THE A-TEAM Post Release Thread - Page 2

I really had a good time at the movies with this one. Copley, Wilson and Cooper were my favorites. I love it when a movie has great bad guys and this one had a couple great bad guys.

I had been reading this thread before the end so my expectations were higher than they should have been. I still loved it. But all the while I was saying to myself, "How ludicrous can the ending be that it would get so panned?" And then the ending happened. And it exceeded expectations also, but, you know, in the other direction.

But I'm willing to forgive a minute and a half of crazy for two hours of crazy fun.

Got out of a semi-packed screening a little while ago, and it was FRIGGIN' AWESOME! All 4 are firing on all cylinders, especially Copely. They get that they're making a silly action movie and have fun with it.

Copely hanging off of the rotor while singing "You spin me right round" had me in stitches. This is the first movie of the summer to just feel like genuine fun. Every time Neeson lit up a cigar and did that smile of his, I knew that I was watching an amazing piece of entertainment.

As soon as they showed that close up of "The Arab" in the photo, I turned to my girlfriend and said "That's the General". Glad I was able to call that.

Also liked the jab at 3D films. Complete with original A-Team music. I hope they make a sequel, because this movie certainly warrants one. A solid 10 out of 10.

Did ANYONE not know the General was the Arab? There were no other characters in the movie.

I thought it was fairly obvious. A film like this always needs a betrayal of some sort to get the lead character--Hannibal, in this case--good and pissed off.

I thought he was genuinely dead. I just figured it would be Lynch and Pike as the chief heavies.

I thought it might be Patrick Wilson.

Amid all the crappy cg containers, fireworks, and Hannibal offering a gun to Lynch for some reason (??), there's one shining moment: Pike feeling the need to yell out "BARACUS!" while B.A. is mid-motorcyle stunt leap.

The most thrilling dockyards finale since ERASER! zzzzzzzz

Why do so many movies end with boring dockyards confrontations? Is it because the money runs out, and they're forced to just sort of film a hasty resolution on a backlot with a lot of industrial scrap metal they had lying around? At night, for minimal visibility?

Carnahan blew a golden opportunity to spice up a boring dockyard scene. He should have loaded it up with shots of an excited B.A. controlling his remote control SUVs with cheap video game steering wheels. The finale needed something like that since they chose to eliminate Murdock's zany antics and put a bucket over his head.

devincf, I thought...The Sheik, might have been a late arriving character, just like in...Taken, where Mills daughter is presented to him on his boat.

Two days after seeing the movie, and with plenty of flashback exposition during the scene, and I still can't figure what the fuck that final plan was supposed to be.

Reasonably fun flick though. What's the over/under on what Bradley Cooper can bench press? I'm guessing 270.

Surprised no one has brought up the insane physics of shooting a falling tank into a lake. That made even my action-movie-concession radar go on the fritz; although the scene was, admittedly, pretty badass.

TCD, The final plan was Face's. He wanted to confuse, Lynch, which he did, but did not count on Pike, not getting killed, thus his plan failed...Spectacularly, yet no hero died, and, Lynch was captured, til another Lynch walked away with him.

I'll be honest, the mayhem wasn't my problem. The fireworks and remote control vans I kinda liked and giant find-the-ball-under-the-cup were crazy but kinda fit. The enormous mountain of tumbling and exploding containers did not.

And he gives him the gun so he can shoot Murdoch in the face where everyone can see him. I will say right now... not the safest plan in the world.

Yeah, Ebert took issue with that. I just choose to believe that he movie is set in a world where such things are possible.

Basically the plan was to put on a weird chaos show that would confuse Lynch, kill his men and lure him towards that "I'm right here Lyyyyyynch" container.

No I'm talking about the part after that where Hannibal makes fun of Lynch's fighting and says something like "You should stick with this!" Then he hands Lynch a gun and eventually gets shot.

Oh, that's right. Yeah, you got me.

I thoroughly enjoyed this movie. As a woman it was refreshing to finally have so much man-candy on screen. Oh yeah, and the action was good too.

The casting was spot-on. All the male leads owned their roles. I was relieved they didn't pull a Dukes of Hazzard and play the movie as a joke. Every time Liam Neeson lit his cigar my heart went aflutter. Bradley Cooper should consider doing all future movie roles with no shirt. Murdock and BA were great suprises. The actors made the characters almost adorable.

I'm really disappointed that the box office isn't living up to expectations. I would love to see a couple of sequels.

That whole sequence is very much the Star Trek 2009 moment of 2010. It shouldn't work but it does. So much going on and all the characters have extremely enjoyable business going on.

Then there's that sneaky bit at the end where they've actually driven the damn thing out of the lake to ask directions.

Agreed, while having some fun visual elements and some very very good moments from Pike (is it just me or does that actor get better the older and less pretty-boy he gets?), the finale doesn't match the rest of the movie let alone top it.

The building abseiling stuff was some of my favorite action in a long long time, right down to BA shooting the glass out from under him to get through to the ground. Pike showing he has nuts to spare and hopping down the rope himself was just great. Pity he had to die.

No problems with any of the casting. Copley has massive charm on screen. Carnahan was obviously able to make use of his unique talents despite how much of a misfit he may have been in a more industrial/Hollywood production. But this is a guy who juggled vastly different types of performers in Smokin' Aces, so no real surprise.

Fingers crossed this gets the time needed to pick up momentum at the box office. All the elements are there for a fun on-going summer action series.

I initially thought Morris wasn't in the Humvee, but all the shots of the funeral put that out of my mind, and I figured the Arab was just a non-essential cipher there to summon up an easily recognizable buyer for the plates. Didn't think he'd end up being important beyond being a detail in Pike's plan.

As for the film, THIS is how you do a TV-to-movie transfer. No ironic post-modern commentary, no spoofing, just take what people remember from the show and pump it up until it's worthy to be on the big screen. Just a loudly entertaining summer movie with great chemistry and action. The tank escape may be one of my favorite action sequences in years. Yes, it's over-the-top and totally implausible, but you just don't give a damn, and a lot of that credit goes to the cast hitting just the right "Are we really doing this??" tone.

And I kind of dug the port finale. Too many action films blow their wad in the middle and end with a final confrontation that's a little bit of a letdown. This felt suitably climactic.

I'm going to be so bummed if this doesn't get a sequel. I really want to see more of these characters.

I'm curious about the marketing of this movie. I saw trailers for A-team in the theater when I was watching other movies but I don't recall seeing any trailers on television. This should have been an event movie but other than the actors doing the late night tv rounds I didn't see any real attempt to build up anticipation.

I will also be disappointed, if there is no...A-Team 2, but at least it was a great film, and I cannot wait til it arrives on DVD. I love it when a plan comes together.

Same here. That ending was almost Bay-worthy.

I enjoyed the crap out of this film, despite it being about as plausible as an X-Men movie. Everyone in the cast delivered.

The A-Team, might not have made enough money, but I must add...TANKS, for the memories, to the filmmakers, as the film is...Awesome!

Yeah, just got back from seeing this and the only 'weak' point was the final set piece but even with that the movie was great. Just solidly and goofily entertaining. Copley was great but Rampage was the one that surprised me the most. Really seemed to be channeling Mr. T at points.

Last time I felt like this walking out of a movie was with Star Trek. Can't wait to see this again.

I thought Rampage was quite likeable as B.A.
His LET ME OUTTA HEEEEUHHHHHHHH container scene was one of my favorite parts of the movie.

"Wit toast points??"

I liked his Dave-Chappelle-as-Lil'-Jon "Yeaaaaaaah!!"

This movie was great. I'm actually pretty disappointed it's not raking more green in.

What were the District 9 drops people are mentioning it?

I know Copley broke out the Afrikaner accent when he was complaining about the CNN microphone always being on the top, is that what they're talking about?

I loved every minute of this movie.


Best and most fun film I've seen all summer.

Seconded, on both counts.

Agreed, but for the whole damn movie. The four just seem to be having such a good time both as characters and as actors, it's hard not to love.

I can't wait to see this.

Fun time at the movies. While there was some shake and quick cutting to the action, it was fairly comprehensible.

Though the set pieces were fairly large, the actual "boss" fights seemed to be fairly economical. Baracus trades a couple of punches with Pike, then lands him on his neck. Hannibal has his fight scene too, but it's pretty quick and dirty, though he wasn't trying to kill Lynch.

I found it kinda funny that, according to the trailer, Hannibal's team only needs an hour to be unbeatable. But, in the movie, evidently the A-Team needs six months.

This movie being this year's Star Trek feels fairly accurate. And there is quite a bit of stuff that doesn't work the second you think about it. As for the coincidence of the team getting together, I chalk that up to Hannibal's opinion, and not the universe conspiring to course correct like Star Trek appeared to.

And, did they sail from Germany to LA in two days?

Jessica Biel is dull as dishwater. Nothing against her. She just BORES up the screen!

I couldn't give a shit about the plot, but this was a lot of fun because of the male cast. Loved the way Patrick Wilson took a stock villain and made him fun. Pike seemed like a non-entity at first but gave me serious Mark Strong vibes as the movie went on and I loved it.

Loved that small moment in the opening sequence where even the dude chasing the A-Team in the chopper is so impressed with Murdock's flying that he's laughing in glee. That's what I loved most about the movie. Everyone's having fun (except for Biel)! Especially the stock villains!

I wasn't all that taken with most of the action sequences. The A-Team vs. a ship full of toppling Legos? C'mon. But that tank escape sequence totally works because the team is so busy insanely enjoying their freefall of doom. In this movie, the more ridiculous and unbelievable the caper, the better. It got to feeling a bit conventional by the end.

I also thought the Arab was gonna be Patrick Wilson.

EDIT: Also loved that they used a promotional still from the movie for Face calling Biel. I did a double-take there. THAT'S how you use a promotional still, Crystal Skull!

He was swagged-the-fuck out - IMHO. I agree about the Mark Strong vibes. In this, he was a young, lean and mean Mark Strong.

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RE: JOE CARNAHAN AS MI: III DIRECTOR

Remember when he was in - but dropped out because of creative differences? Shit. We would have had something special other than that expensive TV pilot POS as directed by JJ Abrams. Fuck. MI: III would've been crazy!

Joe Caranahan is now certified. He made a believer after this and I want more from him. Let Fox give him TAKEN 2 - if that shit goes down. Yeah, let that marinate.

I can't wait to see THE A-TEAM again.

I enjoyed this film when they weren't concentrating so much of the story and just hanging out with the A-Team. It's when they felt the need to go from plot point A to B to C that I felt it drag to me.

Solid movie, but I've got no need to revisit it again anytime soon.

Caught the tail end of the A-Team credits as we were walking out of Splice (which was great) last night - the back to back easter egg scenes with Cooper and Dirk Benedict and Copley and Dwight Schultz are fun little winks at old fans of the show.

And of course, Benedict is pissed about how small their roles were.

Really liked this movie. My favorite of the Summer, so far.

I'll throw in another gripe about the finale not being as good as it should have been. Seemed like a wasted opportunity to put the Murdock character in a helmet with no way to speak. Each action set piece showcased each of the characters skills or charms, and the end sort of threw Murdock not just to the sideline, but completely out of the game.

Maybe it's because he was always my favorite character as a kid.

I loved the decision to have Rampage not just do a Mr. T impression. His zen/pacifist moment was a fun idea.

it cracked me up that Biel was the only character taking things seriously. Chicks always gotta ruin the fun. If they made a sequel I wouldn't mind if they made her part of the team and gave her a funnier/sexier role.

I would pay buckets of money to see a sequel with the two Lynchs vs. the A-Team and Biel. Those two (Wilson and Mr. D) would have fantastic bad-guy chemistry together.

Really enjoyed this. It's just smart enough not to be completely dumb. Wilson was a stand-out, and if the rest of the cast weren't so strong, he easily would have walked away with it. And Bradley Cooper continues his rehabilitation streak with me -- I couldn't stand the guy until Hangover, now, I'm a fan.

I was under the impression that Hamm was the new Lynch, as in Wilson's Lynch was gonna take a dirtnap. I might have mis-read that though. On the other hand, with him alive, he can come back for a sequel, so that's good.

If not take a dirtnap, then at least be the section head in charge of counting snowflakes in Antarctica. When Lynch #1 flips the double bird at the guys, I got the impression this was more "The agency takes care of its own" than "Don't worry, we'll take him out and shoot him ourselves."

My favourite instance of this was in DIE HARD 4, where they look at a file photo of Holly McClane, and it's just a grainy, pixellated screencap from the first DIE HARD.

Oh was it? I didn't catch that one. I'll have to look for it the next time I see Die Hard 4... which is to say I won't be seeing it at all for a while.

Great tag-team review, guys! I was planning on catching this on DVD, but after reading this review I'm going to see if I have some free time to go see it in theatre instead. If it indeed turns out to be as fun as Star Trek was last year, which was my favorite summer movie of 2009, I think I'll enjoy The A-Team just as much.

I saw...The A-Team, Again, And it is just As...Awe-Inspiringly Awesome As, the first time, I saw it!

So does this movie have the longest opening credits ever?
I think it takes a good 20 minutes for "Directed by Joe Carnahan" to pop up on screen.

This movie was way better than it should have been.

It also had my two favorite moments of ANY movie this year..

1) With toast points?

2) Theme, "The Great Escape", CRASH, perfect pause, "YEAH!!!" (I almost pissed myself there)

Boomer, What do you mean by...The film is way better than it should have been? The A-Team, is the best action series...Ever! The film as great as it is, does not compare to...The Classic, A-Team series from the 80's. The series barely slowed down to breathe. The only fault of this film, is that there wasn't anyone to save, but themselves. If Gerald McRaney could play General Morrison, then...Dirk Benedict could have been cast as The General. I can see why Dirk Benedict, is upset about his tiny cameo.