The tagline for Team America: World Police is, “Putting the ‘F’ back in ‘Freedom.’” That just about sums it up. The movie is crude, profane, and, at times, funny, but, with the exception of a couple of musical numbers, it’s not edgy or clever enough.

South Park’s Trey Parker and Matt Stone are back in typically raunchy form with a swear and violence-filled musical film that pokes fun at celebrities and world leaders. Sound familiar? Well, this movie uses puppets instead of cartoon characters!

While the South Park movie had something real to say about censorship and fear, the message of Team America is somewhat convoluted. The opening scene takes us to Paris where a terrorist attack is about to occur. Team America swoops in to save the day, destroying half of Paris in the process. Even worse than the collapse of the Eiffel Tower, Team America loses one of its own as Carson is gunned down by a terrorist when he is proposing to his teammate Lisa.

So, Team America’s methods aren’t exactly ideal, but the film is far from being anti-military. If it had been more anti-establishment, maybe it would have been funnier! Parker and Stone are equal opportunity mockers, berating Hollywood’s anti-war activists, as well as cocky Americans. Unfortunately, there isn’t enough fodder to make fun of the movie stars they choose. Alec Baldwin and the other members of the Film Actors Guild are portrayed as arrogant and stupid. If Parker and Stone had more successfully parodied these actors, it could have been funny, but how can you make fun of Helen Hunt and Tim Robbins? They’re just too dull. The South Park creators also get revenge on Michael Moore* by portraying him as … a fat slob! How creative! And see what the name of their film actors organization spells? Isn’t that funny? Well, it’s mildly amusing when you first realize what the abbreviation is, but it gets old mighty fast.

Like most childish humor, the jokes in Team America all go on for too long. It is somewhat amusing the first time you see one of the marionettes vomit, but did it have to happen seven more times? The same thing can be said for the puppet sex scene. Apparently, the film originally received an NC-17 rating due to this scene, which I can’t understand, since puppets have no genitalia. However, I must commend the puppeteers for making the characters move in a lifelike way throughout the movie. The sets are also very impressive, and the occasional use of real world elements such as water is very well done.

After the death of Carson, Team America’s leader Spottswoode needs to recruit a new terror fighting man. Oddly enough, the man for the job is playing the lead in the Broadway production of Lease, a parody of Rent. The musical number in the show is one of the highlights of TA: WP. Gary Johnston (Parker), the actor in question, thinks that Spottwoode is recruiting him for a job called blow, so he initially resists. Believe me, TA: WP has no shortage of homophobic sex jokes.

While Team America fights small time terrorists, all of whom appear to be of generic Arab descent, the real enemy is real life dictator Kim Jong Il (Parker). While the South Park version of Saddam Hussein was in bed with Satan, the only notable characteristic of Kim Jong Il, apart from being sadistic, is that he pronounces his “r”s as “l”s and vice versa. Thus, Kim’s big musical number “I’m So Ronery” is boring, uncreative, and racist. It’s nothing new to portray a maniacal premier as secretly lonely. Kim’s confrontation with Hans Blix is somewhat funny, but, like most of the movie, it’s just an excuse for gratuitous violence.

The funniest part of TA: WP are the musical numbers. As the terror fighters pile into their jets, we hear their theme song blaring, “America, f*ck yeah!” It’s as catchy as any power ballad or G.I. Joe commercial, and you might find yourself battling the urge to sing it in public. Similarly “Eye of the Tiger”-esque is “Montage,” which sounds pretty much the same. A previous version of the song was featured in a 1997 South Park episode. My favorite song in the movie is probably “Pearl Harbor Sucked,” a monster ballad that derides Ben Affleck, et. al.

Gary sings “Pearl Harbor Sucked” as he’s pining away for Lisa. The love story subplot is supposed to be parodying lame, cheesy dialogue of movies like Armageddon,, but, like most of TA: WP it’s not funny enough.


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* Matt Stone appeared in Bowling for Columbine, and felt that his interview pieces were taken out of context. He and Trey Parker were also peeved that the cartoon that appears in B4C resembles South Park a bit too much.


Recommended: No