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Liam Neeson Was the Perfect Lead in This Underrated ’80s Action Reboot

July 28, 2025

Liam Neeson surprised everyone when he was announced to fill Leslie Nielsen’s shoes in the last update of The Naked Gun. The tall and imposing Irishman has spent decades defying expectations, spending half his career as a critically acclaimed actor before transitioning into action roles in Taken and The Grey. It was during the early period of his newfound action hero image that Neeson was an offbeat choice to headline Fox’s film adaptation of The A-Team.

The star of Schindler’s List brought his gravitas and underrated sense of fun to headlining director Joe Carnahan’s 2010 re-imagining of the popular NBC action adventure series starring Mr. T that ran for five seasons from 1983 to 1987. Neeson had the challenge of filling the footsteps of the legendary George Peppard as Col. John “Hannibal” Smith, leader of a group of Vietnam War criminals-turned-soldiers of fortune. Intended as a cinematic franchise starter, The A-Team was a box-office underperformer, which Carnahan blamed on Fox’s marketing of the picture, and was slammed by critics for its messy plot. Despite its shortcomings, Neeson and his ensemble of Bradley Cooper, Sharlto Copley, and Quinton “Rampage” Jackson were more than worthy successors to Peppard and company.

What Is ‘The A-Team’ About?

Carnahan, with co-writers Brian Bloom and Skip Woods, went away from the standard A-Team episode formula that usually saw the team use their unique skillset to help everyday people in trouble. Instead, they focused on the frame-up angle of the original series’ premise, swapping Vietnam with the war in Iraq. Following the action-packed introduction of how Hannibal brings the team together, The A-Team jumps eight years into the Iraq war when the team is assigned by General Morrison (Gerald McRaney) to a covert operation to obtain $1 billion plus U.S. Treasury plates out of Baghdad. Though they succeed, Morrison dies in a car explosion, and the money as well as the plates go missing.

Blamed for the sabotage, Hannibal, along with Face (Cooper), B.A. (Jackson), and Murdock (Copley), are tried and sentenced to individual maximum security facilities. Months later, Hannibal is visited by CIA operative Lynch (Patrick Wilson) with information about a conspiring black ops agent (Bloom) involved with framing the team and plans on selling the plates to an Arab dealer. Eventually, Hannibal breaks out and leads the other escaping teammates to get exonerated.

Joe Carnahan Emphasizes the Human Element of ‘The A-Team’

Image via 20th Century Fox

Given his past dramatic work in Michael Collins and Rob Roy, Neeson was an unlikely choice to play a cigar-chomping leader with charm and a sparkle in the eye. The theatrical qualities of Peppard’s Hannibal Smith from the TV show exemplified the flippant, lighthearted tone that made it so popular with young viewers in the ‘80s. Yet, Carnahan’s approach was similar to 1996’s Mission: Impossible in the sense that the opening sequence captures the spirit of the show with such hallmarks as the classic GMC van making an appearance, B.A.’s fear of flying, Face conning and flirting with attractive women, Murdock with his signature sock puppet, and of course Hannibal’s famous catchphrase “I love it when a plan comes together”.

Once the team gets framed and sentenced to prison, Carnahan puts his cinematic stamp on The A-Team by making the characters more human and fleshed out than their television counterparts. This is where Neeson thrives both as an action star and a respected actor. Midway through the film, Hannibal has a confrontation at gunpoint with the surprise character who framed his team. There’s a real anger in Neeson’s performance that is not part of the original series DNA, because the team’s loss of freedom does take a serious toll on the men. Not just having fun beating up bad guys. It is a true Carnahan moment that elevates The A-Team into a higher-stakes story than the tongue-in-cheek handling of storytelling in the original series.

Liam Neeson Makes Hannibal Smith a Natural Father Figure Instead of a Leader

Unlike Peppard’s charismatic depiction of Hannibal Smith, Neeson reinterprets the Colonel as a seasoned father figure to his group of misfit teammates and more physical than his predecessor. He gets involved in daring setpieces ranging from rescuing Cooper’s Face from Mexican villains to his hand-to-hand brawl with Patrick Wilson as the main antagonist. The Peppard version rarely stopped to console his men, dealing with personal matters. Neeson grounds The A-Team with his years of experience and witnessing how the horrors of war can be psychologically taxing.

The power of Neeson’s performance is exemplified by B.A.’s arc midway through the film when he decides to put violence behind him. Neeson has a beautiful moment with the reformed soldier mechanic, citing Gandhi’s view of victory through the use of violence. It means more than just driving B.A.’s story into the third act. It’s the subtle way that Hannibal addresses the enormous weight of his leadership within the realities of war.

The A-Team is refreshing escapist entertainment that sees Neeson lean on the fun factor while blending a mix of his action and dramatic skills alongside a talented cast. The actor thrives when he dips his toes into new territory, such as this film, as well as the comedy arena he is about to enter as Frank Drebin, Jr. in The Naked Gun.

The A-Team is available to stream on Tubi in the U.S.