A-Team stars defend film from bad reviews

The new A-team rolled into London last night in their iconic GMC Vandura van, with the film's cast ready to defend their movie remake of the 1980s cult TV series after its slating in the US.
 
If the British reception to the film is anything like that of America's top critics, the A-Team could be in for a rough ride. US reviewers showed no mercy to the four mercenaries - giving The A-Team an overall 17 per cent positive rating on the film review website Rotten Tomatoes.
 
Los Angeles Times critic Kenneth Turan called the film "more of a chore than an adventure", declaring that - in what is unlikely to be the last use of Mr T's catchphrase - "I pity the fool... who mistakes this for genuine entertainment".
 
Meanwhile the Hollywood Reporter's Kirk Honeycutt slammed the film for seeming "nearly writer-free" while New York Times critic Manohla Dargis singled out the Irish actor Liam Neeson as "too intense to fall for the joke".
 
The film has also came under fire from one of its original stars. In June Mr T, who played BA Baracus in the original TV series, decried the film for being "too graphic".
 
Last night Neeson conceded that he had "big shoes to fill" by taking on the role of cigar-chomping Colonel John 'Hannibal' Smith - originally played by the late George Peppard.
 
Neeson, in his first full film role since the death of his wife Natasha Richardson in a freak ski accident 16 months ago, said the 2010 film was a "homage" to the series. "We tip our hat to certain elements in the show. But after that we made our own movie, and hopefully it's entertaining."
 
All four lead cast members - Quinton Jackson (BA Baracus), Bradley Cooper (Face, pictured), Sharlto Copley (Murdock) along with Neeson - were in attendance at the UK premiere in London's Leicester Square last night.
 
Also present was the film's sole female star, Jessica Biel, the 28-year-old girlfriend of singer Justin Timberlake, who appeared to have dressed in camouflage for the occasion. Dressed in a red Giambattista Valli gown and red strappy sandals, she was almost in danger of blending into the red carpet.

'The A-Team' opens in Britain from today. ·