The A-Team defines ambivalence in movie going. There are parts of me that want to really like what I see. That part of me is in conflict with a buzzer going off in my brain that says everything I’m seeing is bogus. A-Team, based on a TV show from the 80s, makes the mistake of many ideas that come out of Hollywood. In other words this is a project that arrives a day late and a dollar short to fulfill whatever destiny it might’ve realized.

A-Team has been in development for over a decade, I even remember reading in Variety, when it was worth reading, that Oliver Stone was attached at one point. That was well over a decade ago, and I guess we should be thankful that it’s the anything for a grin A-Team and not the irrelevant Hogan’s Heroes getting the cinematic treatment.

Under the tutelage of Joe Carnahan The A-Team vacillates between occasional clever scripting and run-of-the-mill action choreography. Carnahan showed much promise with indie procedurals (Narc) and B-style thrillers (Smokin’ Aces), but those were accentuated with R-rated material while A-Team uses every seen-it, done-it CGI trick in the PG-13 arsenal to little overall effect.

There’s a line that you cross in military themed actioners where the mood goes from being semi-realistic and good entertainment (think Hurt Locker) to a fantasy and popcorn excursion. Here in A-Team the formula is more corn than pop.

On the up side, it’s somewhat of a perverse pleasure to see any film where Liam Neeson (Hannibal) kills people. And Jessica Biel, as a military type who trails the activities of alpha team, is just undeniably smokin’ sexy. Sharlto Copley, who made such an impression in District 9, gets a fair share of laughs as the crazy one of this borderline group. Also just what you’d expect from a movie with its tongue packed firmly in its cheek, two members from the original show make a cameo in a clip that runs after the final credit roll.

- Michael Bergeron