THE A-TEAM

title: THE A-TEAM
year: 2010
cast: Liam Neeson, Bradley Cooper, Gerald McRraney
rating: **

The very end of this bombastic theatrical version of a 1980's TV show uses the original theme song and narration/storyline: four Vietnam vets accused of a crime they didn't commit, helping people who can't find it anywhere else... And if only the movie (replacing Nam with Iraq) followed that premise or started it halfway through: as opposed to setting the entire story on meeting up; being falsely accused; and clearing their name. The crime is as muddled as the overblown, unrealistic Wile E. Coyoteish action sequences: and it never feels they're on the run. What made the TV characters memorable was their specialties, all lacking here: Hannibal (Liam Neeson) excels in breaking outta prison, but the CIA does it for him; BA is the badass, but takes a vow of non-violence; Murdoch... well he wasn't funny on the show, but unlike the updated loony pilot, had real energy; and Bradley Cooper, as the handsome con-man Face, is but a popular movie star in this big budget "reboot" that feels like a Jerry Bruckheimer production playing A-Team for Halloween.