Paramount Picture and Warner Bros., Rated R
Directed by Trey Parker
Written by Trey Parker & Matt Stone and Pam Brady

Four kids learn to curse like longshoremen from an R rated movie and this leads to Armageddon. Such a plot could only come from the minds of Trey Parker and Matt Stone, creators of "South Park." The enormous success of this animated cable show (which has slowly subsided in recent months) has led to this shockingly filthy, mostly hilarious full-length feature starring the household names Stan, Kyle, Cartman and Kenny. The less you know about how Armageddon comes along, the better. What you should know is that the film has a brilliant first half and a not-nearly-as-good second half. Most of this has to do with the introduction of a Saddam Hussein character with a small body and annoying voice. He is this movie's Jar Jar or Fat Bastard in my opinion. The movie is 100 times more offensive than any episode of the show and though this makes it funnier in some cases, it can make it less creative in others. The cheap laughs garnered from the boys' foul mouths can only go so far and some of the jokes are more shocking than funny. Still it does a better job at this schtick than American Pie. The anti-MPAA/censorship message is none-too-subtle, so it is far from the best satire of the year as some critics have espoused. Good satire should not be this easy to pick up on. The show has done a better job at satire in the past than this movie. It is indeed very clever, especially in the first half as I mentioned. But 80 minutes of this was probably not the best idea. Don't even think of showing this movie to anyone under 17 either. ***