Review: The A-Team (6/10) - 2010: I Pity The Fools

Remakes are dodgy territory in my opinion, especially a series I grew up watching and loving. The cheesy one-liners, BA's susceptibility to drinking milk to get on a plane, Hannibal's cigar-smoking smile, Murdock's perfect insanity, and Faceman's seductive skills, coupled with flipping cars and bullets that never hit anyone were what made it such a phenomenal television show. So here is how I discovered this new film even existed. I was sitting in the cinema waiting to watch Inception, and the trailer for this film came up. I sat there with my head in my hands, to the point of breaking down in tears as to how they ruined a perfectly respectable show. The characters did not fit those I knew and loved: Mr. T is irreplaceable for one thing, and the new theme tune was nowhere near as good as the original.




Here's a tip to all you directors out there who want to produce a remake: Don't deviate too much from the original, or face the backlash! At least keep the theme tune from the original! I mean fair enough, in one section of the film they use the original track, but be consistent and use it in the marketing too!

The story centers around a group of Iraq War veterans looks to clear their name with the U.S. military, who suspect the four men of committing a crime for which they were framed. The group consists of Colonel John 'Hannibal' Smith (Liam Neeson), Lt. Templeton 'Faceman' Peck (Bradley Cooper), Sergeant Bosco 'B.A.' Baracus (Quinton 'Rampage' Jackson), Captain James 'Howling Mad' Murdock (Sharlto Copley) and also Jessica Biel as Charissa Sosa.

Watch the following trailer to see what I mean:



Flying tanks and general ridiculous storyline were one of the main reasons I did not go to the cinema to watch this film. In fact, I was on a five-hour British Airways flight on-board a flight from Cyprus, back to the UK. Unlike the more modern Cyprus Airways planes I normally fly on, I thought I had stepped back in time onto a plane with shared 16" isle box televisions. "Fair enough," I thought, as I was sure they would have a better selection of films on BA than on Cyprus Airways. I opened the entertainment guide and hey presto... The A-Team. 5 Hours stuck on a plan with no entertainment but this 117 minute pathetic excuse for a remake. I mean, I'm FAIRLY sure it was the Vietnam war, not the Iraq War where they met, not to mention BA usually wears tonnes of gold chains claiming that he "ain't gettin' on no plane," compared to "chopper". I was annoyed but thought I may as well give it a go.

You know what? Director Joe Carnahan actually did a decent job. I have no qualms in saying that the storyline was pathetically poor, as was most of the acting aside from Liam Neeson (as always), and newcomer Sharlto Copley (who is possibly the only person on earth who could possibly immitate Dwight Shultz' version of Murdock). Liam Neeson was as effective as George Peppard (who sadly passed away in 1994 with lung cancer). I thought "Rampage" was quite poor, but there seems to be this considerable trend in that wrestlers/cage fighters seem to think that they can act when they get the chance (aside from Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson and Steve Austin who are showing considerable signs of improvement). I have a gigantic crush on Jessica Biel, but recently I think she's been a bit wooden as an actress... but don't worry Jessica, I still love you. Bradley Cooper has been getting all the breaks since his hit film "The Hangover" (2009), and he does quite a good job of imitating Dirk Benedict's Faceman.

Overall I have rated this film 6/10, because as a stand-alone film, I did find myself really enjoying myself as it unfolded. I think the charm of ridiculous scenarios, coupled with a bit more violence and grit than the original, was a welcoming addition to this version. I do feel that it was totally unnecessary to show how the group met for the first time, as everyone knows that they were a unit. In a way it was nice to bring the story forward a few decades, but would have been nice to retain the original recordings of the narration and theme tune. Finally, I think that if I had never grown up with the original series, I would have enjoyed this a lot more, but simply because it was not the same feel as the original, it does not beat its charm and wit overall. I guess "I ain't gettin' on no BA Plane" to Cyprus again!

Review: Kick-Ass (9/10) - 2010: Does Exactly What It Says On The Tin..

I began writing this review some time ago, but never got the chance to finalise it. This is primarily due to my lack of spare time and social life throughout my masters, so here it is, however belated. So here we are, graced with yet another superhero movie on our screens.

This is no ordinary superhero movie. This film capitalises on the failures of its predecessors, in that it establishes an original take on an age-old idea. Dave Lizewski (Aaron Johnson) is an unnoticed high school student and comic book fan, who one day decides to become a super-hero. However, he has no powers, training or meaningful reason to do so.






Dave takes it upon himself to put an end to his savage beatings, to prevent everyday, helpless people from being mugged, and provide a service wherever possible. Big Daddy (Nicholas Cage) and Hit-Girl (Chloe Moretz), unknown to Dave, have been tracking his every move in a bid to recruit him in their quest for revenge on Frank D'Amico (Mark Strong), and his geeky son Red Mist (Christopher Mintz-Plasse).

Watch the hilarious trailer below:



From the start of the film after watching this trailer, I knew that this film was going to be something special. I remember reading Twitter feeds that mentioned that this film took the SXSW (South By Southwest) Film Festival unexpectedly, leaving viewers stunned and loving it at the same time. This is exactly how I felt as I watched the film often asking myself the same question over and over "Did they just do that?!" An example of this is Chloe Moretz (AKA Hit-Girl) uttering the phrase "Come get some you C***s!". I was left both in shock and hysterical laughter at the same time.

In response to criticism towards this she stated in an interview that, "If I ever uttered one word that I said in Kick-Ass, I would be grounded for years! I'd be stuck in my room until I was 20! I would never in a million years say that. I'm an average, everyday girl." Moretz has said that while filming, she could not bring herself to say the film's title out loud in interviews, instead calling it "the film" in public and "Kick-Butt" at home.

Moretz can be commended in that she performed around 80% of her own stunts. When you watch this film will realise just how shockingly brilliant this performance was from this upcoming talent. I believe that her natural ability on-screen will improve even further with time, but watch this space...believe me (unless she does a Macaulay Culkin and f***s it up. Fingers crossed she doesn't!).

In a way, some may argue that the film's concept is similar to Watchmen (2009), in that the superheroes don't in fact have any superpowers. However I believe that it is still completely original through its use of wit, comedy, and pure ruthlessness. The soundtrack can also be given a mention as I felt that it was very prominent throughout the film, in text-book superhero fashion.

I must confess that I was not aware that Nicholas Cage was in this film at all, as he was in none of the marketing material I had witnessed. Both Daniel Craig and Mark Wahlberg were considered for the role of Big Daddy before Nicolas Cage was cast, which I think in hindsight was an intelligent move. Cage tends to play a very similar role in every movies he is cast in, and this was no exception. However it can be mentioned that he modelled his speech mannerisms on the original Batman played by Adam West.

I believe that the film benefited from the fact that Cage's role in the film (which is of a decent size) was not used as a marketing ploy. Another marketing strategy that the company could have, but didn't plug, was the fact that Brad Pitt was one of the producers for the film. Every actor has their positives and negatives, however, with a relatively unknown cast other than McLovin' star, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, and maybe Mark Strong (Frank D'Amico), along with Dexter Fletcher (as thug, Cody), this movie (as with Superbad), shows that unknowns often have the potential to be just as convincing and effective as the household names.

There are numerous bits of trivia hidden in this film, all of which can be viewed via IMDB's link. An example is one section in the movie after Kick Ass meets Hit Girl for the first time, where the audience can see Big Daddy standing in front of a gigantic advertising billboard featuring Claudia Schiffer. The main reason for this is that Claudia Schiffer is actually married to the film's director, Matthew Vaughn
.

One of the main positives that can be taken from this film from a film-maker's perspective is that all of the profits are in fact coming back to the UK. This is a rarity even for English films, as numerous investments come from the likes of America, therefore returning to the USA. With this in mind, all I can hope is that this film sets a trend for English films everywhere, helping the British Film Industry as a whole. I would also like to commend my friend Philippe Ludivig from Bournemouth University, who's role in the film was LipSync Post Compositor!

I have rated this brilliantly crafted 117 Minute-long film a rating of 9/10, and aside from mentally picturing Eric Cartman proudly shouting out the title after watching it; the film, like Ronsil, does exactly what it says on the tin... It kicks ass!