Team America: Brilliant!

By Michael Boylan

Warning: This movie is not for everyone and it is definitely not for kids, despite what some of the parents at the screening I saw the other day thought.

Now, on to the review. “Team America: World Police” is that puppet movie about combating terrorism and stupid celebrities who think that because they read a paper, they know exactly how to fix the world. The film was written and directed by Trey Parker and Matt Stone, who also write and direct the tv show “South Park.” Like “South Park,” “Team America” can be vulgar, violent and vicious with a biting satire but it is also screamingly funny, even-handed with regards to the issues and a brilliant use of a crude art form (“South Park” looks like construction paper and you can see the strings in “Team America”).

The plot of “Team America” focuses on a five man team of warriors (think The A-Team) that save the world from terrorists. When they hear rumors about a big terrorist attack, they hire Gary, the top actor on Broadway, to join the team and go undercover to get more information on the attack. Team America defeates one grop of terrorists only to discover that there was another figure behind the mayhem, North Korea’s Kim Jong Il, sounding like the guy who runs City Wok on “South Park”, threatening the world and dropping Hans Blix into a shark-infested wall aquarium.

“Team America” follows almost the exact same formula as the popular Jerry Bruckheimer action movies and it spoofs that formula as well as satirizing the opposing views of America as a world cop. Though the language and the excessive puppet violence (and the one very excessive puppet love scene) is funny, the funniest parts for me were Parker’s ingenious songs. From the Team America theme song, “America, F-Yeah,” to “Freedom Costs $1.05” and Kim Jong Il’s “I’m So Ronery,” Parker deftly maneuvers through every type of song heard in a typical action movie, while also touching on songs from other musicals. Parker has always showcased his musical talents (Please see “Cannibal the Musical” and the Oscar nominated song “Blame Canada” from “South Park: Bigger, Longer, Uncut”) and they are in full effect in “Team America.” I think there may be another Oscar nomination in Parker’s future and seeing Celene Dion sing “I’m So Ronery” would be incredible.

Last but not least, many of the laughs come from the fact that the film is done entirely with puppets, specifically marionettes like one would see on “Thunderbirds.” Their moves are clunky, their eyes are just a little freaky and they kind of reflect how wooden some performers in typical action movies can be. Some of the celebrity puppets look more like their real counterparts than others. For example Michael Moore is dead on and parodied to always have a hot dog in each hand, while Matt Damon’s looks nothing like him and then gets spoofed for not looking like him.

So, should you go to this movie? If you don’t get easily offended by coarse language - and this movie has far less than the “South Park” movie which allegedly averaged a profanity every 12 seconds - or excessive puppet violence, then yes, by all means, see this movie. It may be the most enjoyable film you see all year. It’s definitely the most creative one and, strangely enough, it might also be the most thought provoking.

• ***