Between their groundbreaking animated series "South Park" and brilliant Broadway musical "The Book of Mormon", Trey Parker and Matt Stone hilariously parodied 80's action movies, politics and Hollywood with TEAM AMERICA: WORLD POLICE.
Only these two boys could convince Paramount to put up $32 million for what's basically a puppet show. A huge-scale, brilliantly designed, scathingly profane and adult comedy satire, but a puppet show all the same.
For my fellow fans of TEAM AMERICA, i can throw out half a sentence in reference to a dozen scenes and we'll both bust up laughing uncontrollably. If this is your brand of funny, it's a gut buster.
Parker & Stone introduce us to Team America, a Rambo like special forces team that manages to blow up virtually every important cultural landmark in any country they "rescue". In the first five minutes, they destroy most of Paris while assuring the citizens that they've saved the day.
They hire the world's greatest actor (currently appearing in a hugely inappropriate but hilarious "Rent" knock off on Broadway) to join the team.
If he can "act like a terrorist" he can surely infiltrate the radical Muslim group ready to unleash WMDs.
Sparing no one, the boys manage to destroy pretentious Hollywood actors, particularly Alec Baldwin who dies the most horrific death since Issac Hayes left South Park and "Chef" fell under their wrath.
Kim Jong II is a complete sociopath who sounds remarkably like Cartman until he breaks into the remarkably offensive and side splitting song "I'm So Ronery". As they did with the songs in the brilliant SOUTH PARK:BIGGER, LONGER UNCUT musical film, they score the songs with a full orchestra and big budget support.
There are tributes to Blofeld in the Bond films, massive destruction of life and property and the most blatantly hilarious pro-USA theme song in history. Guitars scream, trumpets blare and a chorus sings "America, F*$K Yeah!" and those are some of the tamest lyrics. I basically have a teenage boy sense of humor if you tap into it, which Parker & Stone do with nearly everything they create.
Just when you think they've pushed the envelope to its breaking point, they unleash a puppet sex scene so graphic that it actually earned the film and NC-17 rating. SInce the puppets have no genitalia, I'm not sure how that's possible, but it did make my face hurt from laughing so hard.
My favorite scene is when actor Gary goes undercover and they have a special signal that he's supposed to use if he needs help. Team America is all watching him closely, but just can't seem to tell if he's making the signal. The fact that the secret signal is him standing up and waving both his arms frantically over his head with his face showing complete terror makes the scene ten times funnier.
It's still the best way to enter a room with friends who share my love for this profanely irreverent, completely politically incorrect, nasty adult puppet show.
"Durka-Durka"
---------------
Gary: OK, a limousine that can fly. Now I have seen everything.
Spottswoode: Really? Have you seen a man eat his own head?
Gary: No.
Spottswoode: So then, you haven't seen everything.
--------------------
Puppet Janeane Garofolo: As actors, it is our responsibility to read the newspapers, and then say what we read on television like it's our own opinion.
-------------------------
Puppet Sean Penn: Last year I went to Iraq. Before Team America showed up, it was a happy place. They had flowery meadows and rainbow skies, and rivers made of chocolate, where the children danced and laughed and played with gumdrop smiles.
-------------------------
Kim Jong Il: It will be 911 times 2356.
Chris: My God, that's... I don't even know what that is!
Kim Jong Il: Nobody does!
Brilliant social commentary guaranteed to really piss off the left and the right equally, TEAM AMERICA is childish, silly, gross and foul mouthed.
And I cant stop laughing. I'll give it an A-, it never gets old.
Comments