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Review of Team America World Police
The movie is essentially a parody of your standard summer blockbuster. In this case we have "Team America", the stereotypical hodge podge band of freedom fighters brought together to kick ass (not surprisingly) for America and for Freedom. It turns out that marionettes are the ideal vehicle for such a film: the summer blockbuster genre has at its very core the super huge special effect. A parody would be hard pressed to convincingly duplicate these effects. But these are puppets. So the effects are supposed to look silly. And this is fortunate: the film takes constant blissful pleasure in the blockbuster tradition of demolishing national monuments, from the Eiffel tower to Mount Rushmore.
Our team of freedom fighters hits all the standard cliche's: we lose a member, find a replacement, who gets jaded and ultimately must come to terms with his feelings about his job while the team comes to accept the new guy.
Of course, there is some sort of a plot as well. In South Park the movie, Parker used Saddam Hussein as his evil joke. This time it's Kim Jong-il. He's really no different than Saddam was last time around. Just a ludicrous bad guy. In this case he's busy masterminding a stupid plot where he unifies the hollywood liberals and various terrorist organization as part of your standard wreck the world plan. It's thin, but no thinner than what it parodies.
I think my general concern going into this movie was the politics. The movie could very easily get mired down in preaching a point. But thankfully it never really does that. It simultaneously makes fun of liberal hollywood actors, and the rah rah 'Go America' right wing stereotype. But the movie isn't really picking sides: it's more about parodying the genre of summer blockbuster then it is about right vs left or war vs peace. Thats a good thing. Parker has proven time and time again that he can make simple points very well. South Park has addressed countless social issues over the years, and the feature film really took issues like censorship and parenting in a very meaningful way. Team America doesn't spend much time trying to seriously address the issues. It's just simple fun.
The other major concern that I harbored was that the marionette jokes would run thin. As I said before, the use of marionettes works great for mocking special effects, but the film easily could have constantly referred back to the fact that we are watching puppets. There are only a few jokes like that. Since they are used so sparingly, they make it all the more amusing when it happens. And there's a lot of hilarity to be derived from puppet sex when the film is pretending to be serious about it.
Like all of Parker's movies, they come out guns blazing, and 30 minutes in, I find myself needing a commercial break. The jokes are constant and funny. Maybe too funny. By the middle of the film you see something funny but are so desensitized that it's tough to muster another laugh. Of course then they turn around and beat you over the head with something new.
It's also worth noting that the facial puppetteering is really cool. Everyone involved should be really proud of themselves for pulling off something so visually unique.
I really enjoyed the film. I went in with high hopes and was pleased to have them all met. Even my wife, who is quite sick of South Park and wasn't looking forward to watching this at all came out absolutely giddy with laughter.
If you're a South Park fan, you'll love this movie. If you're a fan of summer blockbusters, and can tolerate the language, you'll love this movie. If you're a prude, watch something else. As for me, this is the first movie in months that I decided to buy the DVD before it was over.
Maybe to funny.
You were doing so well...
What does this have to do with Bashing Microsoft or sloberring over Open Sores? In other words... OFF TOPIC!! Try again Taco
Jon Katz, where are you??
An entire sentence is devoted to the plot and characters. The rest is rambling about how funny it was, and some irrelevant nonsense about the South Park movie. So Taco liked the movie. Thanks for sharing.
;P
On a side note, Taco must be pissed off at his wife. Why else would he give her a Slashdotting?
Writhe your naked ass to the mindless groove.
Heh, Penn's just jealous his marionette has better hair than he does. :P
Julie Moult is an idiot.
Play video game? You're a nerd.
Watch edgy-movies? Nerd.
Vote? TOTAL Nerd!
I suggest you read Slashdot
You know it has to be good when you can see the wires :D
PRINT "Signature line broken."
GOTO 1
Oh my God, CmdrTaco! You Slashdotted your wife! You bastard! ;-)
I believe I speak for my fellow prudes everywhere when I say I'm offended.
I haven't seen the movie, mind you, but I did read the review.
Is there no shame left? These are our children who are watching these sorts of things.
sigs, as if you care.
Slashdot.
Julie Moult is an idiot.
Because it is marionette technology...
Dang! And I was getting comfortable with all that wireless technology.
"Kittens give Morbo gas!"
After the success of World Police, get ready for the sequel!
Team America: Grammar Patrol!!
Rated R for Retarded...
Where a group of lurky nerds troll Internet forums around the world constantly correcting spelling mistakes and bad grammar and denouncing it as the bane of the universe!!
Friends don't let Friends use Internet Explorer.
I think Rob was a bit angry at his wife, so he wanted us to /. her website.
Without a proper flamewar, Anonymous was undecided on what shell to run.
Then it's HILARIOUS!
I think he means the latter...or in other words, it tries to equally offend everyone.
And they'd never do that! :P
Julie Moult is an idiot.
Wait, yes it is...most of the mods are as clueless as you.
Sleep is futile.
America! Fuck yeah!
Freedom cost a buck-o-five
Arab disguise
I promise I'll never die
Puppet Love
Puke
I just want to say Pearl Harbor sucked just a little bit more than I miss you
Trust
Panthers
You had me at "dicks fuck assholes"
Matt Damon
Am I the only one that's scared of marionettes, claymation and midgets?
My Linux Command of the Day site : LCOD
The American taxpayer will appreciate your sacrifice as well :)
Tip: the almond taste of the cyanide should go well with a sweet wine such as a port.
They made fun of you too, huh?
-Dizzle
"I most likely AM so interested in myself."
I've been looking forward to seeing this movie since Columbine, and I better start this review by putting my cards on the table: I'm a fan of South Park, the TV show and the movie, especially in our post-Columbine world where young geeks are not allowed to express themselves fully in a high school setting. In fact, I've seen Orgazmo and Cannibal the Musical simply because they were about Columbine. I was skeptical about a Columbine movie, but I went in with realistic expectations.
The Right Reverend K. Reid Wightman,
Fuck all! I went Googling for "puppet sex" and all I could find were hundreds of news posts about some movie named "Team America."
Major let down.
They were originally going to make it to be Team UN: World Police, but puppets sitting in a big room talking all day just wouldn't sell any tickets.
Linux is to the internet as Duct Tape is to the Universe.
Parker has proven time and time again that he can make simple points very well.
Is that supposed to be an example of "damning with faint praise," or is that actually meant as a compliment?
Did they do the obvious joke about getting wood?
Do you or your partner snore? - Visit www.snoring.com.au
TreyParker.is_funny(true);r ian(true);
TreyParker.is_liberta
if (TreyParker.is_funny() && TreyParker.is_libertarian)
{
TreyParker.is_funny_libertarian(1);
}
Software Wars
Libertarians are like Mac users, even though they're only 1% of the population (and falling), they make 50% of the noise on the Internet.
Are you INSANE?!
You don't make a plural with an apostrophe!
I thought he was trying to make an acute accent (clichés).
And you thought Libertarians couldn't be funny!
Au contraire, I often find myself laughing at Libertarians.
Umm. If I'm not mistaken The United States of America is the only country with "America" actually in it's name, so it's not too far-fetched to just call ourselves Americans.
This reminds me of a story:
I was in a speech class (no, not learning how to speak) and I mentioned a Mexican news station I had watched. Some girl turned around and tried to correct me, saying very matter-of-factly, "Hispanic news station." I paused a second and said, "No, Mexican news station. It was filmed IN Mexico, ABOUT Mexico, FOR the Mexican people. It was a freaking Mexican news station."
-Devin Torres
Real programmers can write assembly code in any language. -- Larry Wall
Actually, I have always thought they are downright comical... especially when they explain their bizarre political beliefs! :-D
I like paying taxes. With them I buy civilization -- Oliver Wendell Holmes
Comment removed based on user account deletion
"...national monuments, from the Eiffel tower to Mount Rushmore."
You forget to read the newspaper one day, and France invades the U.S.A. Typical.
While I agree on the basic tenets of libertarianism, let's face it: its pie-in-the-sky bullshit.
Libertarian is the label used by embarrassed Republicans that long to be open about their greed, drug use and porn collections.
Fuck the author, this is slashdot!
Yeah, the total lack of Realplayer support by the movie industry makes me irate.
(There, I said what you wanted me to say. Could you take the gun away from my head now?)
NO WE DON'T!!!
er...wait...
Damn.
That? That was a pigeon.
What does it say about our society when we readily celebrate instruments of death and destruction, but can't even bring ourselves to look at parts of our own bodies that bring life itself?
It says that our country was founded by religious puritans that were so stodgy and uptight that fucking ENGLAND said "Get the hell out of here, you prissy bitches." They then proceeded to wipe out an entire indigenous people while speaking politely and screwing through holes in sheets.
Michael Moore had a cute little cartoon that emphasized this in Bowling for Columbine.
This message brought to you by the Council of People Who Are Sick of Seeing More People.
Yes, but both sides concur that you are wacky extremists. How can such broad, bi-partisan agreement be wrong? :-)