Liam Neeson, Bradley Cooper, Sharlto Copley, Quinton Jackson

119 mins

★★★

A big screen version of the Eighties TV series has been in gestation for some years and director Joe Carnahan’s version is about as good as it’s likely to get. Not great, but far better than advance reports from the US, where box office returns weren't great, would suggest.

This is a comic adventure that doesn't take itself seriously, provides enough big bangs and breathtaking stunts (a tank on a parachute, anyone?) to satisfy the summer blockbuster crowd.

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It may lack subtlety and characters you care about, but The A Team never was Shakespeare, was it?

Neeson’s cigar-chomping Hannibal Smith – “I love it when a plan comes together”

is his catchphrase – leads a dirty foursome, a band of special forces soldiers trying to clear their names after being framed for a crime they didn’t commit.

Bradley Cooper's Face is a fixer (and sweet on Jessica Biel’s army girl determined to bring them to justice), Quinton “Rampage” Jackson follows Mr T as the rough and tough B A Baracus, and Sharlito Copley is “Howling Mad” Murdock, a pilot who lives up to his insane name.

The plot, even if you could follow it or if it made sense, hardly matters. What's important is the camaraderie and backchat between the quartet of action men and the impressive action set pieces.

It ain’t art, but it is great fun.