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26 of 28 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Without doubt, one of the most hysterical parodies ever!, March 23, 2005
"Without doubt, one of the most hysterical parodies ever!"
Given the current world political climate, Trey Parker and Matt Stone hit the ball right out of the park with this film. I haven't laughed so hard so frequently in a theater in years! This was simply amazing.
The sheer goofy look and movement of the deliberately low-tech puppet bodies, combined with their high-tech heads and incredibly elaborate sets, makes for some truly classic moments. When the World Police thoughtfully swoop down to take out a handful of terrorist, while simultaneously destroying much of the surrounding city in the process, you can't help but laugh at the irony. Can you say "collateral damage"?
And the overly extended scene of the two lead puppets engaging in the obligatory sex scene had me laughing so uncontrollably that I thought they'd have to take me out of the theater on a stretcher. Oh my Lord was that funny. It was one of those rare movie moment that had me laughing days later just thinking about it.
Not only do Parker and Stone mercilessly poke fun at the silly, over-the-top nature of certain Hollywood filmmakers like Jerry Bruckheimer and Michael Bay (e.g., his nearly unwatchable "Pearl Harbor"), but they also take the public personas of world leaders like North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Il and practically feed them into a wood chipper. How this film didn't spark an international PR incident with North Korea is just astounding to me.
What makes their political edge so refreshing and sidesplitting is they're willingness to take on everybody, rather than merely bolstering a right- or left-wing view. And the merciless way they go after Hollywood celeb-activists was profoundly funny. Too often I've been sickened by the overly simplistic mentality that comes from the mouths of certain actors when they use their status as public figures to comment on the world affairs. Parker and Stone portray acting notables like Penn, Baldwin, Robbins, Sarandon, and Garofalo as complete idiots, who are as easily herded about by Kim Jong-Il as so many sheep. Matt Damon is practically a troglodyte who is so stupid that all his brain can manage is to say his name over and over again.
Like "South Park Bigger, Longer and Uncut," this film has numerous musical numbers that are used to punctuate the humor of various scenes. The song "America, F**k Yeah!" once again practically had me on the floor, especially when it was uses a second time but with a much slower beat. The level of adult humor and vulgarity here will probably not make this film suitable for small kids, and much of the political edginess may be lost on most teenagers. But if there were a category for "Best Comedy Film," Parker and Stone would both win an Oscars, hands down!
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127 of 153 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
You won't be "so ronery", March 23, 2005
Trey Parker and Matt Stone have a unique ability to blend the nuanced with the obvious, to mix cerebral humor with cheap sight gags and fart jokes. If this appeals to you (watch an episode of "South Park" if you are unsure), and you don't mind having your sacred cows slaughtered and made into taco fillings, this film is a must-see --for repeated viewings.
Mad dictator Kim Jong Il plans to subvert Hollywood and become the megaproliferant of the stars. Who can stop him? Only Team America, a gang of ultra-right wing marionettes who think Rush Limbaugh is suspiciously liberal. But don't fret, conservatives: Hollywood pinkos and Michael Moore take a beating, too. Nothing is sacred to Parker and Stone.
Puppets were a mad choice for a medium, but they are done hysterically. I don't know what had me laughing more, the whiskey glass soldered to the team leader's hand, or the thought of the splinters and friction fire from marionette sex!
The sound track alone makes this film worth it. "Freedom isn't Free" could have been a real country hit and Kim singing "I'm so ronery" had my wife blowing her cola out her nose in the theater!
If you are straight-laced, have a poor sense of humor and can't admit it, or can't laugh at yourself, this may not be you're film. If you've got a slightly warped sense of humor, you'll love this!
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20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
"Matt....Damon.....", October 18, 2004
Wow.
Wow...
This is the kind of flick that makes all those Ammendment Rights worthwhile. Seriously. If Trey Parker and Matt Stone's Team America: World Police doesn't shock you, offend you, make you cry from laughter, and leave you begging for more... Well, check your pulse.
Team America is, as another reviewer put it best, "an equal opportunity" smack down event. Those claiming otherwise, that it's merely a neo-Conservative propaganda piece, could not be more wrong. This film SLAMS neo-Cons (and if you can't see that, then you have no place criticizing the film), HAMMERS Hollywood's "bleeding-heart" liberals, and absolutely DESTROYS, well, everybody else. Broadway, country's "Patriotism" songs, Michael Bay, Alec Baldwin (and the rest of the "Film Actor's Guild," or F.A.G.), Islamic extremists, Kim Jong Il, Michael Moore (who definitely had it coming) and just about everybody I missed gets hit with crude, rude and outrageous gags in this film. Half of Paris explodes. Most of Cairo too. Arabic vocabulary gets simplified down to, "Durkha, durkha, Muhammed Ali, Jihad jihad," and Korean to "ping pong poing gong Kim Jong Il," (and you think I'm kidding). Military INTELLIGENCE is, well, stoned. And the puppet sex (and vomit) scenes just have to be seen to be believed.
It's hard to describe this film because it's so unique, so uncompromising and so damned funny. I saw Team America twice in 24 hours simply because, like Parker and Stone's South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut, this film simply doesn't stop and give in to anything politically correct. And it's damned refreshing.
But let's be serious: If you "get" and enjoy South Park, you will love this film. If you can't get past the language and toilet humor to the real meat of the film and its satirical social and political message, you won't, and you'll sit there for 90 minutes feeling offended and stupid while everyone else around you laughs endlessly. I urge everyone... No, I DEMAND that everyone over the age of 17 watch this film. Forget Michael Moore and his "documentaries." There's more political message and power in Team America. You just have to look for it.
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