Still wanted by the government, surviving as soldiers of fortune, The A-Team is updated, recast and reimagined with a sense of glee and a taste for the ridiculous. I don’t know about you, but when a band of men on a mission attempts to fly a tank as a last resort, I swoon for their can-do attitude. The A-Team is pure action-fantasy, and its catch-phrase/motto (shared with the original ’80s TV series), “I love it when a plan comes together,” has a direct majesty that captures the characters’ virtuous zeal. Fun, attractive stuff. I wish, though, that the script paid better attention to the mundane details. If the filmmakers want us to accept flying tanks, don’t make us wonder how the guys travelled quickly from Germany to LA in a cargo ship.
This article appears in Jun 17-23, 2010.