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A-Team proves once again that when it comes to loading a lovable big- screen circus without any brainwork whatsoever, no one can match the wily big studio fatsuits of LA. The film is honest enough to not even make an attempt to exude sanity all through its two- hour odd runtime. This is the cinema version of junk food — the sort you’ll love tucking into if you’ve savoured absolutely nonsensical adrenaline rushes such as XXX or all those Steven Segal flicks that keep coming and going.

Just for that reason you shouldn’t bother checking the fact that this film is ‘ directed’ (‘ assembled’ would be a more apt word) by Joe Carnahan, whose claim to fame so far has been the equally dumb action feast, Smokin’ Aces . For the record, the film is based on a hugely popular TV series of the eighties by the same name. The original characters are retained (played by a contemporary cast, of course), so don’t be stumped if all the lead players actually look like telly- twits blown up for the right effect on a big screen.

Why would they reload an old TV show for celluloid? Two reasons. The genre in question — action — never goes out of fashion and this was a tested concept waiting to be tapped. Secondly, new- age FX gimmicks allowed bosses at 20th Century Fox to float a made- for- the gallery project guaranteed to ensure quick returns. In sync with as much, The A- Team tries a new style of depicting violence.

The CGI- heavy stunt sequences here are deftly chopped into bits and fused onto flash- frame shots of the actors, in a bid to heighten the action pace.

Well, Hollywood masala action is always about tech tricks. There’s very little story, even lesser dialogues (this line, defining the A- Team, takes the cake, pastry and bakery: “ They are the best, and they specialise in the ridiculous.”) For those who came in late, the Ateam are Hannibal (Liam Neeson), Faceman (Bradley Cooper), BA (Quinton Jackson) and ‘ Howling Mad’ Murdoch (Sharlto Copley).

You need a script to justify their bombastic antics, of course. So, it turns out that the guys, despite being Iraq veterans, are dishonourably disbanded and wrongly imprisoned after a mission goes wrong.

They don’t plan to remain in jail for long, of course. So the action starts early as all the A- Team members manage to escape from the various prisons, and decide to go for the villains who landed them in the mess. In essence, the ‘ story’ is about the A- Team evading the law as well as the baddies till they manage to set things right. There’s lots of gunwork, lots of property being blown up, and a lot more loony stunts involving helicopters and highrises as the designer mayhem unfolds.

The A- Team actually seems clear about its target audience base: video game- zonked teenagers who love to stare at a screen that keeps non- stop action coming. If you are touchy about arms and armymen as projected on screen, go watch The Hurt Locker instead.