So having worked my way through the A-Team TV series DVD boxsets in the first half of this year I had become overly familiar with the original characters. With that in mind my expectations for the movie were quite low! They probably didn’t need to be to be fair as Hannibal was played by the excellent (and suitably greyed-up) Liam Neeson who has a proven acting pedigree and he didn’t really diappoint although he wasn’t quite as smug as George Peppard in the TV series.

In fact Bradeley Coopers Face-man was more smug which I didn’t really take to. Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson did a better job than I expected as BA Baracus but lacked some of the charisma of Mr T in the TV series and to be fair that was always going to be the most difficult character to replicate. I didn’t really take to Sharlto Copley’s portrayal of Murdock too much.

Mr T. may have been the star of the A-Team but in my mind it was Dwight Schultz as Murdock who was the real star delivering some great comedic performances. He was the one that most of my friends and I always wanted to be in the playground recreations in the 1980’s after the previous weekends Saturday evening viewing of the show.

Some critics have attacked the plot of the film but what were they expecting?! The A-Team is all about action and this film certainly delivers on that front with the best seeing the team parachuted out of an aeroplane in a tank but anyone who saw the trailer knew this was coming which is kind of a shame as it ruins it a bit but I guess they have to include the best bits in these trailers to entice viewers.

I liked how the film told the back-story of how they got together and were convicted of a crime they didn’t commit. The use of protagonist names like Lynch and Morrisson are for the fans and the jail breaks are pretty inventive with the best one revolving around some 3D action.

I would have liked to see someone hire the A-Team as they used to in the TV series and though the film certainly won’t set the world alight it overall did the job that it’s supposed to do which is deliver high-speed thrilling action without much regard for minor things like plot and storyline! Room has certainly been left for a sequel.