Production Budget: ?
Director: Joe Carnahan
Run Time: 117 minutes
Rating: PG-13
The Bouw-Man.
Whenever you take a popular television show and try to convert it to a film years later, you’re really playing with fire. Will fans of the television show really want to see an updated version on the big screen? Can a new audience be formed from people who never saw the original show? Will the script stay true to the show’s form, or are they just using the name to get people interested (see “Mission Impossible”)? We won’t know the answer to these questions until “The A-Team” opens this weekend. Seems to me they didn’t do a really good job in choosing actors to play the four main characters. Murdock, for one, is an ideal role for an inspiring or established comedic actor. The fact that they went with someone from South Africa with one big role under his belt appears to be an odd choice. Liam Neeson as Hannibal also leaves me scratching my head. Hannibal in the television show was sort of a laid back, funny prankster. That is definitely not what you think of when Liam Neeson comes to mind. If you want to go a different direction, that’s fine. However, don’t make the actor playing B.A. a clone of Mr. T. All and all, the preview looks like another action film with some good stunts and some snappy one-liners. I don’t know if you’d be missing much, if you decide to pass on “The A-Team.” However, there seems to be enough there to cause the extremely curious fan to give it a shot.
Prediction.
“Get Smart” proved recently that you could revisit an old television program and make it viable critically and commercially. However, there are other television programs that went the film route like “Dukes of Hazzard,” “Bewitched,” “Inspector Gadget” and “The Mod Squad” that were bad and failed financially. Where will “The A-Team” fall? I don’t think expectations are as high as they were for “Miami Vice” in 2006 (another film that failed), but then again this seems to be lighter material which helps build an audience. I’m guessing we’ll see $18 million from “The A-Team” opening weekend, but then we’ll see a big drop in week two of its release.
Opening Weekend Gross: $18 Million
Noodles.
It just looks awful. There I said it. To be fair I'm never in favor of movies based on TV shows as a rule, with a couple fun exceptions; Addams Family, the first one, not that horrifying sequel ("Woomp, the Addams Family, there it is"), The Fugitive, and Police Squad (Naked Gun Movies, again the first one).
This trailer looks like they watched a few old A-Team reruns and started casting based simply on how each person resembled the original actors. Who the hell is playing B.A.? And did he HAVE to have the mohawk? And if you say yes to the mohawk, where are all the chains? I mean where is the commitment!? Then to have Liam Neeson crowbar in the classic George Peppard missive, "I love when a plan comes together." My inner child wept bitter tears.
If you're going to do an A-Team movie why not use the foundation of the original characters. Let the actors bring something of themselves to each role, B.A. wasn't just some ill tempered black guy, he was Mr. T. Now unless you hire Mr. T to reprise his role for this new movie, you need to let the new actor bring his own flare and personality. Then of course when you look at the big effects sequence that we're supposed to get excited about, its a tank being fired mid-air which seems far fetched and ridiculous no matter how many times I see it. I think that Hollywood is devoid of originality and backs these big budget action pornos over quality well written scripts.
Prediction.
This may be the weekend that Shrek loses its number one spot, but only because of the massive amount of nostalgia that this franchise holds for my generation. I think it will do decent numbers but be far from a blockbuster hit. I fully expect that if it does unseat Shrek, we will be bombarded with "The number one movie in America" tagline commercials until our ears bleed.
Opening Weekend: Gross: $17 Million
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