Team America: World Police

Voices of: Trey Parker, Matt Stone, Kristen Miller, Masasa Moyo, Daran Norris
Directed by: Trey Parker
Rating: R
Genre: Action, Adventure, Comedy
2004

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: A Broadway actor joins an elite special forces team to help stop a global terrorist attack.

Review:

Tim: I'm actually a really big fan of Trey Parker and Matt Stone. South Park is a really funny show, and I loved South Park: Bigger, Longer, and Uncut. I also liked BASEketball quite a bit. Because of all that, I was really looking forward to Team America: World Police. I thought the film had some serious funny moments, but as a whole, this film was significantly less effective than it needed to be. I thought this movie was decent, but not nearly as good as it needed to be.

I have to say that the fact that this film was done entirely with puppets is outstanding. I love the initial scene in the film, which features a crude puppet against a weak backdrop. The camera pulls back to reveal a surprisingly detailed, incredible world. What Parker and Stone created here is nothing short of amazing. That being said, this movie itself falls a bit short. The movie is funny, but it's not quite as funny as it needed to be. I was mildly entertained throughout the film, but this movie does not live up to its potential.

I get the basic idea here- use puppets to tell a scathing spoof story about action movies, about Americans' belief of their own superiority and how they have to "police" the world, and about how Americans tend to make a mess overseas and then wonder why everyone doesn't love us. I get the sentiment of the film, and I suppose I appreciate the deeper commentary of the script. Unfortunately, it just feels like Parker and Stone hit us a little too repeatedly over the head with the message. We get it, and yet it keeps coming at us over and over.

My biggest complaint with the film is that I really couldn't identify with any of the characters. Part of this is because they are puppets, but part of it is that the characters are just grossly underdeveloped. I get that they are puppets, but we spend so little time with them that we really don't care much about them. That undermines the whole film. I get that Parker and Stone wanted to spend time spoofing action movies, but they needed to devote more attention to the characters.

I also felt like overall, the songs in this film were of a weaker quality. One of my favorite aspects of South Park: Bigger, Longer, and Uncut was that nearly every song was incredibly well-written, catchy, and memorable. This film features far too many forgettable songs. I did love "Montage" and there's something catchy about "America, F**k Yeah", but overall, the soundtrack disappointed me.

The story is decent, but certainly not great. I really appreciate having North Korea's Kim Jong Il as the villain (especially with his lisp). That was certainly clever, timely, and what we've come to expect from Parker and Stone. The overall story had a few clever moments. I have to admit that the puppet sex scene was pretty elaborate and unexpected. This is a film that has good moments, but as a whole, it doesn't measure up.

I really, really like Trey Parker and Matt Stone. With Team America: World Police, they create an incredibly intricate puppet world. This is a huge, huge achievement. I love that this film exists (it's likely the only R-rated puppet movie that will ever exist), but I'm a bit disappointed in the final product. Still, this is a decent movie, and it certainly has some hilarious moments. It's worth checking out, but temper your expectations.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating- 6.5


If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: South Park: Bigger, Longer, and Uncut; BASEketball