Mrs. Just Another Movie Geek and I recently viewed two action films that we enjoyed greatly.
1. The A-Team (2010)
Who would have thought that a film made from an 80s cheesy tv show could actually entertain me? I will admit I was never a fan of the original show. Came on to late for my 8 year old viewing habits and on the rare chance I could stay up, Dad didn't like it so we didn't watch. I never felt I was missing anything but being a child of the 80s I knew enough of the concept to carry me through. Going into the film I had no expectations other than it needed to be "The A-Team." Team of ex-military guys forced into being mercs by being setup for a crime they didn't commit. The film hit all of the tropes of the original series but made them work. From Hannibal's catch phrase and cigar chomping, Face being the ladies man, Murdock being nuts and BA being afraid of flying (which the film manages to set up perfectly) the characters were all spot on. As well as the most important aspect of The A-Team was also present; their outlandish plans and technical prowess to get things done. As a good friend of mine recently proclaimed "I only watched The A-Team when I was a kid because I loved watching them weld shit together!" the film pulls this off twice and made me smile at the ingenuity involved there in. One liners flew as fast as the bullets did and most managed to make me chuckle if not seriously cackle out loud. A few moments of suspension of dis-belief caused my reality sensor to ping, but they were all handled well enough that they didn't bug me too much. Outside of one moment of a bad guy monologuing I found this to be a quite enjoyable action romp and well worth my attention. I am just sad that the remake of The Karate Kid beat it at the BO this weekend.
2. Banlieue 13: Ultimatium (2009)
6 years ago a little French action film came my way starring the creator of Parkour, David Belle. Quick action and alot of parkour helped shape this films dystopian future of Paris into a great action/fight movie. Last year gave us a sequel to the film that continues the story. Of course we have some great action and some parkour, but something felt off to me. Maybe I have seen and appreciated so much parkour in the last few years since the first film but this sequel didn't seem to focus so much on that aspect. A great early scene shows our hero cop giving a great homage to Jackie Chan by fighting a large group of bad guys while protecting and using an original Van Gogh painting during the fight. Canvas-Fu has never looked better. Even with the less than shiny parkour, it was great to visit this world again. Outside of one moment of the application of the law of inverse ninjas, the film manages to have a great time and keeps the pace well.
All in all if you are hankering for a decent action film with some good fights, great explosions and a fun time...you can't go wrong with either of these films.
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