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Team America: World Police (directed by trey parker)
One out of Five Stars....and thats being generous.
"Team America: World Police" is an idea that had a LOT of promise, but the execution of said idea left a LOT to be desired.
The premise: A gung ho collection of action movie stock characters gleefully lay waste to various countries in an attempt to rid the world of terrorism. Oh, and they're played by marionettes, like the famed 60's TV show, The Thunderbirds. And the whole thing was written by Matt Stone and Trey Parker (South Park, Cannibal The Musical). Honestly, I wanted to like it, especially being a South Park fan, but the film feels like it was written by an exceptionally stupid 13 year old boy.
I will say that for the first half hour, it works. It's genuinely funny to see puppets trying to have fight scenes and the dialogue is hilariously cliched and...if you'll excuse the pun...wooden. But once you get past the fact that you're watching puppets, it all seems less funny. Unfortunately, Parker and Stone never get over it, and almost a good 60% of the film's jokes boil down to "hahaha, they're puppets!" (yes, there is a puppet sex scene. If i was 12, i'd have found it hilarious, but I'm not, and I found it stupid.) The rest of the film's "Humor" comes from using swear words, d*ck jokes that most of us have grown out of finding funny by the 8th grade, and truly CLUELESS parodies of famous actors. Yes, Team America never fails to miss the mark, offering infantile insults, and crude "shock" humor as an alternative to actual satire at every chance. A lot of the film is recyled from the filmmakers' early, and better, work. Main villain Kim Jong Il is really just a "Yellow Peril" stereotype version of Eric Cartman (Hope you love jokes about how Asians mispronounce "R" and "L" cause you are gonna get more than any rational person could ever find funny.), and even the song "We Need A Montage" was stolen straight out of a South Park episode....
It is very hard to belive that this was made by the same people who made the savage satire of censorship and warmongering that was "South Park: Bigger, Longer, and Uncut." Yes, that film had its share of shock and scatalogical humor, but it was also sharp and funny. Team America had the chance to be cutting and timely, but it squanders all of its potential.
Don't go see this. You'll just be wasting your money.
One out of Five Stars....and thats being generous.
"Team America: World Police" is an idea that had a LOT of promise, but the execution of said idea left a LOT to be desired.
The premise: A gung ho collection of action movie stock characters gleefully lay waste to various countries in an attempt to rid the world of terrorism. Oh, and they're played by marionettes, like the famed 60's TV show, The Thunderbirds. And the whole thing was written by Matt Stone and Trey Parker (South Park, Cannibal The Musical). Honestly, I wanted to like it, especially being a South Park fan, but the film feels like it was written by an exceptionally stupid 13 year old boy.
I will say that for the first half hour, it works. It's genuinely funny to see puppets trying to have fight scenes and the dialogue is hilariously cliched and...if you'll excuse the pun...wooden. But once you get past the fact that you're watching puppets, it all seems less funny. Unfortunately, Parker and Stone never get over it, and almost a good 60% of the film's jokes boil down to "hahaha, they're puppets!" (yes, there is a puppet sex scene. If i was 12, i'd have found it hilarious, but I'm not, and I found it stupid.) The rest of the film's "Humor" comes from using swear words, d*ck jokes that most of us have grown out of finding funny by the 8th grade, and truly CLUELESS parodies of famous actors. Yes, Team America never fails to miss the mark, offering infantile insults, and crude "shock" humor as an alternative to actual satire at every chance. A lot of the film is recyled from the filmmakers' early, and better, work. Main villain Kim Jong Il is really just a "Yellow Peril" stereotype version of Eric Cartman (Hope you love jokes about how Asians mispronounce "R" and "L" cause you are gonna get more than any rational person could ever find funny.), and even the song "We Need A Montage" was stolen straight out of a South Park episode....
It is very hard to belive that this was made by the same people who made the savage satire of censorship and warmongering that was "South Park: Bigger, Longer, and Uncut." Yes, that film had its share of shock and scatalogical humor, but it was also sharp and funny. Team America had the chance to be cutting and timely, but it squanders all of its potential.
Don't go see this. You'll just be wasting your money.