You'll Believe A Puppet Can Cry
TEAM AMERICA: WORLD POLICE

RATING: A-

Music by Harry Gregson-Williams, Special Effects by Joe Viskocil, Puppets Produced by the Chiodo Bros., Puppet Designer Norman Tempia, Costume Designer Karen Patch, Edited by Tom Vogt, Production Designer Jim Dultz, Director of Photography Bill Pope, Co-Producers Frank Agnone, Michael Polaire, Executive Producers Scott Aversano, Anne Garefino, Written by Pam Brady, Matt Stone, Trey Parker, Produced by Scott Rudin, Matt Stone, Trey Parker, Directed by Trey Parker.

Rated R, Running Time 105 mins., 2.40 to 1 Anamorphic Scope Aspect Ratio.

Trey Parker and Matt Stone may seem like bullies eager to pick a fight and make fun of anyone, but upon closer inspection it is revealed that they have their fingers on the pulse of the nation. They like to push buttons and for them nothing is sacred. Whether it be the situation with Michael Jackson, the media frenzy of Elian Gonzalez or the overrated success of "The Passion of the Christ", Parker and Stone will riff on anyone who they feel doesn't deserve so much media attention. You would think that with all the coverage of the current election they would be quick to spoof either candidates Bush or Kerry, but Parker and Stone are much smarter than that. Living in a post 9/11 world has obviously had a major effect on them and instead of concentrating on two individuals vying for the most powerful position in the world, they chose to focus on the sense of patriotism that has been stirred up by making an action film. An action film with puppets!

'Team America: World Police' is a patriotic Jerry Bruckheimer summer popcorn flick that's part musical, part 'Thunderbirds' and all Parker and Stone. It fits right into the South Park universe with characters voiced by the dynamic duo (including a villain that suspiciously sounds like Eric Cartman) humor that borders on X-rated, celebrity cameos without permission of the actual celebrities and plenty of musical numbers. It also points the finger at plenty of actors who use their celebrity as a forum for their political views when they should just sit down and shut up. No one is off limits including their pal George Clooney, who many feel Parker and Stone owe their careers to. The result is not only one of the funniest films of the year, but a picture with actual depth and the promise of being more than a flash in the frying pan when the last projector fades out at the end of its theatrical run.

The plot is taken from your basic summer action movie: 'Team America' are a group of commandos whose job it is to clean up terrorism around the world. The group consists of Lisa, a beautiful blonde (who resembles Nicole Kidman) coping with the loss of team member Carson, her fianci, Sarah, an empath, who says things like "I sense you are frightened" even though she obviously has no psychic powers, Joe, the all-American football hero who is secretly in love with Sarah, and Chris (who resembles Kurt Russell), the weapons and martial arts expert who loathes actors because of an incident in his past. That isn't good news for Gary Johnston (who resembles Tom Cruise), a Broadway actor starring in "Lease: The Musical", who finds himself recruited by team leader Spotswoode. A George Hamilton type, Spotswoode feels that Gary's acting skills are perfect to help the team infiltrate a group of terrorists plotting mass destruction with a series of WMD's. Gary is coping with memories from a childhood incident and friction between him and Chris doesn't make it any easier. To infiltrate a group of Muslim terrorists he will have to undergo a state-of-the-art facial alteration that involves hair, glue and a little bit of shoe polish.

The team are indeed good at their jobs, striking from their headquarters inside Mount Rushmore and wiping out terrorists with their amazing military aircraft. The problem is wherever they go they inadvertently cause the destruction of historic monuments that include the Louvre, the Eiffel Tower, the Sphinx and the Pyramids. Not to mention that the real terrorists have eluded them and managed to blow up the Panama Canal, causing an uproar amongst the media and the Film Actors Guild, also known as F.A.G. Their president is Alec Baldwin and he has the support of famous actors such as Sean Penn, Tim Robbins, Matt Damon, Susan Sarandon, George Clooney and Samuel L, Jackson. Their mission a failure, the team finds themselves at odds with each other and unaware of the fact that their real enemy is North Korean dictator Kim Jung Il, who has masterminded a plan to turn the entire earth into a new third world by using WMD's at a peace conference organized by none other than the easily duped members of F.A.G.

A movie with puppets? What's that all about you ask? Well I can honestly tell you that the cast members that make up this movie pull off incredibly emotional and dimensional performances that have more power than most of today's films. They may consist of wood and string, but inside each of these characters are flesh and blood. You'll yearn for Gary the hero to find true love with the beautiful Lisa. You'll hope that Joe will finally get the nerve to tell Sarah how he really feels. You'll wince as Chris and the team suffer electro-shock torture while they're captured, and you may even find a tear in your eye when Kim Jung Il reveals his lonely existence in the beautiful song "I'm So Ronery." I don't think too many will feel bad when villains like Janeane Garafalo or Liv Tyler get their heads blown off by our heroes.

Am I pulling your leg, am I putting you on? Not on your lives folks, because "Team America" is one of the most satisfying experiences you'll find at the movies this year. Not only is it a musical/comedy/action-adventure/puppet movie, but its also an elaborately constructed film. This is the home movie you always wanted to make with your action figures except it's produced by a major studio with a Hollywood budget. I'm not just grateful to Parker and Stone for conceiving it, but contributors like producer Scott Rudin, who has always had faith in this duo and stood up to a major studio in support of them.

I'm amazed by the incredible puppetry of the Chiodo Bros., astounded by the beautiful widescreen photography of Bill Pope, who gave us the Matrix trilogy, inspired by Jim Dultz' production design that recreates famous landmarks in Paris, Cairo and even Times Square and I'm touched by the work that went into the wonderful songs that Parker co-wrote with composer Marc Shaiman and performed himself. Forget the musical numbers he and Shaiman wrote for the South Park movie or the tunes you may remember from 'Cannibal: The Musical' or 'Orgazmo', the numbers in this film will have you roaring with laughter one moment and moving you to tears the next. Tears of laughter of course, because of their directness and the topics that Parker loves to stir up--topics that range from defending your country ('America: F*ck Yeah') to the spread of AIDS ('Everyone Has AIDS'), to one character comparing his love for another with how bad an actor Ben Affleck is ('The End of an Act'). The soundtrack is gonna fly out of record stores, trust me. Parker has wisely chosen Bruckheimer regular Harry Gregson-Williams to write the musical score which at times spoofs the type of themes used in Pearl Harbor but also supports the drama of the story. It really is a beautiful score and I can't imagine the film without it.

"Team America" is in no way a perfect film--every comedy has its low points. It's the sheer genius of Parker and Stone that permeates through the picture and even if there are moments that fail to make you laugh, believe it or not, there are plenty that will make you think. It's amazing that even though Kim Jung Il is presented as a James Bond villain in the film his presence echoes what Senator John Kerry has stated about him in the Presidential debate. I don't think Parker and Stone knew how relevant this real life individual would become while they were making the film, but a small factor such as this may have an effect on at least one voter come election day. One character's ideology of comparing people to d**ks, p*ssies, and ***holes is worth the price of admission because you can't get that kind of education in philosophy from any college course. You may even find yourself enlightened, something that many graduates never experience after they've spent thousands on tuition. This film is a classic in the making and sure to be a cult hit like Peter Jackson's Meet The Feebles. Besides where else can you find a full blown sex scene with puppets whose anatomy equals that of a Ken and Barbie doll?