"Putting the ‘F’ Back in Freedom!!!” If it were up to Sean Penn, Janeane Garafolo, Tim Robbins or Susan Sarandon, Trey Parker and Matt Stone would never work in Hollywood again. Thankfully, since they don’t have any of the power that their agents might lead them to believe, chances are these two comedic geniuses will indeed be back. That’s right, I said comedic geniuses. Anyone who can make a film as technically difficult as “Team America”, and make it riotously hilarious to boot has to be classified genius material. (Of course, they often say it is a fine line between genius and insanity…) “Team America” follows the adventures of the infamous and elite World Police in their attempts to stop terrorism dead in its tracks. They travel the globe, seeking out individuals who might have Weapons of Mass Destruction (W.M.D. for short) and kill them before they can kill others.

At the beginning of the film, we are given our first look at their amazing tactical skills as they stop a group of terrorists planning to destroy France. It’s a non-stop tour-de-force of action, complete with big explosions, big guns and a hefty round of puppet-fu. Sadly, they lose one of their team members. It’s a heartbreaking scene and one that you will not soon forget.

Realizing they can’t go off to fight terrorists half-cocked, they enlist the aid of Gary Johnston, an up-and-coming actor currently starring in the Broadway Musical “Lease.” When we first see Gary, he is leading the troupe of actors in a rousing chorus of “Everybody’s Got AIDS.” He is told because he had a double major in acting and world languages in college, he would be a valuable asset to the team. At first, he is hesitant to accept the position. But after learning that there is an evil terrorist currently working to secure all of the word’s W.M.D.’s in order to annihilate just about everyone, followed by a little soul-searching (to the tune of “Freedom Isn’t Free”), he accepts.

I was fortunate enough to have seen “Team America” in the theatre at an early screening, and I have to say it was one of the 2 funniest movies I had seen last year. (The other one? “Shaun of the Dead.”) But it is a movie that I’m hard-pressed as to whom to recommend it to. The film is crude, rude, disgusting and highly offensive. It didn’t offend me in the slightest, but I imagine it will offend just about everyone else on the planet. If I were to narrow it down to those whom I think will enjoy it, I’d have to classify three distinct types. First, would be the college frat boys who sit up all night binging on alcohol, followed by fan boys of anything that Trey Parker and Matt Stone produce, and lastly by anyone who has an intelligence level above 130.

I guess what I’m trying to say is that “Team America” is a movie that bridges the gap between those too stupid to offend (the first two), and those to intelligent to offend (the last one). I feel that anyone who falls in between would be too busy being offended to recognize it for the ridiculously funny movie that it is. This isn’t meant to insult that particular level of intelligence, but… well… I guess it is. Not to sound too deep, but the humor of this film falls from so many levels.

First, you have the fact that the entire cast is made up of puppets. Yes, I said puppets. Those who have seen any of the old Gerry Anderson series (such as “The Thunderbirds”) will understand the concept going on. As a matter of fact, Parker and Stone saw “The Thunderbirds” for the first time last year, and it inspired them to make their own puppet movie. So, a small part of the movie relies on the way the puppets move, or rather can’t move, to get laughs. The very first scene with the puppet-fu I mentioned is a perfect example. But, to their credit, they don’t rely on this to carry the whole movie. This was a good move, because it would have gotten old very quickly.

Instead, they wrote a script that felt like it was taken right out of the Jerry Bruckheimer / Michael Bay School of Filmmaking. Everything about the movie reminded me of one of their films. The action was big, the explosions were big, the romantic dialogue was lame and the requisite power ballads were powerful. Even the cinematography and stereotypical look of the characters lent credence to what they were trying to accomplish.

I mentioned the power ballads before and that leads me to one of the other ingredients that make the movie so darn funny. Parker and Stone have already proven themselves to be great songwriters, from the surprisingly lyrical songs of “Cannibal the Musical” to the Academy Award nominated music of “South Park: Bigger, Longer, and Uncut.” In “Team America” the songs are no less impressive. Granted, if you listen to the lyrics you can’t help but laugh your butt off. I mean, come on, can you imagine a funnier or more sarcastically titled theme song than “America, F*** Yeah!” It has to be the first patriotically inspirational song that you can’t sing in public.

It doesn’t stop there though. You also have the country western ballad, “Freedom Isn’t Free” which is sung with an extremely strong southern twang and reminds one of Toby Keith’s “Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue” (and is admittedly, a much better song). Even the evil villain of the movie, Kim Jong Il, alone in his palace late one night, laments about how ‘ronery’ he is. Of course, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the song “Montage”, that plays over… well, a montage sequence. (Excuse me while I stop to laugh for a few minutes.)

What I think is going to surprise most people is that the movie isn’t anything like they might expect it to be. Sight unseen, there are already those who believe “Team America” takes a blatant jab at President Bush and the horrible job he has done, while the other side believes the film promotes thoughtless violence. Neither is the case. In a very smart move by Parker and Stone, the film takes no sides. Everyone is made fun of equally. The film pokes fun, not at the President directly, but more at those misguided souls who believe in with the ideal that America is the representative of a World Police (literally), that goes into other countries and recklessly ‘takes out’ the bad guys, regardless of the damage it causes. But then on the other side, it pokes fun at all of the Hollywood actors who believe enough of their own press and feel they know more about what is going on in the world than the average American. One perfect line from the movie that perfectly illustrates this viewpoint introduces Janeane Garafolo as someone who vocalizes opinions she read in the paper pretending she came up them on her own. (Take that Hollywood.)

There are a lot Hollywood celebrities whose likenesses show up in the movie, and they are the ones that I believe will want Parker and Stone run out on a rail. In real life they are all members of the Screen Actors Guild, or S.A.G. In the film the organization’s name is changed to the Film Actors Guild. I’ll leave you to figure out the acronym. Sean Penn has already written a little note to the boys with his own feelings about the film. It’s been spread around the Internet, and he is very quick to point out that he doesn’t care that he is ridiculed in the film, but he is upset that they would make light of such a serious situation. He signs off with a very casual, “F*** you.” I guess he proved their point.

What I had hoped to see, was audiences embracing “Team America” for what it was and be intelligent enough to appreciate the incredible amount of work that went into making the movie, even if they don’t find the humor necessarily to their tastes. Forget about all the expletives (some of which are quite original), puppet sex, bloodshed, violence and vomit. The level of detail of the puppets and sets is awesome. And I can only imagine how difficult it had to have been to shoot all those scenes while maneuvering the puppets into just the right positions and poses. Parker and Stone, who slept very little during the production of the film, admit that they just don’t understand how Gerry Anderson made all those different puppet shows without going completely mad. When asked if they would ever do another puppet movie again, they replied, “(Expletive Deleted), NO!”

I do feel I have to mention that that screening went very well, and I still send my compliments to the studio for coming up with some really funny promo items. Along with the usual posters and buttons, they also handed out some “Team America” wrist bands and what I thought were matchbooks. Emblazoned with the tagline “To Protect and Serve.” it wasn’t until the guy sitting in front of me opened his up that I noticed that the matchbook cover actually held a condom. (Ohhh, I get it… To Protect…..)

Of all the films I saw last year, this was probably one of the most anticipated for me as far as getting the darn thing on DVD. My wife had not yet seen the film, so last week I sat her down so she would have the chance to laugh as hard as I did. For the most part… she did… until….. Well, let’s just say that once it got to the infamous “puppet sex scene”, she was downright shocked. What made it worse was I hadn’t realized we were watching the UNRATED version, which just happened to add back in two little scenes near the end of the ‘Coitus Puppetus.’ Funny as they were, these two little scenes didn’t just go over the line of good taste, they downright obliterated it! Don’t get me wrong, again I cannot be offended. I laughed my butt off (which somehow seems appropriate), but I can see where some people might not appreciate the ridiculousness of the scenes.

The DVD itself is awesome. There are a ton of extra features, which I fully enjoyed. Being that I have a huge interest in puppeteering, I totally got into all of the featurettes that showed how the puppets were created and made to work, as well as an in-depth look at the incredibly detailed miniature sets. (A few months ago, there were some props being sold on EBAY… oh how I wish I had jumped on at least one of them…).

“Team America” is a terrifically funny, one of a kind type of film. I just wish I could recommend it to everyone.

Directed by: Trey Parker
Starring (the voices of): Trey Parker, Matt Stone, Daran Norris, Kristen Miller, and Dian Bachar
Studio: Paramount
Specifications:
Release Date: 5/17/2005
Region 1
MPAA Rating: Unrated (For Graphic, Crude and Sexual Humor, Violent Images and Strong Language; All Involving Puppets)
Website

We'll give Team America an A+.