Review of Team America: World Police (2004) by Bryn L — 28 Jun 2013

It's no masterpiece, but Team America: World Police is an incredibly hilarious, outrageous, and clever satire with marionettes and crude, possibly offensive humor alongside absurdly sharp humor that frequently delivers huge laughs.

It's the rated R version of the 1960's children's show called the Thunderbirds. It's one of those films that offends everybody who watches it- which does make it somewhat controversial, but is also a positive trait about the movie (it's hard to explain without watching it for yourself).

It has incredibly funny and memorable quotes around every corner, and although there is quite a lot of profanity and vulgar humor, it is balanced with over the top humor that pokes fun at big budget action movies.

It makes fun of all the cliches and dumb plot elements of conventional action movies. Even when I wasn't laughing, I was at least smiling or chuckling. I was very impressed by the gorgeous sets and the puppets, which all look excellent and very well made, but you can easily tell that they weren't going for a serious movie considering the puppets are marionettes, and just knowing that they're puppets made me laugh.

I admire how Matt Stone and Trey Parker aren't trying to make some transcendent comedy, but instead just aim for making everyone laugh out loud. They have no restrictions, making things frequently shocking and disturbing, while simultaneously making things hilarious.

Considering Matt Stone and Trey Parker are the minds behind South Park, it wasn't hard to recognize their style of humor and cleverness. There's an abundance of scenes that I constantly revisit since they put me in a better mood.

I also love the whole satire concept of this movie- it's funny because lots of it is actually somewhat true (not exactly, but it's an exaggerated depiction of America's decisions in politics and war).

It's not a very subtle satire about America (it doesn't really need to be), and it may not be a film for everyone due to its controversial and crude humor, but if you're into this kind of stuff, you're going to have a blast with its non-stop laughs.