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"Team" works

"The A-Team" is the latest in what has become a genre all its own: the TV adaptation (see "Miami Vice", "Get Smart", "Land of the Lost", etc). Filmmakers, strapped for new ideas, dip into a seemingly bottomless vault of past TV series (of varying degrees of quality and popularity). Many of these shows wouldn't get past the idea stage in today's television landscape. But in search of the next event movie and, better still, franchise, Hollywood is willing to dust off even the most derided vehicle (three "Knight Rider" reboots and counting!) and label it a "classic" (and by the way, where's my "Greatest American Hero" adaptation?).

"The A-Team" was a testosterone-fueled, four-way buddy story from the mind of 80s uber-producer Stephen J. Cannell (Mr. Cannell was to 80s hour-long TV what John Hughes was to teen comedies). "Team" lends itself well to the event movie aesthetic. Each episode of the original series typically featured the loosest thread of a plot, surrounded on all sides by macho swagger and culminating in the type of "let's build it" montage that would make the "Mythbusters" quake in their overalls.

For the adaptation, co-writer/director Joe Carnahan ("Narc", "Smokin' Aces") sticks with a simple plan: cast it well and don't stray far from the formula. His "Team" has a barely-there plot and cardboard villains that struggle to hold together a series of increasingly loud, over-the-top and, yes, ludicrous action scenes.

But Mr. Carnahan knows his way around an unintelligible action sequence. The bigger concern with updating "The A-Team" is the casting. More than the show itself, the original cast is highly revered and seemingly irreplaceable. Well, ok, maybe not Face and Murdock, but certainly George Peppard's Col. Hannibal Smith. And that's to say nothing of B.A. Baracus, a character virtually indistinguishable from the actor who portrayed him (Mr. T, fool).

Against all odds, Mr. Carnahan casts the film perfectly across the board. As Face, fresh off the success of "The Hangover" and riding a wave of IT-boy hotness, Bradley Cooper makes an appropriately smug pretty-boy whose looks can withstand even the nastiest knuckle sandwich. For Murdock, Sharlto Copley from "District 9" is a pleasant surprise. Amping up the mental instability of the character, Mr. Copley's Murdock is a dangerous combination of questionable sanity and brilliant proficiency. Continuing the "who woulda thunk it" casting, none other than Liam Neeson takes on the Peppard role. The always reliable actor is more at ease here than any time in recent memory. He wears a comfortable swagger to go with the trademark stogie, and it's easy to understand why his team would follow him anywhere. Finally, there's UFC champ Quinton 'Rampage' Jackson as B.A. Faced with the unenviable task of filling Mr. T's mohawk, Mr. Jackson comes out swinging (literally) and does an admirable job. He's clearly an inexperienced actor, but he holds his own in a nearly impossible situation.

As for the film itself, Mr. Carnahan and his co-writers, Brian Bloom and Skip Woods, give us a quick "origin story" before throwing the team into a convoluted mess of a plot involving the D.O.D. and CIA, represented by Jessica Biel (holding her own) and Patrick Wilson (having a ball), respectively. And it all leads up to a climactic scene that strains the very capacity of the word unbelievable.

But somehow it works. A simple plot, lots of action, and four charismatic actors having a great time. And the film never, ever takes itself seriously (if the opening "Somewhere in Mexico" doesn't tip you off, the subsequent "Somewhere else in Mexico" will). Sounds like a recipe for a good "A-Team" movie. And if that's what you're in the mood for, that's what you'll get. I'm sure Mr. Carnahan and his team love it when their plan comes together.