Little Things, Hitting Each Other
I was generally pleased with Matt Stone & Trey Parker’s latest big screen venture, Team America: World Police. The previews had me increasingly worried that it was a good concept lost as the creators became goofy over working for too many hours with puppets, and had come to primarily rely upon the running gag of violent puppets to be funny enough to carry the film. While there is plenty of that it was a genuinely funny movie – or at least funny in their particular idiom. That is to say, if you found South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut funny, then this movie will probably work for you. We and the audience we saw it with were kept laughing through most of it.
Much as their weekly tv show makes use of crude animation as part of its appeal, the awkwardness of marionette movement becomes central to many of the gags, including comedically undercutting dramatic scenes.
As with their South Park movie this one has some musical numbers, and enough original songs that I suspect there’s a soundtrack disc on the way. There are several entertaining songs, including some fun variations on one that has to be called “America – Fuck, yeah!”, but none that are as good as the key ones in Bigger, Longer & Uncut. Kim Jong Il singing of his loneliness wasn't half as funny nor a third as catchy as South Park's Saddam Hussein's "I Can Change."
The movie earned its R rating on all fronts – language, violence and sexual content – so keep that in mind if you’re contemplating taking pre-teens or teens. We’re a fairly permissive lot here, and have already run through some of the dodgiest questions with the kids, so taking a 12 year old to see it generally fit our plans. If you’re going to have some awkward moments in the aftermath of marionettes engaging in nearly every one on one sexual practice that, well, I can think of, then you’ll want to leave any kids at home or just wait for the DVD to pop in past their bedtime.
Anything from this point on has to have a spoiler warning.
The film starts off as I’d expected, having sport at the expense of Bush-era foreign policy (though Dubya's not in evidence), exploring it in via the over-the-top intersection with a ‘60s-style high tech team action marionette program. Of course, anyone who’s watched key episodes of South Park knew that they wouldn’t just lambaste one side. If you’ve seen the episode where the residents of South Park split into pro-war/country music and anti-war/rock music factions until Cartman’s cartoon trip back to 1776 leads to a conciliatory message for both sides will have a central plot loop in this movie well in hand.
Unfortunately, the movie was plainly written more than a couple months ago – well, obviously, they didn’t throw this together overnight – and they were ultimately much harder on the peace-mongers than on those taking up arms as a first response. Hollywood targets such as Janeane Garofalo, Tim Robbins, Sean Penn, Alec Baldwin and others are portrayed as passionate but ultimately mindless. Michael Moore is the one most viciously assaulted, surpassing the treatment the pretty Hollywood stars receive by taking it up a notch to the level of a suicide bomber.
Running throughout the movie, once the early scenes of Team America blowing up international landmarks in the pursuit of terrorists, declaring missions accomplished while leaving the locals agape amidst the ruins, is a presumption that the UN, Hans Blix and the weapons inspectors are misguided, impotent instruments for peace. As we’ve more recently learned, the sanctions and weapons inspections programs were tremendously successful in Iraq, and that the trouble has really only been in their absence.
Still, on the level of entertainment with some shock value, Team America: World Police largely succeeds.
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