The A-Team and the philosophy of critique
Here's a quote from one film critic about The A-Team
"In fact, I'll go this far: If this were called anything other than The A-Team, you wouldn't put up with it. You'd want to know why the laws of physics don't apply, or how federal fugitives can travel the world with access to unlimited resources, money, and weapons. You'd want to know exactly HOW these little capers -- escaping from prison, obtaining top-secret documents -- were achieved. Plenty of movies are all about ONE such caper. Here, they happen every five minutes. How do they do it? Well, they're the A-Team, that's how. They're just awesome."
-Eric. D. Snyder, Cinematical (http://www.cinematical.com/2010/06/10/the-a-team-review/)
Okay. First of all, he's right on all counts.
Second of all, he missed the point (he actually did give this movie a niddling-to-positive review).
The fact is, you do not go to a movie called The A-Team and expect to see Snatch, Smokin' Aces, Inglorious Basterds, Citizen Kane, Dracula vs. the Wolfman... and if you went to see a movie called the A-Team and saw a movie with the general theme and attitude of one of those movies you would call it crap. "Where are the explosions?" You would say. "Where are the flipping cars? Where's the gigantic, indestructible black guy?"
See, this is a common thread in movie reviews: You (a critic) reviews a movie favorably or unfavorably compared to movies you happen to enjoy in the same genre, by the same director, etc. While it is fair to review aspects of a movie in such a manner -- camera technique, performance of an actor, etc., when the time comes you (the critic) need to put all that stuff away because when the time comes to say "you should/should not watch this movie" you need to consider it as an individual unit, an independent concern from all other movies in the same genre, whether you like them or hate them.
It is, I would argue, acceptable to evaluate a movie that is part of a series or based on a book, stage show, television show, video game, etc. against its source material when delivering your final critique.
If I go to a movie like, say, The A-Team, I am expecting a certain kind of film. I expect there to be four principle characters: a cigar-smoking mastermind, a faceman, a badass, and an insane chopper pilot. I expect there to be explosions and lots of flipping/wrecking vehicles. I expect a plan to come together. I expect these things because I know the source material from which the movie is drawn.
If I went to see, say, The Karate Kid, I would have an entirely different set of expectations. I would expect it to have some karate in it, all apologies to kung-fu enthusiasts. It would have a kid, kind of twerpy, in over his head and taught how to kick butt and also a valuable life lesson by an Asian martial-arts master.
If it had the flipping cars and insane chopper pilot I would be sort of confused.
So when Mr. Snyder says that if this were any other movie, we'd think it was dumb, he's right.
But no, Mr. Snyder, this is not any other action movie. This is The A-Team.
And it is awesome.
(This is in fact my endorsement of the movie).
"In fact, I'll go this far: If this were called anything other than The A-Team, you wouldn't put up with it. You'd want to know why the laws of physics don't apply, or how federal fugitives can travel the world with access to unlimited resources, money, and weapons. You'd want to know exactly HOW these little capers -- escaping from prison, obtaining top-secret documents -- were achieved. Plenty of movies are all about ONE such caper. Here, they happen every five minutes. How do they do it? Well, they're the A-Team, that's how. They're just awesome."
-Eric. D. Snyder, Cinematical (http://www.cinematical.com/2010/06/10/the-a-team-review/)
Okay. First of all, he's right on all counts.
Second of all, he missed the point (he actually did give this movie a niddling-to-positive review).
The fact is, you do not go to a movie called The A-Team and expect to see Snatch, Smokin' Aces, Inglorious Basterds, Citizen Kane, Dracula vs. the Wolfman... and if you went to see a movie called the A-Team and saw a movie with the general theme and attitude of one of those movies you would call it crap. "Where are the explosions?" You would say. "Where are the flipping cars? Where's the gigantic, indestructible black guy?"
See, this is a common thread in movie reviews: You (a critic) reviews a movie favorably or unfavorably compared to movies you happen to enjoy in the same genre, by the same director, etc. While it is fair to review aspects of a movie in such a manner -- camera technique, performance of an actor, etc., when the time comes you (the critic) need to put all that stuff away because when the time comes to say "you should/should not watch this movie" you need to consider it as an individual unit, an independent concern from all other movies in the same genre, whether you like them or hate them.
It is, I would argue, acceptable to evaluate a movie that is part of a series or based on a book, stage show, television show, video game, etc. against its source material when delivering your final critique.
If I go to a movie like, say, The A-Team, I am expecting a certain kind of film. I expect there to be four principle characters: a cigar-smoking mastermind, a faceman, a badass, and an insane chopper pilot. I expect there to be explosions and lots of flipping/wrecking vehicles. I expect a plan to come together. I expect these things because I know the source material from which the movie is drawn.
If I went to see, say, The Karate Kid, I would have an entirely different set of expectations. I would expect it to have some karate in it, all apologies to kung-fu enthusiasts. It would have a kid, kind of twerpy, in over his head and taught how to kick butt and also a valuable life lesson by an Asian martial-arts master.
If it had the flipping cars and insane chopper pilot I would be sort of confused.
So when Mr. Snyder says that if this were any other movie, we'd think it was dumb, he's right.
But no, Mr. Snyder, this is not any other action movie. This is The A-Team.
And it is awesome.
(This is in fact my endorsement of the movie).