Team America: World Police (2004) - Is This Movie Worth Your Time?
'Team America: World Police' is created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone. It is directed by Trey Parker. And many of the voices are also done by Trey Parker and Matt Stone. The film revolves around Gary Johnston, a Broadway star, being recruited by Team America to hunt terrorists. They do this because he is an actor. Therefore, he can act his way through taking down said terrorists. The team does not accept him at first, so he struggles with fitting in with everyone. The fate of the world lies in his hands to pull himself together, accept his past, and win over the girl.
This movie was released back in October of 2014. This film has a 77% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and an 80% audience score. Looking through some user reviews on IMDb, this film has relatively mixed reviews. Some love it, praising the movie for being hilariously fun. Others trash the movie for being a dumb movie about puppets. This film obviously has high ratings on Rotten Tomatoes, but does that make this film a good watch?
Does This Movie Suck?
Yes, the description was correct. 'Team America: World Police' is about puppets fighting terrorists and celebrities. Oh my gosh, this film is different. I was at the video store the other day when I stumbled upon this gem. I read "From the creators of South Park" at the bottom of the movie case, so I honestly didn't know what I expected. However, it was four dollars and I needed a fresh movie to add to my collection.
In the opening scene, this movie blew my mind. The scenery the creators made, using props and puppets, is spectacular. It is just mind-blowing the detail that went into making this film. In one scene, they used Chinese food take-out boxes for set pieces and Jong-Il Kim's statue is an actual human in make-up. The way these guys used certain ideas to create this world that the puppets live in is honestly the best part of this movie.
Then you get to the story. It is as wild and goofy as you would imagine. A Broadway actor is recruited to take down terrorists. I mean... come one! That in itself is hilarious! I purchased the Uncensored and Unrated version of this movie, and I never wanted to see puppets do the things puppets do in this film. But I have seen it and I am scared for life. There is one scene in which two puppets have sex, in many positions, and it does not leave anything to the imagination. Yes, I told you. This movie is wild! The puppets will sometimes break out into song. Speaking of song, the theme song of Team America is amazing. The song is about how awesome America is with "America, f@$% yeah" thrown in after every verse. This movie just has so much going on. It's like the creators just wanted to make this movie as cheesy as they could.
Then you get to the celebrities helping Jong-Il Kim carry out his plans. Alec Baldwin, Matt Damon, Liv Tyler, Samuel L. Jackson, George Clooney, with many more cameos. This is just absurd. The celebrities in this film fire guns and go head to head with Team America. We see them get killed off as puppets. The underlying story here, I think, is how self absorbed celebrities are. I love it! The scenes with all the different actors had me giggling like a little girl.
The thing that did not work for me was the satire aspect of the film. Sometimes it just tries so hard by shoving it in your face, it feels forced. I would have liked it more if they pulled back a little bit on the political satire and focused more on just making a funny movie. However, it still works. This movie is laugh out loud funny!
So, does this movie suck? No! This movie is crazy and absurd. But it delivers so many laughs with ridiculous scenarios that it is a complete enjoyment. Do not look at this film and think it will be stupid because it is toy dolls. It is a little silly when the puppets are fighting or engaging in the action scenes, but I think that is the point. It is throwing jabs at how ludicrous action movies are. This movie is definitely not for everybody. You have to have a certain taste for movies like this. However, if you enjoy 'South Park', then more than likely, you will enjoy this film. It has so much going on with the musical scenes, the action scenes, the romance scenes, the drama scenes- it is always interesting to say the least. Just be prepared for that doll sex scene, it is just wrong on so many levels!
