The A-Team

It is general accepted that a sign of one’s fading youth is the regurgitation of TV programs from childhood, as either a renewed program or a big screen adaption. It could then be argued that any excitement evoked by this possibility is sufficient evidence of unashamed immaturity and a failure on the part of the individual to properly assimilate the process of adulthood.

But then again would it be more interesting to discuss the relative differences in rental property prices comparative to squared footage across Seattle or the news that a big budget film remake of the A-Team has been approved and actors cast in the roles. Perhaps surprisingly to some but probably predictably to many, I fall into the later category. In my defence, the A-Team was my favourite TV program as a child, a title closely contested with Knight Rider and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. However, in truth no amount of Turtle Power or David Hassellhoff being outperformed by a robotic car could ever truly surpass the joy that was the A-Team.

The program formula was always the same; our soldiers of fortune would battle against glass-jawed bad guys in an exhilarating mix of guns, explosions, car chases and harebrained schemes for daring rescues. Made in the ‘golden’ era 80’s TV, it also reinforced bad social stereotypes; deployed clichéd characters in predictable plotlines and never blinked at cheesy dialogue. Nevertheless, each episode would inevitably crank up to climatic and theatrical do-or-die moment of peril for the A-Team. Only for BA to save the day with the construction of a hovercraft using a tumble dryer and a garage door, on which the heroes could then outrun and out manoeuvre the enemy. This was always despite their seemingly superior numbers, automatic machine guns, rocket launchers and helicopter gunships. But then the bad guy could never shoot straight!

This big screen reincarnation of the A-Team is therefore under considerable pressure to live up to the sherbet happy, dewy-eyed days of my childhood. After all, many of us have seen beloved programs, books or even video games dashed against the rocks of the Hollywood machine. For every Lord of the Rings there have been nightmares such as Thunderbirds, Lost in Space, Planet of the Apes, The Avengers and most tragically of all, Dolph Lundgren as a steroid enhanced He-Man.

Sadly I’m already disappointed with the casting, Liam Neeson as Hannibal and relative unknowns for the other characters. Also according to news reports the film’s director is seeking to create a more serious tone for the movie as opposed to the camped up capers of the TV series. Personally I feel that is a shame and I would have preferred George Clooney as Hannibal, Sam Rockwell as Murdoch, Owen Wilson as Face and anyone who suggests that somebody other than Mr. T can play BA, I have three words for you:

‘You crazy fool!’