On Team America: World Police

2004-10-21

Today I'm reviewing the movie "Team America: World Police". Please enjoy.

Having been a bit of a fan of some of the artists' other work, I had high expectations. OK, the expectations weren't that high but they did lean toward the high-ish end of things. The movie actually lived up to it, sort of. I mean, come on, they used puppets.

The film is about a group of agents who scour the world looking for terrorists and trying to kill them. They know that the bad guys are working together and have one particular leader. If you've seen any of the trailers then you know who the top bad guy is.

Like many of the films made by Parker and Stone, this one had many of the things you don't get from "regular" films. For one thing, there's a plot. It's not just any plot, it is a continuous, well-developed, interesting plot. In a day when most movie plots are cut with the same old cookie cutter, they have a tendency to create new and interesting story lines.

Another feature of these films is character development. It's rare to see a movie where the characters show any depth or growth. Typically, character development is associated with sappy movies with heavy (and forced) drama. That's not the case here.

The movie isn't for everybody, though. Another trait of movies by Parker and Stone is crude humor. There's plenty of that in "Team America". The swearing and adult themes are scattered throughout. Though the humor is often very clever, it's too bad they have to take the sewer to get there when there are many more scenic routes.

Not all the humor is crude. Social commentary and exaggeration of celebrities makes for some hilarious satire. The fact that the movie is done with puppets adds humor when human actors would never have the effect. Like the television series "South Park", the movie was not above making fun of its own limitations. That's class.

Overall, I recommend this movie to anyone who is not easily offended or who is not a big-shot Hollywood actor.