Movies

If ever there were a movie targeted directly at boys (in the same way Sex and the City 2 skewed to women and gay men) this is it.

The A-Team is so knowingly frenetic and ridiculous you can't help but enjoy it. In what reality would you see rogue commandos flying a tank and shooting aircraft out of the sky, without enduring a single scratch?

Based on the cult TV series from the 1980s, The A-Team follows a group of former Special Forces soldiers with irreverent methods of protecting their country. These guys are rebels to the core: Hannibal (Liam Neeson), the cool, calm and collected leader; Templeton "Face" Peck (Bradley Cooper), the hunky egomaniac; B.A. Baracus (Quinton "Rampage" Jackson), the team's brawn whose catchphrase "I pity the fool" is part of pop culture lexicon; and H.M. "Howlin' Mad" Murdock (Sharlto Copley), who literally is quite mad.

But when the A-Team is set-up for a crime they didn't commit, they must go on the run to clear their names.

At just over 90 minutes, The A-Team is wall-to-wall action, effectively one long chase scene. The special effects (mostly explosions — lots and lots of them) are top notch, and director Joe Carnahan (Smokin' Aces) has a confident hand with staging stunts.

Thankfully the actors make the most of their characters, which were probably cardboard cut-outs on the printed page. Neeson is a charismatic lead, while full credit must go to Cooper whose cockiness as "Face" is effortless. Jackson looks the part as a modern-day Mr. T, although South African actor Copley (so brilliant in District 9) flounders with an American accent.

Plot twists are predictable — it isn't hard to guess the underlying motives of CIA operative Lynch (Patrick Wilson) or true feelings of Captain Charissa Sosa (Jessica Biel) — but that's beside the point.

Oh, and if you've never seen the original TV series, it doesn't matter one bit.