Overkill is underrated

We watched the new A-Team movie yesterday, and enjoyed it so much we could easily have bought another ticket to watch it immediately afterward, if we hadn't had afternoon plans.

It's a thrill a minute, completely overblown action (the tank scene was hilariously improbable but hugely entertaining) and a rather unoriginal plot about double-crosses upon double-crosses - but that's not what made it for me. I was hugely entertained by the interaction between Hannibal (Liam Neeson), B.A. (Quentin "Rampage" Jackson), Face (Bradley Cooper) and my personal favourite, Howlin' Mad Murdoch (SA's own Sharlto Copley).

Buddy movies with easygoing banter are my absolute favourite, and I can forgive a lot if I find the characters engaging. Yes, the movie was overwrought in many places and there were several illogical moments (Sosa's phone is tapped but two calls to her from the same phone and only the first one is overheard by the baddies?) but, by and large, it didn't really matter.

That wonderful B.A./Murdoch elemnt has retained all its zaniness and Jackson plays Baracus to perfection (he was CRYING in the helicopter! Brilliant), while Sharlto made Murdoch come alive. His knack for accents was used to perfection here.

Also, I dig a film where the tough-guy baddies are named Black Forest. Really? THeir sooper-sekrit squad of bad boy assassins is named after a CAKE? BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

OK, so the CIA scene in the office with the token female and that misogynistic bullshit got my goat. I'm assuming it's to show the CIA in a bad light (those spooks!) but it was certainly jarring. And I'd have loved to have seen Jessica Biel do some ass-kicking the way she did in The Kingdom.

Still, a fun watch, certainly for me, and the kind of movie I'd buy for my personal collection, if only to enjoy the team scenes where they're yelling at each other or bursting into what certainly seems like genuine laughter (Bradley Cooper's mischievous grin certainly threatened to break out more than once). Hey, I've watched Transformers around 20 times just because I enjoy the characterisation (and the blowing things up) - what can I say, I really enjoy Bruckheimer's movies (apart from 2012, that is).

And now, some (probably better thought out) reviews:
Action Chick agrees with me!
Nerd Lunch also thought it ruled.
Veronica the film critic: "I naturally gravitate towards stories in which a close-knit group of friends fight injustice together and grow closer to one another in the process." <-- That's my feeling exactly! It's why I enjoy Dean Koontz books so much. OK, so she didn't enjoy it as much as I did, but she still found it enjoyable.

Oh, and while it didn't stick 100% to the series - who cares? It captured the spirit, and that's good enough for me.