The opening three minutes of Joe Carnahan's hey-we-haven't-remade-every-'80s-property-yet project, THE A-TEAM, had me convinced that I was about to fall in love.
First, there was the Scott Free Production tag. Y'all know what that means, right? My boy Tony Scott had his hands all over this! Or possibly his hack brother. But then came the subtitles, and I became convinced that Tony had come up to Mr. Carnahan at some point and said, "Joe, you know what would be great? If the subtitles mimicked the actors' delivery and we made the word 'blood' appear in red. Blood red. Get it?" To which Joe Carnahan could only drop to his knees and thank Tony for his unrivaled cinematic genius, while Ridley went off and moped about the Robin Hood opening week gross. And then, after the DOMINO-esque subtitle display made me giddy with neo-impressionistic joy, they went and blasted The Game's "House of Pain" on the soundtrack.
Friends, it was at this point that I seriously re-evaluated my expectations for this film. To be honest, I've never seen the show, but it sounds like a redneck version of Mission: Impossible, and my expectations were somewhere around a Brett Ratner Level (a BRL, for those hip to the acronym game). But Tony Scott-inspired visuals and a hip-hop soundtrack? I began to suspect that this film may have been made just for me.
Sadly, Jessica Biel shows up and there's a oddly dated "Three Kings"-ish inspired subplot and Carnahan decides to go to full-out cartoon mode in the third act, and you end up with something that, while certainly not at BRLs of disappointment, is nowhere near the frenzied delirium of a Tony Scott film.
THE A-TEAM does have one remarkable sequence, where the squad jumps out of a plane in a tank when they're shot down, only to have the tank shot down as well. The scene is full of tension, humour, and some insane action beats. There's also some fun stuff with the CIA characters in the film that recalls the more madcap moments of Carnahan's earlier effort, SMOKIN' ACES.
But at the end of it, I just wanted to see a Tony Scott version of this. Or THE LOSERS, which I liked better.
This is worth seeing, by the way, if only to watch Liam Neeson scream, "Fire Everything!"
ReplyDeleteI didn't read this one yet, I will after I see the movie, but from the title I have to ask: Does this want to be a Tony Scott movie or do YOU want this to be a Tony Scott movie?
ReplyDeleteI think Tony Scott wanted it to be a Tony Scott movie, Doug.
ReplyDeleteWell put, sir. But lets not deny the fact that this is just a ridiculously fun movie to watch. Not the best of its breed, sure, but fun entertainment none the less.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely! I felt it fell off in the third act, but it was fun. Did you see THE LOSERS, Doug? The more I think about it, the more similar these movies seem.
ReplyDeleteI haven't sen that one yet. I'll have to check it out on your recommendation! Also, I've always really wanted to check out Conversations With Other Women, so I may have to borrow your copy!
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