Firstly, I admire Trey Parker and Matt Stone for having the cahoneys to put this out at a time when so much of the media is under heavy scrutiny. To put something out that's so blatantly un-PC is a brave move and I wish them lots of luck with the movie.
However, for me, the political counterpunch it gives to the US authorities was one of the only things I enjoyed about it. Team America is a movie you'll either love or hate. It basically has one joke, maybe two, that are repeated over and over and over, and if you found those jokes funny then you'll laugh your behind off all the way through, but if you didn't you may be left sadly cold.
Halfway through the movie, Team America's base has been destroyed and an errant Team America member comes back to try and help. The leader details that if he wants to work for Team America again he has to be willing to do anything, then drops his pants. This joke perfectly illustrates what's wrong with the movie. If you find that funny okay, but that's what EVERY joke in the movie is like. It's simultaneously the movie's main selling point and everything that sucks about it.
The movie relies completely on puppets doing crude/wrong things, but never really goes past fart/wang jokes or un-PC jibes at other countries. Other similarly themed movies like Meet The Feebles or Wizards have animated characters dealing with actual real politics, real sex, drug addiction whatever...point is, they are actually mature movies, and for not assuming that everyone watching is going to laugh when the puppets/cartoons have sex, they come off looking very clever. Team America is crashingly immature, and you'll either dig that or not. I didn't. I know Parker and Stone are clever, and capable of much more, so I left with the same feeling I had with Kill Bill, that I'd just watched a couple of little boys playing with their video cameras.
What's even more frustrating is that when wit is injected into proceedings (NB: This is damned RARE) the movie is pure genius. For instance, real animals are involved in some proceedings (obviously dwarfing the puppets) resulting in some of the best, funniest sequences in the film, and simultaneously paying homage to things like Land of the Giants and the 50s/60s heritage the movie pulls on. In a more consistent movie, these would have been the icing on the cake, as it is it feels more like being slapped in the face with what could have been.
Don't get me wrong, if you don't expect anything more than a lot of cussing and puppets, this movie will provide it, and you'll probably enjoy it. However, those who got me to watch the film had made out it was big, funny and clever. It isn't, and if I hear them singing the America, **** Yeah song one more time I will kick them hard in the face. It seems once again, this is a movie with not much going on that's been blown out of all proportion by a small hardcore of fanboys. Watch it and make your own mind up, but you could be sorely disappointed. I'd err on the side of caution and just rent Meet the Feebles. Jackson didn't care if people liked him or not after the movie, and the film is therefore far less dull.
However, for me, the political counterpunch it gives to the US authorities was one of the only things I enjoyed about it. Team America is a movie you'll either love or hate. It basically has one joke, maybe two, that are repeated over and over and over, and if you found those jokes funny then you'll laugh your behind off all the way through, but if you didn't you may be left sadly cold.
Halfway through the movie, Team America's base has been destroyed and an errant Team America member comes back to try and help. The leader details that if he wants to work for Team America again he has to be willing to do anything, then drops his pants. This joke perfectly illustrates what's wrong with the movie. If you find that funny okay, but that's what EVERY joke in the movie is like. It's simultaneously the movie's main selling point and everything that sucks about it.
The movie relies completely on puppets doing crude/wrong things, but never really goes past fart/wang jokes or un-PC jibes at other countries. Other similarly themed movies like Meet The Feebles or Wizards have animated characters dealing with actual real politics, real sex, drug addiction whatever...point is, they are actually mature movies, and for not assuming that everyone watching is going to laugh when the puppets/cartoons have sex, they come off looking very clever. Team America is crashingly immature, and you'll either dig that or not. I didn't. I know Parker and Stone are clever, and capable of much more, so I left with the same feeling I had with Kill Bill, that I'd just watched a couple of little boys playing with their video cameras.
What's even more frustrating is that when wit is injected into proceedings (NB: This is damned RARE) the movie is pure genius. For instance, real animals are involved in some proceedings (obviously dwarfing the puppets) resulting in some of the best, funniest sequences in the film, and simultaneously paying homage to things like Land of the Giants and the 50s/60s heritage the movie pulls on. In a more consistent movie, these would have been the icing on the cake, as it is it feels more like being slapped in the face with what could have been.
Don't get me wrong, if you don't expect anything more than a lot of cussing and puppets, this movie will provide it, and you'll probably enjoy it. However, those who got me to watch the film had made out it was big, funny and clever. It isn't, and if I hear them singing the America, **** Yeah song one more time I will kick them hard in the face. It seems once again, this is a movie with not much going on that's been blown out of all proportion by a small hardcore of fanboys. Watch it and make your own mind up, but you could be sorely disappointed. I'd err on the side of caution and just rent Meet the Feebles. Jackson didn't care if people liked him or not after the movie, and the film is therefore far less dull.