and a spectacle that is a lot of fun to watch (Biel definitely included in that). Worth the ridiculous ticket price and will hold you over until Toy Story 3. (He's just a dinosaur!)