Knockdown dragout that reminds us why movies like Diehard are classics.
I would consider this nowhere near as good as Diehard of course, but it does fall into the same category of great Action/Comedy. The movie is Funny and Actiony. Skip some of the more recent action movies, like Knight and Day and watch A-Team, it is worth your time.
The movie starts with Liam Neeson proving that he is really a bad ass. The movie proceeds to continue and instead of leaving it there, it slowly introduces us to the formation of the team AND gives us one of the most interesting action segments of the movie. They show us Hannibal(Liam's character), B.A., Face, and Murdock. Having never seen the television series on which it is based, I felt that I was sufficiently introduces to these characters in the first 10 minutes than I was to any of the characters in a number of recent releases. There are some very Qui Gon Jinn moments for Hannibal but ultimately his character is almost posed as the main character being the first character we are introduced to and being the team leader. You then have B.A. who is shown to be a former thug but wants to reform from his old lifestyle. They then collide and are both shown to be Army Rangers. This is a recurring plot point in this intro that brings them together. They go off to rescue Face who has gotten himself caught during an espionage mission gone awry because of his standard of wooing women everywhere. Lastly after rescuing Face, we meet Murdock, the ace pilot. He acts quite crazy and has the weakest of the introductions until you get him in a helicopter and right after you see him pull a move off that has the audience ask themselves "Can you do that with a helicopter?" you hear him proclaim "did you see that? I didn't even know I could do that." and it is at this point you start to see how this team is pulling together.
That's roughly the first five minutes. A big long action sequence. But the movie tells you what you are watching and this allows you to prepare for it. It never pretends to be something it is not, and on occasion will prove itself smarter than you. The main plot deals with the intro of the series(They were betrayed for a crime they didn't commit) and the plot sounds similar to the plot of the losers. But nevermind that since I don't usually talk about plot. The additional action sequences aren't nearly as thrilling as the first, but they do keep you entertained, and the finale is quite fun. If ever there was a problem with them it is that they don't throw you nearly enough curve balls. There is one paticular action sequence where you get to hear the line "They are trying to Fly the tank." and it doesn't come across as corny. That's impressive.
this movie has one major flaw, and that is that I am expected to take Jessica Biel seriously throughout. She has very little acting ability and while it isn't necessary in a film like this to have a lot, enough to convince me you are the role is required. She never does. And for that movie, you fail. More so in a 30 second encounter between Face and some random French reporter, you get a more believable and consistent relationship than you do between Face and Biel in the entire movie. There is also a problem where they have an emotional court scene and a funeral intercut and the editing removes the impact of both.
In the middle of good and bad you have Patrick Wilson(Niteowl in Watchmen) who plays his role deliciously chewing up the scenery. He is of course chewing the scenery so there is some bad, but it is entertaining enough to be consider a good part of the movie.
The movie devotes a large amount of its running time to setting things up and having them work out just right, or if not JUST right, a little to the left. In fact, a large problem the movie has is that everything often feels like it works a little too well and isn't nearly spontaneous enough. But it does feel like it is doing a good job updating the story of these characters(as I have been educated by wikipedia about) for the year 2010.
All in all, I think the film does a great job of being an enjoyable film experience and will polarize people far less than most other adaptations.
That and you get an awesome TKO from B.A. towards the end that is quite the enjoyable cinematic experience.
Overall, if I had to rate this movie, I'd give it an A-.
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