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Poster (c) Paramount Pictures
Team America, a division of the government, goes and stops terrorism wherever it happens. They'll stop at nothing to defeat terrorists, including destroying cities (now isn't that an obvious political statement?). To go even more undercover, Team America hires the up-and-coming actor Gary Johnston to act as a terrorist. A big terrorist scheme is coming aground, led by North Korean dictator Kim Jong Il. Gary's initially reluctant to go about this plan, but he realizes that helping the world is more important than his career. Will Team America stop the terrorists in time?
This is attempt #10 we're seeing. Nine previous versions of the movie were submitted to the MPAA, all of which were rated NC-17. Some of the more graphic puppet sex had to be taken out, meaning that the "love making" scene was reduced to a "sex" scene, according to creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone. I doubt that three times the length of the sex scene would have made it "love making", but that shows the absurdity of the movie, and once you hear about the sex scene, you realize what movie you're going to see. You're going to see graphic puppet sex, blood and guts, and hear strong language. I'm not a big fan of the TV show South Park, and I thought that the movie version of it was mediocre, too. And, like the South Park movie, Team America does have some truly uproarious bits. The opening scene in Paris really takes the cake. The movie as a whole didn't have those huge laughs that the trailers made you expect, but quite a few moments made you chuckle. But Team America is just not a political satire. It's also a huge send-up of action movies, especially of the Jerry Bruckheimer kind. In fact, one song in the movie (that's right, there's songs) is called "Pearl Harbor Sucked and I Miss You." There's a lot of random explosions, cheesy clichés, celebrity cameos, and everything. The Hollywood satire is almost as great as the political satire.
Every Hollywood liberal is brought in, including some I didn't know had a political agenda (Sam Jackson and Ethan Hawke?). Some of the more obvious ones, like Alec Baldwin (Parker and Stone also made fun of the Baldwins in the South Park movie) and Sean Penn, are primarily featured, because they're easily made fun of. And watching all of these actors in action at the end of the film is priceless. There's some very memorable moments in here (such as Hans Blix being eaten alive by sharks or Kim Jong Il singing "I'm So Ronrey"), but once the first 20 minutes are done, there's no real constant laughs. It's bits and pieces, some obvious things, but sometimes so crude you can't help laughing. But once the novelty of seeing the puppets act dies down, it's just a typical movie, seemingly. Sure, some crazy things do happen, but I think you'll realize what I mean when you see it.
Still, you have to admire Parker and Stone for having the grapes to make a movie like this at a time like this. While I'm sure it won't be as lasting or as widely accepted as Dr. Strangelove was at its time, but they both have similar themes, and if you're for some good satire, along with some extreme crudity, then Team America's your movie.
Rated R for graphic crude and sexual humor, violent images and strong language - all involving puppets.
Review Date: October 16, 2004