Let's get this out of the way: "The A-Team" is dumb.
I don't mean it strains credulity or has a plot hole or two. I mean stone-cold, slobber-in-its-Cheerios, brainless, mindless, unbelievably dumb.
It's also a lot of fun.
It's got a solid cast playing the lead roles: Liam Neeson takes over for the late George Peppard as Hannibal Smith, the leader of the ragtag group of soldiers of fortune, Bradley Cooper is "Faceman" Peck, MMA star Quentin "Rampage" Jackson dons Mr. T's mohawk as BA Baracas, and "District 9" star Sharlto Copley is "Howling Mad" Murdock.
If you never saw the TV show from the 80s, basically know that these four guys were Army Rangers turned soldiers of fortune who helped the downtrodden who were suffering from injustice. The film version is more or less an origin story, where we see the boys all meet for the first time as soldiers on the outs, framed and put away, before they break out of the joint and set out on a new profession as heavies for hire.
There's some subplot about a corrupt CIA agent (Patrick Wilson) and one of Face's exes (Jessica Biel), but I kind of wasn't paying that much attention between explosions. I don't think I missed much.
The action sequences, such as they are, are utterly balls-to-the-wall lunacy. You know those plans Hannibal loves to see come together? Well, one of them involves racing a motorcycle at an 18-wheeler, laying it down, leaping off it onto the truck, then affixing airbags to the side of the container on the truck's flatbed, then driving that truck into a lake. I'm not making any of that up.
We also get the guys escaping an exploding airplane by climbing into a conveniently-placed tank, which happens to have conveniently-placed giant parachutes attached to it, then the guys dogfight with the planes from the tank.
It's the cast that saves the film. Each brings a certain likability and a similarity to the original characters without being a parody or a cheap imitation.
Make no mistake: "The A-Team" is shut-down-your-bran, mindless entertainment, but it's entertaining and a good time.
Blu ray extras include theatrical and extended "unrated" versions, a featurette on director Joe Carnahan, deleted scenes, a gag reel, an "A-Team" theme mash-up, and a "Plan of Attack" featurette.
Film: 3.5 Yaps Extras: 3.5 Yaps