THE A-TEAM

RYAN: I never watched The A-Team back when it was merely a TV series, but you did; and now we’ve seen the film version together!

CAROLINE: I remember very much liking the show when I was younger, and I actually had a crush on Murdock. I thought he was crazy and funny. He was a little less funny in the movie than I thought he’d be, but I still chuckled a few times.

RYAN: And we had a celeb sighting by way of Abigail Breslin in the audience with us tonight.

CAROLINE: That was so funny.

RYAN:I love the actor who plays him, Sharlto Copley, who wowed us all in District 9 last year. By and large, all the casting in the movie was great… with the glaring exception of the Mr. T character.

CAROLINE: Ugggghh. He was horrible, as I knew he would be. Once I heard they’d cast an Ultimate Fighter dude as B.A. Baracus, I was like, “Uh oh.” And then I heard him do an interview and realized he could barely speak.

RYAN: I was willing to give him a chance because he has a nice smile, so I thought he’d bring the character some warmth. But I couldn’t understand a word he said.

CAROLINE: He needed Henry Higgins, honey. The rain in Spain stays mainly in the plain is all I’m saying. First you teach the man how to speak, and then you let him be an actor.

RYAN: There’s also Liam Neeson as Hannibal and the very hot and oft shirtless Bradley Cooper, who’s looking Hugh Jackman hot these days. That is the highest praise I can think of.

CAROLINE: He really, really, really hit the gym for this movie, and he is hawt. I read a funny interview with him where he said even he can’t believe it’s his body.

RYAN: Jessica Biel plays his love interest. She actually didn’t irritate me for a change. Usually, she kind of sucks.

CAROLINE: Yeah, she wasn’t bad. Her role was to be a badass and look hot, which she can do decently. So basically, everyone in the cast is good except for B.A.

RYAN: And it didn’t help him that the audio mix was sometimes off, so you couldn’t hear the dialogue that well.

CAROLINE: Yeah, I found the movie hard to follow in the beginning. The music and the explosions were so loud it was sometimes hard to understand what was going on with all the mayhem. Honestly, the whole thing is a little silly and over-the-top.

RYAN: I agree it got a little confusing at times, but I was surprised at how much I liked it. It felt like a Die Hard movie to me. It’s got great action, and it’s a good summer blockbuster.

CAROLINE: Don’t get me wrong, it’s an enjoyable summer movie; I just wasn’t blown away. I’ve just liked other summer blockbusters we’ve seen in recent memory, like Die Hard with a Vengeance, better. But anyone who was a fan of the show will appreciate the old references like Hannibal’s cigar, the theme song, B.A.’s fear of flying and the famous catchphrase, “I love it when a plan comes together.”

RYAN: And you can totally still enjoy this if you’re not familiar with the TV show. The story isn’t that amazing, but it’s definitely an entertaining night at the theater. There’s a helicopter action scene at the beginning that’s one of coolest I’ve ever seen.

CAROLINE: I think you liked it a little more than I did. But it definitely has some thrills and a good cast.

— BOTTOM LINE —

RYAN: I liked this movie more than I thought I would. I wasn’t that into the trailer and I wasn’t particularly looking forward to it, but this movie entertained and engaged me the whole time. I’d even take a sequel… if Jon Hamm’s in it.

CAROLINE: I liked it too, but I thought overall it was only fair. There’s some decent action, and I loved three-quarters of the cast. They made the movie fun to watch. Thank God they weren’t all Ultimate Fighters or we wouldn’t have understood a word they were saying.

RYAN: Oh, and don’t forget to stay till the end of the credits for a little bonus scene.

— RATING —