Runtime:
134 minutes
Directed by: Joe Carnahan
Starring: Liam Neeson, Bradley Cooper, Sharlto Copley, Quinton Jackson, Jessica Biel
From: 20th Century Fox
I
am doing something a little different today. Much of this will be a
copy and paste job of my opinions on the theatrical version of this
movie, which believe it or not I saw 2 ½ years ago. It does not seem
that long to me. Recently, I found the Blu-Ray for this film for
cheap; it has both the theatrical and the extended versions. I
decided to check out the longer version. Also, on Saturday Rampage
Jackson fights the last fight on his UFC contract and it's likely
he'll be leaving after this weekend and who knows if he'll ever fight
again.
Now,
in italics is the important parts of my original review:
As I’ve mentioned before, the movies that were released this year that I’ve been looking forward to, I’ve been let down by (I’m looking at your general direction, Kick-Ass and especially Iron Man 2). I was hoping I’d enjoy this. I figured what type of movie it was going to be, based off of the TV show, but I was still hoping for at least a good time.
I’ll confess that I have faint memories of watching the TV show when I was real little. A few years ago I rented some episodes of the show from a local video store, and I discovered that I found the program to be rather stupid and not entertaining. I know that’s blasphemy to some, but it’s true. I better never try to watch Knight Rider, as I know I enjoyed watching it when I was a kid.
As for the movie… it’s rather similar to the TV show, except that it’s dopey BUT GOOD. You get to see four Army Rangers in a special A-Team faction, led by Hannibal Smith (Neeson), and including Face (Cooper), the loony Murdock (Copley), and the famed Bosco (B.A.) Baracus (acting newcomer/MMA fighter Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, who doesn’t do too badly). You see them get framed for a crime they did not commit, and they try to right all the wrongs.
Sure, it’s a goofy movie, but you probably already figured it out if you saw the trailers and noticed Cooper firing a machinegun from a tank at drones… but the plane happens to be falling out from the sky… if you can believe that could happen, then you should enjoy this. If you can believe Biel playing a Captain of the investigative arm of the Department of Defense, then you should enjoy this. Need I go on?
The only real complaint is that there’s too much of that shaky-cam/quick editing crap that I’ve railed against on here more than once before. Yet, maybe because I’ve been waiting for months to enjoy a movie I had some sort of expectations for, maybe that’s why I’m giving it a pass when I may otherwise be more irked by it. If you can excuse that, this very funny movie that’s packed with quality action should entertain you like it entertained the packed crowd I saw it with on Saturday night. There are surprises and double-crosses along the way (I won’t reveal anything, except that I was surprised to see Major Dad himself, Gerald McRaney, play, surprise, a General) and it’s the type of movie you’d expect it to be (a big dumb action movie with plenty of laughs) but unlike many of them (IMO) this one’s actually entertaining to watch and doesn’t make you angry with how dumb and ridiculous it is. You’ll enjoy all the characters and how they interact with each other rather than be turned off by any of them, for example. Biel acts about as well as you’d expect her to (i.e., she’s a pretty face and not much else) but it doesn’t do anything to make you not have a good time with this.
As for this longer version (making an already long movie even longer, adding in 18 minutes of footage) there are some extended scenes, some additional scenes, and some cameos from the end credits by two of the original cast is inserted into the story chronologically. Which one is better is up to you; me, I had no problem with the longer version as it did not SEEM way too long for me. The movie still seemed to flow decently enough and I still enjoyed what I saw. At least with the Blu-Ray you have the option of watching either and if you prefer the shorter one, then that's OK. Otherwise I stand by what I wrote back in 2010. My opinion hasn't really changed at all.
As I’ve mentioned before, the movies that were released this year that I’ve been looking forward to, I’ve been let down by (I’m looking at your general direction, Kick-Ass and especially Iron Man 2). I was hoping I’d enjoy this. I figured what type of movie it was going to be, based off of the TV show, but I was still hoping for at least a good time.
I’ll confess that I have faint memories of watching the TV show when I was real little. A few years ago I rented some episodes of the show from a local video store, and I discovered that I found the program to be rather stupid and not entertaining. I know that’s blasphemy to some, but it’s true. I better never try to watch Knight Rider, as I know I enjoyed watching it when I was a kid.
As for the movie… it’s rather similar to the TV show, except that it’s dopey BUT GOOD. You get to see four Army Rangers in a special A-Team faction, led by Hannibal Smith (Neeson), and including Face (Cooper), the loony Murdock (Copley), and the famed Bosco (B.A.) Baracus (acting newcomer/MMA fighter Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, who doesn’t do too badly). You see them get framed for a crime they did not commit, and they try to right all the wrongs.
Sure, it’s a goofy movie, but you probably already figured it out if you saw the trailers and noticed Cooper firing a machinegun from a tank at drones… but the plane happens to be falling out from the sky… if you can believe that could happen, then you should enjoy this. If you can believe Biel playing a Captain of the investigative arm of the Department of Defense, then you should enjoy this. Need I go on?
The only real complaint is that there’s too much of that shaky-cam/quick editing crap that I’ve railed against on here more than once before. Yet, maybe because I’ve been waiting for months to enjoy a movie I had some sort of expectations for, maybe that’s why I’m giving it a pass when I may otherwise be more irked by it. If you can excuse that, this very funny movie that’s packed with quality action should entertain you like it entertained the packed crowd I saw it with on Saturday night. There are surprises and double-crosses along the way (I won’t reveal anything, except that I was surprised to see Major Dad himself, Gerald McRaney, play, surprise, a General) and it’s the type of movie you’d expect it to be (a big dumb action movie with plenty of laughs) but unlike many of them (IMO) this one’s actually entertaining to watch and doesn’t make you angry with how dumb and ridiculous it is. You’ll enjoy all the characters and how they interact with each other rather than be turned off by any of them, for example. Biel acts about as well as you’d expect her to (i.e., she’s a pretty face and not much else) but it doesn’t do anything to make you not have a good time with this.
As for this longer version (making an already long movie even longer, adding in 18 minutes of footage) there are some extended scenes, some additional scenes, and some cameos from the end credits by two of the original cast is inserted into the story chronologically. Which one is better is up to you; me, I had no problem with the longer version as it did not SEEM way too long for me. The movie still seemed to flow decently enough and I still enjoyed what I saw. At least with the Blu-Ray you have the option of watching either and if you prefer the shorter one, then that's OK. Otherwise I stand by what I wrote back in 2010. My opinion hasn't really changed at all.
I'll be back Friday night.
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