BAD ASS HEROES IN “A-TEAM”

Unsurpassed in tactical improvisation, master planner Col. Hannibal Smith, conman Lt. Templeton ‘Faceman’ Peck, logistics expert Sgt. Bosco ‘B.A.’ Baracus and gifted pilot Capt. ‘Howling Mad’ Murdock are about to clear their names in a crime they have been wrongly accused of in this year’s rampageous movie “A-Team.”
Helmed by Joe Carnahan who brought us the edgy “Narc” and “Smokin’ Aces” films and penned by “X-Men Origins: Wolverine” scribe Skip Woods, “A-Team” promises more than just bringing back the 80’s phenomenal pop culture television series onto the big screen. “You’ve got to modernize it,” Carnahan says while filming the movie. “This is a show that means to a lot of people and you have to respect that. I see it as summer’s most fun and most highly-flammable action-comedy.”
Furthermore, “We’ll see extraordinary action sequences, from a gunfight between a tank and a plane (in mid-air) to a prison break-out employing galore of gunfights, fistfights and a little romance. But everything, comes back to the guys. We’ve cast the A-Team from totally diverse cinematic walks of life,” Carnahan concludes.
For Col. Hannibal Smith whose famous line goes “I like it when a plan goes together,” Carnahan picked Liam Neeson for the role. “I’d always been a fan of his and then I saw him in “Taken” because he is really this smart and then he shows that he can do action that well. Once you cast someone like Liam, you are making it clear to the world that you’re not making the cheesy, cornball version of the A-Team movie,” he explains.
“Bradley Cooper rises to the occasion as seen from his previous roles in “Midnight Meat Train” and “The Hangover” and is the perfect fit to play Face. When I saw his fight scene with Vinnie Jones in “Midnight,” I thought that this guy’s got the chops for the role of a conman in the movie,” Carnahan says.
Sharlto Copley, an avant-garde chameleon actor who recently gained fame for his role in the Academy-Award nominated film for Best Picture “District 9” plays the crazy-ass pilot Capt. Mad Murdock. Growing up in South Africa, Copley is a die-hard fan of the series as he describes it as an event television in the biggest way in their town. So much of a fan of the show that he had early worries about a film being made at all. “I just didn’t’ think a movie would do. But I heard Joe was directing and it made me think differently because I have seen his work in ‘Narc.’ I thought I could do a Murdock who was weird and crazy, fun and dangerous,” Copley enthused.
Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson fills in the iconic B.A. Baracus role that Mr. T has popularized. As a mixed martial artist, Jackson has the physical capability for the rogue’s team driver and muscle. “Rampage just stood out. His audition tape was pretty rough and I was blown away. I think he’s going to be the star of this movie,” Carnahan recalls.
Action times four begins on June 10 (Thursday) when “A-Team” opens in Philippines theaters nationwide from 20th Century Fox to be distributed by Warner Bros.