Review of South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut (1999) by Papamurrth — 13 Sep 2011

Quite simply the funniest cartoon of all time, Trey Parker and Matt Stone were able to successfully adapt South Park to the big screen in South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut. This film has everything that you could ever want from a comedy film and more; razor-sharp wit, laugh out loud dialogue, fantastic one-liners, self-parody and social satire. To top it all off, Parker and Stone created musical numbers worthy of the West End such as 'What Would Brian Boitano Do?' and 'Blame Canada', which helped lift South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut from being fantastic to one of the greatest films of all time. As well as being hilarious, South Park explores several serious themes and concept that are hard-hitting and thought provoking. Parker and Stone attempt and succeed magnificently in addressing concerns such as censorship and freedom of speech (at the centre of the films message), parenting, mortality, race relations, and much more. None of this detracts from the humour, however, as the audience enjoys a non-stop barrage of hilarity ranging from the use of sharp satire tools like Cartman's V-chip, to the wildly funny dialogue that flows effortlessly between characters, laden with profanity that will ensure that no matter what age, sexual orientation, gender, race, religion or nationality you are, you will be offend and you will most certainly be amused. A brilliantly crafted plot that flows easily from beginning to end and that fully includes the audience will ensure that there is not one weak point in the film were you lose interest or become lost, a tremendous feat for film-makers in the short-attention span modern world. The film is rooted in the core characters of Stan, Kyle, Kenny, and Cartman, who carry the film wonderfully with the help of an entourage of other superb South Park characters including Mr. Garrison, Saddam Hussein and Satan. South Park has defined a generation, and it did it especially quickly with the early release of the film, which was both a commercial and critical success, ensuring that South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut has gone the way of Monty Python films like th Life of Brian, in that they are immortalised and are revered as masterpieces of comedy and, indeed, film in general.

It is the mistake of some critics and groups like the PTC to pass off South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut as crude and vulgar, and they have entirely missed the point of the film. One of the greatest.