"The A-Team are back, but it's just not the same"

Nostalgia is a wonderful thing.  I vaguely remember watching the A-Team as a kid.  Hannibal – cool and calculating.  Face – even cooler.  BA – definition of a tough guy.  Murdoch – crazy.  ‘The Van’ – coolest thing on 4 wheels.  For me, the memories are good, great even, because I only remember the cool stuff – the genius characters, the explosions, the car chases – nothing else remained.

It was with great anticipation therefore that I sat down in my comfy chair, in front of a gigantic screen, awaiting the big debut of what I considered to be one of the coolest TV shows ever made.  Make no mistake I was pumped up for this one.  Regrettably, the film didn’t (and perhaps was always destined not to) live up to the hype, and I left the cinema feeling rather deflated if I’m honest.

There are some good moments – I like the revised genesis of the team, and the action scenes are undoubtedly very well put together.  The casting too was spot on across the board – Sharlto Copley as Murdoch was particularly inspired.  What really lets the film down is a poor script (some of the dialogue is absolutely lamentable), compounded by a Spinal Tap-esque need to have the volume turned up to 11.  You find yourself desperate to try to get into the film more, engage with the characters, but half the time you’re struggling to even understand what they’re saying over the noise of gunfire and explosions.

I wonder if people of a younger generation would enjoy the film more – whilst it doesn’t do itself any favours, I’m under no illusion that I probably set my expectations too high, and was therefore always going to be disappointed.  I think the saddest thing though, are the cameos at the end from Dirk Benedict and Dwight Schultz.  There is absolutely no need for them, and they serve only to ensure that the film ends on a sour note.