Superficially, “The A-Team” seems to fit in nicely with other incomprehensibly stupid machismo-fueled explosion-fests like the “Fast and Furious” films or the abomination that is Michael Bay’s “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.”  Merely a cursory examination of these films, especially the latter, reveals a startling thread of anti-humanity that only becomes more deplorable the deeper the analysis.  But “The A-Team,” ostensibly the same, is actually altogether different.  Movies like this often get a pass from critics if they show some signs of self-deprecation — that is, if the film is stupid, it’s okay as long as the film “knows it’s stupid.”  I accept that philosophy to a certain degree.  An element of self-awareness is always welcome in a film that seems so blatantly ridiculous.  And “The A-Team” surely fits that profile, but its successes transcend that narrow condition.  The joy I experienced watching this film isn’t rooted in the exploitative wish-fulfillment nonsense of the movies mentioned, but comes from an entirely separate sphere of sensibilities.  In fact, “The A-Team” probably doesn’t even belong in the same genre.

Howling Mad Murdock (Sharlto Copley), B.A. Baracus (Rampage Jackson), Hannibal Smith (Liam Neeson) and Faceman (Bradley Cooper) are the greatest special ops team in the world.  After 80 successful missions in Iraq and elsewhere the revered team find themselves disgraced and incarcerated after being framed for the murder of their superior and the stealing of an especially valuable contingent of rare US currency minting plates.  They bust out of jail and immediately hit the pavement to try to clear their names and take down the real culprit(s).

“The A-Team” is not an action film.  It is laden with gunfights, explosions, wildly exaggerated aerial battles, unnecessarily complex operations and a non-stop high-intensity shaky-cam style — but it is not an action film.  Understanding this is crucial.  “The A-Team” is a comedy.  Need proof?  A tank — a TANK! — that has fallen from a destroyed cargo plane thousands of feet in sky is successfully flown to safety using blasts from the vehicle’s own large caliber gun as a propulsion system to not only negate the effects of gravity on the 60-ton machine but to accurately navigate through the air.  This is the funniest thing I have seen in years.

That wacky sensibility is consistent throughout, legitimized by a lack of graphic violence or gratuitous sex.  The mood is pure fun.  And the entire cast does a fine job giving the audience likable and unique characterizations to carry us through some of the more muddled plot details.  Sharlto Copley and Liam Neeson stand out as a deranged pilot and a cigar-chomping commander, respectively, and Patrick Wilson is a delight as the seedy CIA agent whose loyalties are never quite clear.

“The A-Team” isn’t looking to quench the adolescent American male’s thirst for inconsequential violence, high-octane explosive action and soft-core porn.  “The A-Team” is looking for laughs, and it got plenty out of me.

Scheduled for wide release June 11, 2010.

Already cast in the project are Liam Neeson as Col. John “Hannibal” Smith, and Bradley Cooper as Lt. Templeton “Faceman” Peck.

It was once rumored that rapper The Game, had been tapped for the role of Sgt. Bosco ‘B.A.’ Baracus until UFC fighter Quinton Ramone Jackson ended up nabbing the gig.

The Joe Carnahan-directed flick has already begun shooting in Vancouver, Canada, so now all eyes are on who will assume the role of the team’s pilot, Capt. H.M. “Howling Mad” Murdock. The guys over at Black Film report that a reliable source is indicating “District 9″ star, Sharlto Copley, has been offered the job.  It is not yet confirmed if he has accepted the offer.

Among those thought to be in the running for the role either include or did include (depending your source) Jim Carrey, Steve Buscemi, Timothy Olyphant, Woody Harrelson, Sam Rockwell, Chris Pine and Robert Downey Jr.

With “District 9′s” unexpected success, which many attribute to Copley’s exceptional performance, it’s likely the actor will see his resume get a big boost over the next few years.

Martin Campbell will direct and Donald De Line and Greg Berlanti will produce.

After the studio held a couple of rounds of screen tests for Bradley Cooper, Jared Leto, Justin Timberlake, and Reynolds, they finally managed to make their decision just days after the holding options on the actors expired.

The reason it took so long to make a seemingly simple choice was that apparently the studio, the producers, and the director all had different favorites among the the actors.

Reynolds’ most recent foray into comic book films was in Fox’s “X-Men Origins: Wolverine,” where he played the character, Deadpool.  If a deal is reached, which presumably will happen soon, it would make Reynolds the only actor to have starred as both a DC and a Marvel superhero.

Director Martin Campbell and producers Donald De Line and Greg Berlanti have, with Warners, been searching for the perfect candidate to play the DC Comics character, Hal Jordan, the top-dog Air Force pilot who is selected by a dying alien to be his successor in an intergalactic police force known as the Green Lanterns.

After considering other actors early on including Michael Fassbender, Henry Cavill, and Jared Leto, the studio ordered two rounds of screen tests with Cooper, Reynolds and Timberlake.

But, Warners is already past due on their decision as the holding deal they had on the actors expired Monday, which means the three are now free to accept other offers.

There are two main factors in that have added sluggish pace of the decision, the first being differing opinions on the best actor suited for the role.  De Line, Campbell and the studio apparently each had a different favorite.  The second being an already rising budget.

“Lantern” will be a state-of-the-art space epic that is expected to cost upwards of $200 million, and the identity of the cast significantly factors into that number.

The flick is scheduled for a December 2010 opening.

Overseas, however, it was quite a different story. In an unprecedented, and truly baffling turn of fortune, the awful, awful McG-directed film, “Terminator Salvation” somehow took the No. 1 spot in over 30 territories making $46.1 million from 10,500 screens out of the 80 territories it landed distribution.

The full domestic box office numbers for the weekend of June 12-14:

1. The Hangover $33.4M
2. Up $30.5M
3. The Taking of Pelham 123 $25.0M
4. Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian $9.6M
5. Land of the Lost $9.1M
6. Imagine That $5.7M
7. Star Trek $5.6M
8. Terminator Salvation $4.6M
9. Angels & Demons $4.2M
10. Drag Me to Hell $3.8M

Variety goes on to report: “Ridley Scott is producing with Jules Daly and series creator Stephen J. Cannell, with Tony Scott exec producing through Scott Free. Carnahan and Brian Bloom polished a script by Skip Woods, whose recent script credits include ‘G.I. Joe: The Rise of the Cobra’ and ‘Wolverine.’

Neeson is in talks to play Hannibal, the role originated by George Peppard, while Cooper would play ‘Faceman,’ the role played by Dirk Benedict.

Neeson and Fox are working out money issues. He is coming off the global hit ‘Taken’ and most recently completed ‘Chloe’ and ‘Clash of the Titans,’ playing Zeus in the latter.

Cooper has established himself as a commodity after his starring role in Todd Phillips-directed hit ‘The Hangover.’ He just completed playing the title role opposite Sandra Bullock in “All About Steve.”

Carnahan, Fox and Scott Free have kept the series premise — four war vets wrongly convicted of armed robbery escape from a military prison to become do-gooder mercenaries — but they’ve replaced the campy nature of the series with a tone closer to those of “Mission: Impossible” and “Ocean’s Eleven.”

Still to be cast are the roles of Capt. ‘Howling Mad’ Murdock, played by Dwight Schultz in the original, and Sgt. ‘B.A.’ Baracus, the role that made Mr. T an ’80s icon.”

Production is set to begin in late August for a June 11, 2010, release.