Remakes and reimaginings haven’t become any less common over the past decade, people have just gotten too used to them to complain. However, in the late 2000s and early 2010s, everyone was sick and tired of glossy remakes of moderately well-known names from the 80s and 90s.The A-Teamwas unquestionably a victim of reboot overload, but does it have any of its own merits to stand on?
From 1883 to 1887, Frank Lupo and Stephen J. Cannell’sThe A-Teampulled in just under one-quarter of all American households. The simple story of four soldiers of fortune setting things right and fighting to clear their names was an unquestioned hit and a pop culture icon.
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From as early as the mid-90s, producers were hard at work trying to bring backThe A-Team. Stephen J. Cannell, one of the show’s original creators, was part of the team trying to update his showfor a modern audience. The project stalled numerous times, with long periods of inactivity between any notable happenings. The first director attached to the film was John Singleton, celebrated writer/director ofBoyz in the Hood, but he left the gig almost as soon as he appeared. Before long, however, the creator who would finally get the project off the ground and into the multiplex walked into the right 20th Century Fox office.
Veteran action filmmaker Joe Carnahan joined the project in 2010, fresh off his 2006 classicSmokin' Aces. Carnahan co-wrote the project with noted voice actor Brian Bloom, finally bringing in a script that the producers were happy with. The film was finally greenlit with an $80 million budget, but that number swiftly ballooned to over $100 million. It hit theaters in June 2010, and critics were surprisingly positive towards the film. Audiences, on the other hand, didn’t show up to see it.The A-Teamcleared only $177 million at the box office,falling well short ofthe film’s break-even point. The cast and crew were refreshingly honest, clarifying to any fans who asked that a sequel was contingent on DVD sales. When those sales didn’t pull through, sequel plans were canned and the film was consigned to the trash can of history.
The originalA-Teamwas celebrated for its team dynamics, so the casting of the team is key.Liam Neeson leads theteam as Hannibal, and he fits the cocky swaggering bravado with ease. Neeson has basically been playing less charismatic versions of this character for the back half of his career, but Hannibal is one of the better examples. Bradley Cooper is the Faceman, and his comic timing is decent enough to pass off a weak script. His predecessor was primarily hired for his face, but Cooper has the right attitude. Sharlto Copely is Mad Murdock, continuing his pattern of portraying comic book-esque “crazy” characters while other people do big action scenes. Copely is a strange performer, but never let it be said that he doesn’t give 110%, regardless of the project. Finally, in the role of B.A. Baracus,former UFC Light HeavyweightChampion Quinton “Rampage” Jackson brings some real intimidation. He’s not as immediately iconic as Mr. T, but he’s got the power to bring the role to life. All things considered, the film assembled a pretty good modernA-Team.
So, they’ve got a solid cast, a proven action director, and nearly two decades of work with one of the original creators. What went wrong? The easy answer is that audiences were positively spoiled for choice when it came to mediocre action schlock that year.Knight and Day, Red, Faster, Killers, The Expendables, From Paris with Love, and thelist goes on and on. A hypothetical action junkie could have put on a blindfold and wandered into a multiplex and probably walked out moderately pleased. If one asked a producer, they’d argue that a marketable name would help the film stand out, but the film’s reboot status backfired.
A few decent remakes came out the same year, most notably the Coen brothers’True Gritand Joe Johnston’sThe Wolfman, but the majority of examples didn’t work out. Platinum Dunes' horror remakes reached their least forgivable moment withA Nightmare on Elm Street,The Karate Kidgot an uninspired reimagining, andClash of the Titanswas drained of its intelligence all in the same year. TheA-Teamname was an anchor around the film’s neck, but it probably wouldn’t have been a smash hit either way.
At its heart,The A-Team(2010) is a perfectly passable by-the-numbers action blockbuster. It’s just undertwo hours of explosions, cheesy one-liners, mid-budget CGI, and big dumb action setpieces. There’s truly nothing particularly special about it, aside from the solid cast.A-Teamsuperfans have likely already seen it, it doesn’t have much to add to the franchise’s legacy. Anyone looking for a standard-issue shoot-em-up from an era before superhero movies ruled the day might find something to enjoy inThe A-Team.But, frankly, falling short of its overinflated budget isn’t an undeserved fate for this utterly mediocre outing. Maybe the team was guilty of those crimes after all.
