REVIEW: MAYBE IF YOU FIND THEM...THE A-TEAM

From the new actionmeister of Hollywood, Joe Carnhan and gonzo screenwriter Skip Woods comes the big budget version of 80s TV classic The A-Team.
Starring a cast led by Liam Neeson, Bradley Cooper, Patrick Wilson and Jessica Biel, A-Team 2010 style is an insane, hi-octane thrill-ride that takes the gung-ho spirirt of the original and amps it up to the Nth degree.
From the opening beats - Liam Neeson's stoic yet bonkers Col. Hannibal Smith seemingly at the mercy of two corrupt Mexican cops and Bradley Cooper's charming Face, a prisoner of a dodgy Mexican official - through the explosive and high-flying hi-jinks meted out across Europe to the manic, if a little CGI-heavy, climax, The A-team delivers everything you need from a summer blockbuster.
This is effectively the origins of the group, detailing how they met, bonded and after being framed for a crime they didn't commit go on a quest for justice.
Up against the unstoppable, resourceful and tough hombres of the A-Team are a collection of cunning, ruthless and equally resourceful CIA and military types headed up by Patrick Wilson, Nite Owl in Watchmen, as the excitable Lynch and Jessica Biel, bedecked in the de rigeur power heels and smart business suit as Agent Sousa.
From Mexico to Baghdad and from Germany to LA, The A-Team gives new meaning to the phrase 'rip-roaring'.
However, certain elements grate. Chunks of dialogue are lost in the action sequences as human voices are drowned out by explosions, gunfire and metal slamming against metal. Yeah, there's lots of metal things crashing against other metal things in this.
The loss of dialogue mostly affects what the A-Team themselves are saying but in the grand scheme of things it's forgivable as the film careens along, laden with hard-edged humour, in-jokes and gloriously OTT set pieces.
Between The A-Team and The Losers, the bar has been raised, shot at and blown up. The Expendables will have to go a very long way to compete with these two although my money's on Red, the possible 'sleeper' hit of the summer.