The A-Team

A Team movie poster D
Originally uploaded by Movie Poster Shop

When it comes to special ops no one is better than Col. Hannibal Smith and his A-Team – B.A., Face & Murdock. The four can tackle any challenge with a crazy plan and accomplish the mission goal with a minimal body count. While getting ready to leave Iraq they are presented with the ultimate final mission by the CIA – rescue US currency plates and millions in counterfit bills from the insurgents moving them. However, even though the A-team succeeds the are double crossed and end up wrongly imprisoned in separate military facilities biding their time until Hannibal gets his team out and starts them on a mission to clear their names.

I may have been too young when The A-Team initially aired to remember episodes very clearly, but what I can tell you without a doubt is that it was my FAVORITE show for a very long time; when I found out it was being made into a movie, I was a tad bit scared that a piece of my childhood would be ruined – I mean G.I. Joe was nothing more than stupid fun, and don’t even get me started on Transformers. However, let me tell you this - The A-Team totally rocks.

From the moment the film opens you are sucked into a high octane, high fun world of action, intrigue, loyalty and friendship. There is not an unused moment of this film – there is absolutely no down time. The characaters never pause and neither does the audience. This could sound exhausting, but I think it was only about thirty minutes into the film where I decided I had to see The A-Team again because I was having so much fun watching it. Joe Carnahan and team captured the essence of the television show and made it twice as much fun as I remember it being originally.

The best way to talk about why The A-Team rocked is to talk about the cast of characters, because the show and the film are nothing is not lead by an assortment of fun and entertaining individuals.

Liam Neeson plays Hannibal. I don’t remember much about Hannibal on the television show besides a lot of laughter and chomping on cigars, but I think a man that’s played gods and assassins is more than qualified to play the leader of an elite army unit. Neeson was a fantastic Hannibal, he was cocky, street-smart and ready for anything that hit his team.

Quinton Jackson take over the very recognizable role of B.A. – originated by Mr. T. While the movies version of his being added to the team may be a little thin at best, there is no doubt from the first shots that Jackson more than adequately fills Mr. T’s shoes – the only thing missing are the gold chains.

Sharlto Copley may have hit the international geek spotlight when he starred in District 9 but that alone did not make him a shoe-in for my favorite character of the series – Murdock. Yet Copley does Murdock proud, finding the fun and insanity in a character whose loyalty and irreverence make him one of the most vital reasons Hannibal’s plans work. Copley captures that essence that makes you wonder if Murdock is really mad, or is only playing it that way.

Then of course there is Bradley Cooper as Face. I loved Bradley Cooper the moment I first saw him during his brief residence on Alias and I have to tell you I am thrilled that he’s gotten to an A-List standpoint – pun intended. Cooper is an amazing Face – cocky, ingenious, impulsive, creative and always ready to have a good time. He is the perfect choice for Face and in this installment of the franchise is the glue that hold the team, and the movie, together.

Anyone familiar with the show will be thrilled to see tidbits of the familiar littered throughout the film and I have to insist that you stay for the end of the credits to see several familiar faces pop on screen. Whenever I see cameo’s like that I always have to wonder if they are as thrilled as the audience that a character they made beloved is back on screen – even if they are not the one playing them. In this case I hope the surviving original cast is happy, because I know the audience is.

The one thought that struck me while I the credits rolled is that this years The Loser’s really was a cheap homage to The A-Team; it cannot hold a candle to the original and Joe Carnahan proved that while the original can often be imitated, nothing is like the real thing.

Director: Joe Carnahan
Writers: Joe Carnahan, Brian Bloom & Skip Woods
Hannibal: Liam Neeson
Face: Bradley Cooper
B.A.: Quinton Jackson
Murdock: Sharlto Copley
Charisa Sosa: Jessica Biel
Lynch: Patrick Wilson

Capt. Sosa: They are the best, and they specialize in the ridiculous.

Clash of the Titans

Found floating in the sea as a baby, Perseus has spent his life wondering who he is. When the gods inadvertently kill his adoptive family and condemn the people of Lagos to death Perseus learns he is a demigod, the lost son of Zeus. Perseus and warriors of Lagos set out to try and find the three witches so they can learn how to defeat Hades and strike back at the gods.

Clash of the Titans is a classic example of a film with a great trailer. However, the trailer does not live up to the film. This film is a remake of a weak but fun original, and I have to say that if you go into the theatre expecting anything other than stupid fun for two hours you will be quite disappointed.

To talk more about the tail wagging the dog, if you were a careful study of the trailer you may have noticed there was only one to two lines of dialogue in it, the rest was action…that was for a reason. This movie has some of the worst dialogue I’ve ever heard. It’s cool to hear Pete Postelwaith & Liam Neeson emote verbally, but the rest of the dialogue, no matter how sincerely delivered was laughable. My best example of this was when Perseus and the soldiers are about to enter Medusa’s lair and like a good leader Perseus gives his customary pep talk which ends with “now let’s go get this bitch”. I kid you not.

As if that weren’t enough, the actual plot of the film is weak as well. The reason there is only action in the trailer, is because the films plot really only works as a logline “the son of Zeus finds his destiny and encounters mythological creatures in the pursuit to kill Hades”, anything outside of that wears quite thin. It’s as if the screenplay was written by a first year film student with no experience, they were told to make a index cards, each with a seprate scene in the film listed on it, and then arranged into the chronology of the story – nothing is connected, we just move from A to B to C because that is how everything is laid out.

On top of this there is the obvious build up to a hopeful sequel at the end of the film where Zeus tells Perseus that this is his destiny, more trials will come, etc., etc. This is pandering for a franchise. In a franchise the films tend to get weaker as they go along and after seeing Clash of the Titans I cannot imagine what the second film in this franchise would look like – it would probably be better silent so I can just watch Sam Worthington fight for two hours.

As bad as I know Clash of the Titans is, I still have to say I was entertained by it. I can’t even say it aspired to B movie level, but it was fun. I enjoyed the action and as a fan of Sam Worthington I enjoyed the excuse to watch him do his thing for two hours. Plus there is the downright cool factor of Liam Neeson a Zeus. That man can continue to be cast in god roles like Zeus and Aslan and I am going to think he is perfect for them every time.

Clash of the Titans may be an excuse to thrown money around on action and special effects. But there is a silver lining – this will probably be remade again in another ten-twenty years so we’ll have another shot to get it right.

Director: Louis Leterrier
Perseus: Sam Worthington
Zeus: Liam Neeson
Hades: Ralph Finnes
Andromeda: Alexa Davalos
Io: Gemma Arterton

The Mission

Based on a true story of Jesuit missionaries in South America, The Mission tells the tale of Rodrigo Mendoza and Father Gabriel. Rodrigo is a former slave trader who slays his brother in a fit of jealousy and eventually, through the efforts of Father Gabriel and the mission he started becomes a Jesuit priest himself. Father Gabriel is dedicated to improving the lives of the Indians in the area both by showing them God and keeping them from being kidnapped or traded as slaves.

The Mission is a movie that has been recommended to me for years and I only just now got around to netflixing it. I am glad that I did. It is a visually, artistically and thematically beautiful movie that I think any cinema buff should see. There is not a bad characteristic to this movie from the performances and direction to the scenery – everything is incredibly well put together and marvelous to behold. The Mission is a film made by a director that knows what he’s saying and how he needs to accomplish it, something that is always a great thing to watch.

If there were any flaw in The Mission it would have to be that it is one of those movies that feels long. At only a hair over two hours, the actual running time is not long, but when you watch the film you feel like you are living with these characters at the mission and it feels like you are spending a great amount of time inside it. I was quite shocked to see the actual running time of the film.

Over the past decade or so I’ve watched Robert DeNiro in everything from Meet the Parents to Taxi Driver and I have to say that The Mission was the first time I have seen him in a period piece, or doing a serious role where he is not an insane character. I know I have many more DeNiro films to watch but I do adore this man’s talent and love to watch him work. He fit better in this world of God and Indians that I thought he would, and as always he meshed very well with his fellow actors.

I don’t know if The Mission would be added to my DVD collection, but it is a film that I am glad is now in my film vocabulary.

Director: Roland Joffe
Writer: Robert Bolt
Rodrigo Mendoza: Robert De Niro
Father Gabriel: Jeremy Irons
Fielding: Liam Neeson

Gabriel: If might is right, then love has no place in the world. It may be so, it may be so. But I don't have the strength to live in a world like that, Rodrigo.

Batman Begins

The Cast
Originally uploaded by Matt Garland

Batman Begins does not get old.

While I loved The Dark Knight I have to say that I will probably watch Batman Begins much more. Nothing against The Dark Knight, it’s just that Nolan’s first installment fits my own thematic outlook much more. While it is never a bright and cheery movie the tone and characters in Batman Begins are much more hopeful and optimistic than the follow-up film.

In the light of Natasha Richardson’s recent death I found myself paying much more attention to the performance of Liam Neeson. When I first heard Neeson was playing the films villain I wasn’t sure what to think about it. Nolan managed to trick us all into thinking it was in fact Ken Watanabe playing Ra’s Al Ghul instead of Neeson so when it was revealed that he was in fact the immortal Al Ghul was Neeson it was quite a surprise. He was a perfect Ra’s Al Ghul.

Nolan has proven time and again that he can make great movies. Like Bryan Singer before him, he took a comic book movie and made it a movie that transcended what other people would have seen as limitations.

Alfred Pennyworth: It's a problem with the graphite, sir. The next 10,000 will be up to specifications.
Bruce Wayne: At least they gave us a discount.
Alfred Pennyworth: Quite. In the, uh, meantime, Sir, may I suggest you try to avoid landing on your head?

Taken

I adore Luc Besson and the fact that he no longer directs does make me a bit sad; luckily he still chooses to write and because of that I have movies like Taken. Taken really is Luc Besson without Besson at the helm.

What is nice about Taken is that it is an amazing action movie, but before the action sets in it manages to set up our characters and our plot so that we actually manage to connect with the main characters before the bone crushing sets in. Taken is everything it promises in its trailer to be.

Bryan is a recently retired government operative who is now living in LA so that he can make up for lost time with his teenage daughter Kim. She is invited to spend time in Paris with a friend; as she is a minor she needs the permission of mother and father to leave the country, reluctantly, pinned into a corner by his ex-wife Lenore, Bryan signs the papers to let Kim go to Paris. He gets Kim on the phone once she arrives to her apartment in Paris and men promptly break in and take Kim and her friend captive. Bryan records the call and has it analyzed by his friends still in the government quickly learning that Kim has been taken by a group that deals in human trading and he has 96 hours before Kim will disappear so far in the inner workings of the sex trade that she can never be found. Like any vengeful father with a set of amazing skills Bryan sets out to Paris to find his daughter and hurt the men responsible.

I feel like Taken is a movie I shouldn’t have enjoyed, but I really did love it. This is a vigilante movie ala Death Wish and Liam Neeson and Pierre Morel create a fantastic action film that really is one of the most enjoyable action films that I’ve seen in recent years.

Director: Pierre Morel
Writers: Luc Besson & Robert Mark Kamen
Amanda: Katie Cassidy
Kim: Maggie Grace
Lenore: Famke Janssen
Bryan: Liam Neeson
Sam: Leland Orser

Bryan: I don't know who you are. I don't know what you want. If you are looking for ransom, I can tell you I don't have money. But what I do have are a very particular set of skills; skills I have acquired over a very long career. Skills that make me a nightmare for people like you. If you let my daughter go now, that'll be the end of it. I will not look for you, I will not pursue you. But if you don't, I will look for you, I will find you, and I will kill you.
Marko: Good luck.

Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian

Narnia Prince Caspian
Originally uploaded by faith forever

I know that the Narnia films have taken a lot of flack from people for being very unengaging films; sure they’re pretty, it’s interesting to see the classic novels come to life with great special effects and the kids are entertaining. However, the problem with The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian is not that is lacks anything visually or that I remember from the book; it merely lacks any character development.

The Pevensie siblings were developed adequately well in The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe so little is needed with their characters; what I think they lacked was a strong director to bring the changes that have taken place in the year they’ve been out of Narnia out of the characters. We understand that they were bitter about “accidentally” leaving Narnia, but an internal struggle has gone on over whether they still believe in the things they witnessed were actually how they remember them. Lucy’s development is simple and clear enough. She still believes in all the things Aslan did and the powers and love he has, but is scared to pursue him because her three siblings have begun to believe Aslan has abandoned them as he abandoned Narnia. The problem lies with the three other children – Peter, Susan & Edmund.

The film tries to portray Peter, Susan & Edmund (especially the older two) as having lost some of their faith in Aslan…but never quite gets there. They just seem moody. And then Edmund seems plagued with a lack of any feeling at all, he can’t seem to come up on Lucy’s side or his older siblings. They suffer from either the need of a stronger director, or a stronger script.

However, the biggest problem is the fact that a whole new score of Narnia residents are introduced and they are simply popped into the film with one or two lines of explanation: the ones who suffer from the worst of this are Trumpkin & Caspian.

Trumpkin is the dwarf that the returned King’s & Queen’s (the Pevensie children) rescue when they first return and he turns into their guide. Other than providing some witty banter here and there Trumpkin and the Pevensie children never seem to form a relationship, yet the audience is told over and over again that they have one. Even at the end of the movie when Lucy has to give Trumpkin a hug before leaving Narnia yet again it evokes no emotion from the audience.

Perhaps the most egregious lack of character development is in Prince Caspian himself. The character is harmed enough by the fact that Ben Barnes can’t act his way out of a paper bag, but the filmmakers cannot expect you to care about the fate of a character that they do not create. So suddenly after Caspian is thrown into the woods of Narnia he’s rallying the Narnian’s to fight against his people and it feels utterly forced – there is no way a character in this situation, seeing what the audience has seen of him, would suddenly want to lead the Narnian’s to freedom. Again, the heart-to-heart that Caspian has with Aslan is one of the flattest moments Caspian has in the film; the audience doesn’t care or believe that he’s scared to be king.

The saving grace of The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian is actually two CGI characters: Aslan and Reepicheep. Reepicheep is a warrior mouse voiced by Eddie Izzard that steals every scene he is in. Aslan, voiced again to perfection by Liam Neeson is the only character that remains constant through the two movies – we understand his motives, and his affection.

I do not mean to say that Prince Caspian is not entertaining. I enjoyed it. However, it will never make the classic movie status to which it aspires.

Director: Andrew Adamson
Writers: Andrew Adamson & Christopher Markus & Stephen McFeely
Alsan: Lain Neeson
Peter: William Moseley
Susan: Anna Poppelwell
Edmund: Skandar Keynes
Lucy: Georgie Henley
Caspian: Ben Barnes
Reepicheep Eddie Izzard
Trumpkin: Peter Drinklage

Lucy Pevensie: It's so still.
Trumpkin: They're trees. What do you expect?
Lucy Pevensie: They used to dance.