Movie Notes: Team America: World Police

January 7th, 2009

= 4 stars

Starring various marionettes
Directed by Trey Parker

Synopsis

America’s anti terrorist Team America protects the world from terrorism as if the world — oddly populated by marionettes — were all one big Hollywood action movie.

The Good

• Some rather funny songs — from the musical “Lease” we get Everyone Has Aids, a country themed “freedom” song, Jong Il’s “lonely” song, and the unforgettable America, F**k Yeah.
• Satire on everything: America’s over arching political ambitions, hollywood action movies (note the constant “Michael Bay” moving camera), James Bond (Jong Il’s hidden base), the lampoon of the “montage,” and a completely ridiculous puppet sex scene. Even small details are barbed, note the towel head gear, the leader’s chair constantly moving chair, the destruction of world monuments, and the ferocious lions that are just cats. Various celebrities are skewered for being too liberal, but this is more likely a mockery of the right wing making celebrities out to be terrorists.
• Particular mention should be made of the film’s villain, Kim Jong Ill, who is represented as a badly dressed, extremely vulgar, James Bond like evil genius. It’s so ridiculous that offensiveness is lost. He’s a “puppet” dictator, I suppose.
• Why puppets? I see this is a criticism of Hollywood action pictures, where overpowering editing can make even the most wooden actor (Ben *cough* Affleck) look seriously epic. I was also reminded how action movies employ miniatures for special effects sequences. But beyond the satire, the puppets provide tons of entertainment just for visual inventiveness, particularly when they start having sex and puking. A puking marionette is infinitely funnier than a puking Ben Affleck.

The Bad

• The mockery of basically everything under the sun, makes it hard to know what the filmmakers actually believe in.
• Ultimately unsophisticated humor, as if two people got stoned / drunk and made a list of every action movie cliche in a few hours and went with their first ideas. The rapid fire pace sometimes feels like a cover up for dumb jokes that must be whisked away before they fall flat.

Conclusion

Definitely worth a rental, especially as an action flick parody. Even then the humor fails, one can still be amazed by the inventive puppetry.

IMDB: Team America: World Police
Wikipedia: Team America: World Police
Rotten Tomatoes: Team America: World Police 78%