Team America: World Police

Links
—Overview by Chris Utley
—Roundtable Discussion
—Trailers, Photos
—About this Film

Team America: World Police

[SPOILERS INCLUDED THROUGHOUT THIS REVIEW]

Lock your windows! Shut your doors! Hold on to your popcorn buckets! Those South Park boys (Trey Parker and Matt Stone) are back to terrorize your multiplex in Team America: World Police. Rude, crude, and laugh-out-loud funny, Team America is without a doubt the wildest puppet show ever.

In an era of worldwide panic and terror brought about by terrorists looking to plant those notorious Weapons of Mass Destruction (Great! Somebody found ‘em!), only one team of elite American freedom fighters is willing to give their hearts, their souls, and their $1.05 to make the world a better, safer place.

Team America is a 6 person hit squad consisting of

Chris: a charm school U of Nebraska quarterback.

Joe: a hard-core ammo/martial arts specialist.

Sara: a brainy chick who can read people’s thoughts.

Lisa: a blonde, wide-eyed romantic who follows her heart . . . and can wield a 12-gauge shotgun with the best of ‘em.

Gary: their newest recruit . . . a Broadway actor fresh off the success of “Lease: The Musical� (featuring the soon to be Tony Award winning smash hit “Everyone’s Got AIDS!�).

Spottswoode: their fearless leader . . . a tough as nails commander, in the vein of Charlton Heston, who demands excellence and commitment from his team. His demands know no boundaries. No boundaries means just that: NO BOUNDARIES!

Their enemies first appear to be Taliban-like terrorist groups demanding Jihad, but we later find out that those guys are mere puppets in the bigger plan of notorious Korean dictator Kim Jong II: who plans to use them to plant WMD’s around the world in hopes that countries would blame each other and cause World War 3 . . . or in his case 9/11 times 2356 (or something like that). In order to execute this plan, Jong enlists the “help� of Alec Baldwin, Sean Penn, Tim Robbins and other actors who belong to the Film Actors Guild (referred to in the film by their acronym, which consists of the first letters in their 3 word name . . . ’nuff said). Jong lures them in by supporting their call for world peace . . . and convincing them that their true enemy in their quest for peace is Team America itself.

Anyone who’s ever seen a South Park episode and the South Park movie knows that the creators’ sense of humor knows no boundaries. This film is no exception. They are deliberately and intentionally offensive. They want to ruffle feathers. They get a rise out of ticking off anyone and everyone they can possibly tick off. Leave it to them to have our heroes mount an attack against terrorism, shoot up the bad guys, and declare that “Team America� has saved the day . . . meanwhile destroying the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre, and leveling the whole darn city of Paris in the process (a dig on the newfound anti-French movement? I think so!).

Needless to say, this is not your father’s puppet show . . . or your 5-year-old’s for that matter. This is definitely an R-rated affair. These puppets spew out blood, get their limbs and heads detached from their bodies, every other word is a four-letter one (even the musical numbers are loaded with colorful lyrics . . . check out Team America’s theme song!), and I’m still trying to figure out what was actually cut from that love scene to qualify the film for an R rating. From my seat, it sure looks as if they pulled a fast one over on the MPAA. That scene makes the stuff I discussed in She Hate Me look like an afterschool special!

It is clear why this film will appeal to the high-school/20-something set. Even some of the 30-something folks will dig it. Let’s face facts: the movie is hilarious! The stuff they do with these puppets is hilarious! The lyrics in the musical numbers are gut-busting! The one-liners are sidesplitting! The Michael Moore “cameo� is outrageous! Like I said, it’s rude, crude and laugh-out-loud funny! It’s definitely among the funniest movies of the year.

I’m recommending the flick . . . but only for the thick-skinned among us who have strong convictions and are open-minded with their comedy choices. Why would I do that . . . in spite of the f-bombs, sexual situations and rudeness/crudeness?

1. Let us remember, we are not sin-hunters at Hollywood Jesus. It is not our job to point out the sin in every corner of the entertainment world. Yeah, those South Park guys tend to go a bit too far in their humor (I know I took great offense with the South Park movie: in particular the Sadaam/Satan relationship and the French kid who had nothing but contempt for God . . . thankfully, they left God/Satan/Christianity out of this one). But . . .

2. Frankly, I needed this laugh! We Americans definitely needed this laugh. As rude and crude as it was, Team America is, first and foremost, a satire . . . not to be taken seriously, but to cause us to laugh at ourselves. We are bombarded on every side with the War on Terror. It’s in our thoughts, on our minds, blaring on our TV news everyday, and it’s driving us crazy! After hearing the President and his challenger wax rhetorical for the last 3 weeks in their debates going back and forth about this war, I was worn out. I needed a break. Heck, many of us need a break from all of this. This film could very well be the closest thing we get to a break until Election Day.

The Verdict: See Team America: World Police . . . if you’re brave enough. And feel free to laugh your head off along the way!

1 YEAR LATER...

As the resident hell-raiser here at Hollywood Jesus, I have taken great delight (and pride) in the fact that my reviews have boldly gone where many Christian-based reviews have refused to go. As I say all the time around here, we are not sin hunters. We boldly choose not to zero in on the sins committed by the characters in the films that we review, but, instead, we focus on the characters' humanity and struggles and how they relate to our own personal stories. And we take that concept a step further by juxtaposing the stories and their characters against the Word of God. That's supposed to be my goal. However, there are times in my post-cinematic euphoria when I have to go back and consult with the Father and accept the truth that, sometimes, I drop the ball. In this case, I did indeed drop the ball.

Last year, Team America: World Police hit theatres... and then disappeared in a flash. In my positive review above, I boldly stated that the film hit the right note at the right time (a vicious election year that exposed the division that existed in the USA). I defended this film as satire, not to be taken seriously, but to allow the brave viewers to take a deep breath and (possibly) forget about the struggles taking place in our nation. I recently had the chance to see the film again. This time, I saw something else.

No matter how strong my convictions may be, no matter how thick my skin may rest on my body, and as much pride as I take in "getting the joke," the truth must be told. This movie was downright NASTY! I didn't see cleverness, hipness and satire upon my second viewing. Instead I saw a non-stop onslaught of f-bombs, unnecessary homosexual and genitalia jokes and flat-out stupidity! The more I think about it, the more embarrassed I am at the fact that I proudly endorsed this movie. As of right now, I proudly overturn my endorsement and retract my positive review.

Good comedy/satire—even if it's R-rated—must have something to say to its audience. There's a difference between slamming the audience upside the head with f-bombs for the sake of being outrageous and doing so for the sake of making a statement about our lives, our struggles and our humanity.

In the Roundtable Discussion, I disclosed that I love Chris Rock and Richard Pryor in spite of the fact that their comedy is perceived to be vulgar and graphic. It's not the f-bombs that make them great comics. It's the way that their jokes speak and relate to us as humanity that attracts me. When Richard Pryor graphically goes into detail regarding his cocaine addiction, we see ourselves. Of course, we're not drug addicts, but all of us have some sort of addiction that we wrestle with. When Chris Rock graphically comments that his job as a father is to "keep his daughter off the [strip club] pole," we as parents relate to that. Yeah, he used a graphic choice of words, but in those words lies the reality of what God is calling us to be as parents. It also calls us to consider the many examples of what the fruit of parenthood looks like when God's standard is overlooked and ignored.

What I see more than anything else in this film, as well as South Park, is a telling example of life without rules, boundaries and limits... better known as CHAOS. I said in my review that Trey Parker and Matt Stone revel in the fact that they tick everyone off by their chaotic and boundary-less brand of comedy. That is not necessarily a good thing. Their joy and delight in their own cynicism is nothing to be proud of. It's as if they were deliberately force-feeding us their cynicism in an attempt to hide their feelings of hopelessness. In their world, you can't trust the heroes, you can't trust the enemies, you can't trust even trust God (as evidenced in the French kid's story in South Park: Bigger Longer & Uncut). Their solution: be apathetic and cynical and make a mockery of everything. This leaves their attempt at satire empty and hollow, with nothing to say to challenge the viewpoint of its audience. All we're left with is a bunch of nasty jokes and a strong desire to take a shower afterwards!

My wife made a bold comment at the end of seeing this movie: "I could gone the rest of my life without seeing this." I agree. It's a shame. This film, in more skilled hands, could have been a classic. Instead, it's riding the Blockbuster-paved road of filmic forgottenness. The New Verdict: You really can go the rest of your life without seeing Team America. You certainly won't be missing that much.

Chris Utley - 11/9/05

—Roundtable Discussion

Links
—Overview by Chris Utley
—Trailers, Photos
—About this Film