”The A-Team” Movie Review

    “The A-Team” was a film based on one of my favorite television shows as a kid.  It was a fun show and it clicked with audiences in the 1980s.  I remember having A-Team toys and Mr. T seemed like he was everywhere, he was even on cereal boxes!  The cultural impact of “The A-Team” can’t be ignored.

    The basic story of the movie tells the origins of The A-Team which was narrated over the opening credits of the television show.  A small group of soldiers were ordered to do an illegal mission, the mission backfired and then they were convicted of a crime they didn’t commit.  The soldiers promptly escaped and set out on a mission to clear their name.

    The cast is led by Liam Neeson who takes over the role of Hannibal, the leader of the team.  He looks the role and has a natural command over the audience so you believe he could be a Colonel.  Bradley Cooper portrays Lieutenant“Faceman” Peck.  For such a skilled actor, Cooper doesn’t do much to make the character feel layered.  “District 9” breakout Sharlto Copley gives the film’s most faithful performance as “Howling Mad” Murdock.  His unstable performance seems lifted straight out of the show.  As for B.A. Baracus, UFC fighter Quinton “Rampage” Jackson took over the role from Mr. T.  The problem with the character of B.A. Baracus is that Mr. T was so closely associated with the role that it’s hard to separate the actor from the character.  Jackson doesn’t have the screen presence Mr. T had.  Jackson also isn’t the best actor for a lead role.

  The modern setting is part of the problem with the movie in my opinion.  In a post Vietnam world of the 1980s, potentially living under the radar was more feasible. It was unrealistic that a group of ex-soldiers could survive as “soldiers of fortune” in the underground even back then. It is practically impossible nowadays.  The Vietnam War setting was also important because it acted as a sort of allegory to how all the veterans of that war felt.  They came home and felt out of place, accused of being criminals over a conflict they were forced to participate in.  Now, veterans are considered heroes, there is no draft, and generally speaking, there are a lot of good programs out there to help veterans out.  We live in a different world today partly because of Vietnam.

    The television show wisely skipped over the part depicting the team’s “crimes” because that isn’t, for the most part, what the show wanted to focus on.  It was a show about a group of misfits who help the helpless.  The movie should have followed suit.

Grade: C

“The Scorpion King 2: Rise of a Warrior” Movie Review

    “The Scorpion King 2: Rise of a Warrior” was the first direct to video movie in “The Scorpion King” franchise.  Universal Studios had planned to make a proper theatrical sequel starring The Rock but after putting it off and passing on scripts, Universal decided to take the franchise is a different direction.  I remember being excited to buy it hoping it would be a good movie.  I was very naive then.

    The film isn’t actually a sequel to “The Scorpion King”.  This may get confusing so you might need to reread this, the film serves as a prequel to “The Scorpion King” which in itself was a prequel to “The Mummy Returns” which was a sequel to the 1999 version of “The Mummy” which was a remake of the 1932 version of “The Mummy”.  ::Breaths in and out::  That is probably the most interesting thing about this movie sadly.

    The film focuses on Mathayus’ quest to avenge his father’s death.  Most of the adventures in the film seem like time fillers and are almost instantly forgettable.  I really wanted to enjoy the movie but there wasn’t much in the movie to make you feel invested.

    The film was directed by Russell Mulcahy of “Highlander” fame.  Seeing Russell Mulcahy’s name attached to the project gave me some hope.  Mulcahy is a capable film director so a direct to video movie should be no problem for him to handle.  Unfortunately, this movie was more “Highlander 2” than “Highlander”.

    Michael Copon takes over the role of Mathayus from The Rock.  Copon is no Dwayne Johnson and has almost no charm.  One has to imagine even on a direct to video budget, there were better actors for the money.  Randy Couture of UFC fame plays the main villain of the movie. I imagine they cast Couture because of his fame in the UFC at the time and they figured they would create a movie star like they did with The Rock.  Randy Couture isn’t terrible given his limited acting experience, but he doesn’t command the screen presence of Dwayne Johnson.

    Lastly, what is with the ending of this film?  In “The Mummy Returns”, The Scorpion King emerges as a terrible cgi effect and ruins the ending.  In this film, the lead villain turns into a giant invisible scorpion.  Did the filmmakers run out of money?  It certainly seems so and the scene is laughably bad.  Maybe I was just too disappointed at the time to care but I tried my best to give the movie a fair shake.  I remember liking the movie more when I first watched it.  This movie doesn’t improve with rewatching though.  I have seen worse but for a feature film, the movie doesn’t offer much entertainment value.

Grade: D-