So. I am about to make a rather large confession here.
I love 70s and early 80s American TV shows. You know the kind of thing...formulaic episodes, ridiculous tropes, overacting and overkill. Things happening that no reasonable suspension of disbelief would allow, yet somehow, in their own context working. Stuff like Knight Rider. The Six Billion Dollar Man. The old Wonder Woman live action series.
I adore that stuff. It's crazy, and it has, arguably, no literary value whatsoever...pure, raw, check your brain at the door entertainment.
However, I have rather mixed feelings about the current trend towards remaking these old 'gems'. Take the new Battlestar Galactica. Is it good television? Yes. Is it Battlestar Galactica? Umm. Not really.
So, I approached the idea of an A Team movie with trepidation. Would they take it too seriously? Would they rack up the body count? Would they, like many of the original fans, miss the point that it is not supposed to be realistic? More than anything else...
could ANYONE other than Mr. T be BA?
But when I saw the trailer, I was halfway convinced. Today I saw the movie.
Yes. Somebody other than Mr. T can be BA. It's not quite the same BA. For once, casting a wrestler worked...the guy can actually act and he looked right.
Yes, somebody other than Dirk Benedict can most definitely be Face. Bradley Cooper rocked. Sharlto Copley was delightfully unrecognizable as Murdoch (He looked quite, quite different in District 9).
Oddly, Liam Neeson was the weak link.
I only have one complaint.
NOT ENOUGH VAN.
If you go into a re-make just wanting to be entertained, it will help. I went to THE KARATE KID with that mind-set, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
ReplyDeleteBut please no T J HOOKER movies! LOL Roland
I've not managed the Karate Kid and may not have time. The next movie on my list is, unbelievably, Avatar: The Last Airbender.
ReplyDeleteUnbelievably because I can't STAND M. Night Shyamalan's directorial 'voice' normally, but whatever he's doing this time is really working for me.