DVD Reviews

DVD Review: Team America World Police

By Andy McKeague May 29, 2005, 14:00 GMT

It may be the most juvenile of this year’s movies but it is also one of the funniest. Those guys from 'South Park', Matt Stone and Trey Parker, manage to poke fun at just about everyone and still come up smiling. This has more political subtexts than the latest from Michael Moore but you don’t feel you have been lectured from the soapbox on high.

Broadway actor Gary Johnstone is approached by a mysterious government agent, Spottswoode, to ask for help in a time of crisis on behalf of Team America. It seems that there are weapons of mass destruction out there and they need an actor of Gary’s talents to head off in search of these weapons. So with face blackened and sporting a towel round his head he is ready to be jetted off to the Middle East in search of these W.M.D.s.

As if that were not enough, a gang of celebrity left wing loonies are on the warpath with the gung-ho attitude of Team America. After Paris being levelled for the sake of stopping a few terrorists, the streets paved with croissants are now paved with the ruins of the Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triumph and the Lourve in pieces. Demonstrations are now taking place outside Mount Rushmore, the secret base for Team America, with a Michael Moore look-a-like at the front of the action.

Pint sized Kim Jong Il, voiced to perfection sounding like Eric Cartman, is pulling the strings behind the Team’s back, and manipulating the F.A.G. (Film Actors Guild) too for his devious plans. It’s up to Gary to save the day but only if he can act the part and in a gruelling face off has to act Adam Baldwin off the stage.

Yes it has foul mouthed humour and yes it does pull punches at almost everyone, during the menu options you even get the title song ‘America, F##k Yeah’ just in case you got confused and were expecting the next 'Lassie' movie. So come on, when you pick this up you know you will get nob jokes at the very least so to say this is not for the prudish of viewers is like stating the obvious. For those with the thick skins and large funny bones there is so much to be had.

Forgetting that this is an adult version of ‘Thunderbirds’ (no, not the crap movie but the TV series), and that there are so many levels that this can be taken on, this is first and foremost an action movie. Stone and Parker both admit that they thought of doing this as a puppet version ‘Armageddon’ since that script was already funny, doing it with puppets would make it funnier still. So they decided to make the movie as a send up of all the Jerry Bruckheimer movies, you know the ones, yes that’s right big bangs and not much else spring to mind. The pair do so too. This is a superb action flick with lots of shootouts, big explosions, cities levelled and a maniacal megalomaniac wanting to destroy the world.

It’s taking this seriously as an action movie that makes it such a treat. Bill Pope, cinematographer from the 'Matrix', 'Spiderman', etc is on fine form here and he loved every moment of shooting for real again. No green screens here. If something is blown up then it is blown up.

Parker and Stone show you what eye candy is supposed to be like, and not the way of Mr Lucas who deposits so much in his latest 'Episode 3' to hide the fact there is nothing else on show, these guys do it to add to your viewing pleasure. With close up shots of hands you can see real hands, just like in the 'Thunderbirds' TV series. Can you spot the pair of nail clippers on the utility belt of one member of the team ? The cobble stones in Paris are croissants and the trees in Hollywood are made from one dollar bills, the vegetation in Panama are all hash plants. When the Film Actors Guild decides to go to North Korea, the members all shout "Qapla'!," which is Klingon for success. The tavern scene is homage to the Mos Eisley Cantina scene in 'Star Wars'. Many of the same camera angles and character positions are used, and many shots are replicated. The band is using the same instruments as the Cantina band and in fact, they're playing the theme, only it's backwards ! The list is endless and offers much fun for many viewings.

The extras on this disc are absolutely fantastic ! But before I go into depth on these the only striking omission is an audio commentary from the South Park duo. Where is it ? This type of movie is begging for one and from what you do see of these guys through the special features it is a shame indeed.

Starting off with the short ‘Team America An Introduction’ we have Parker and Stone introducing our team and their special talents. But they even admit that the team just go around shooting everyone. ‘Building the World’, ‘Crafting the Puppets’, ‘Pulling the Strings’, ‘Capturing the Action’ and ‘Miniature Pyrotechnics’ are all great behind-the-scenes stuff and to be watched after the movie. After watching these it will definitely have you hitting the start button and watching the movie all over again but much closer to find as many in-jokes as you can.

‘Up Close with Kim Jong Il’ is a great little look at the smallest puppet on the movie who is suffering from being lonely and at heart is just a gangster rapper. Did you notice that the large statute in Kim’s palace is an actor with blinking eyes ?

A few puppet tests, deleted and extended scenes, some storyboards for 6 of the movie sequences, and two trailers finish off this amazingly funny packed disc.

This is not the first full marionette movie or the first action one, check out ‘The Legend of the Secret Stone’ for a movie of martial arts puppet mayhem, but it must take it’s place for the scale of the project, the wonderful musical numbers and puppet oral sex.