Roger Ebert had this to say about Team America: World Police:
“I wasn’t offended by the movie’s content so much as by its nihilism. At a time when the world is in crisis and the country faces an important election, the response of Parker, Stone and company is to sneer at both sides — indeed, at anyone who takes the current world situation seriously. “
Like.. dude. That surprised and made me chuckle a lot considering the fact that ol’ Rog usually had a clear head for objectivity and was never ruffled so easily by such things. I think it flew over his head that that’s what Trey Parker and Matt Stone were aiming for this ballistic, balls out political satire and given their track record from South Park the decision to be utterly nihilistic about world issues should have come as no surprise. Satire *should* be nihilistic by default and leave the side-taking, agenda pushing to the Oscar bait dramas. Anyways, Team American remains one of the funniest films I’ve ever seen from several different perspectives. The choice to use creepy little bobblehead puppets is both a testament to vision and craft while also providing a baseline layer of simple hilarity just from watching these little bastards move around, hold guns, operate vehicles, shift pricelessly orchestrated facial expressions and.. uh.. engage in fearsomely sweaty puppet sex. Then there’s the ruthless, no prisoners taken attitude Parker and Stone have in sardonically crucifying every aspect of American culture, media, foreign relations and jingoistic, stars n’ stripes patriotism. On top of that there’s a brilliant sendup of mega budget, Jerry Bruckheimer produced action barnstormer flicks that is so dead on from everything to excessive destruction of world monuments to rousing Zimmer-esque music cues to explosive mayhem-for-mayhem’s-sake. They even decided to make the damn thing a fucking musical and I’d quote their pitch perfect tracks but folks you can already hear them bouncing around in your head. It’s a perfect package and is just simply geared to offend by design, which most seemed to take in stride and roll with (this film has an almost unanimously terrific reception). These days if something is deemed offensive people somehow want it gone, want it wiped off the cultural map, but guys here’s the thing with satire: if it’s offensive it needs a medal pinned to its jacket, not a scolding and swift trip to the corner. That’s. The. Point. Stone and Parker have always known this and have never pulled any punches, especially here. I think that if anything this film has gotten funnier in the decade plus since it came out in every way, but my favourite aspect has to be simply the way these puppets sound and interact, given the creator’s unmistakable vocals: from Tim Robbins and Martin Sheen growling “We’re guarddsss” to Kim Jong Il’s monumentally inaccurate Korean accent to mentally stunted Matt Damon reciting his own name to one of the best barroom monologues ever written to the maniacal terrorists yelling “Derka Derka” and all the little touches in between, this thing just soars.
-Nate Hill
Podcasting Them Softly 