Team America: World Police
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 AMERICA, FUCK YEAH! COMING AGAIN TO SAVE THE MOTHERFUCKIN' DAY YEAH!
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Team America: World Police is a 2004 comedy film, written by and starring South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone. It satirizes several subjects, including classic "Supermarionation" TV shows such as Thunderbirds and Captain Scarlet And The Mysterons, the 1982 film Megaforce, and the George W. Bush presidency.
Plot
Team America, a military force designed to combat terrorism around the world, suffers a PR disaster when a mission to Paris results in them causing more damage than the terrorists they were trying to stop. Realizing they need a stealthier approach, team leader Spottswoode recruits an actor named Gary Johnston to infiltrate terrorist cells. Meanwhile, the supreme leader of North Korea, Kim Jong-il is secretly plotting with several terrorists to start World War III, and using liberal celebrities from the Film Actor's Guild (F.A.G.) to distract the world. At the same time, he sets his plan in motion.
Why It Saves The Motherfucking Day
- Awe-inspiring model and puppetry work. Just like the work on Four Feather Falls, Supercar, Fireball XL5, Stingray, Thunderbirds, Thunderbirds Are Go, Captain Scarlet And The Mysterons, Thunderbird 6, Joe 90 and The Secret Service. The fact that it was all made with a $32 million budget is even better.
- Great soundtrack, most notably the film's theme song, "America Fuck Yeah".
- Good action sequences, especially considering that they're done with puppets.
- The "puppet sex" scene is just so over-the-top stupid it's extremely hilarious.
- Despite the wacky and silly nature of the film, most of the Team America members have well-developed backstories and undergo character growth during the story.
- It makes fun of a lot of cliches from the 80s action movies.
- Skewers both George W. Bush's handling of the War on Terror (especially the invasion of Iraq) and the liberal celebrities who repeatedly criticized him in equal measure, and make good arguments against the positions of both.
- Kim Jong-il is, like Saddam Hussein on South Park, a great example of how to make fun of an insane real-life dictator and a psychopath.
- Through the "FAG" scene, the film predicted how actors and celebrities always feel the need of getting involved in politics, which became even more true in the last years.
- The "dicks, pussies and assholes" speech, which says that pussies (liberals) cannot be trusted to stand up to assholes (terrorists and dictators) and that only dicks (conservatives/libertarians) are capable of defending the world, albeit pussies are still needed to keep them in check.
- Regardless of whether or not you agree with the speech's political message, the way it's delivered is still funny.
- Despite being a puppet movie, the special effects are spectacular, due to puppetry allowing it to be done with a lower budget than usual.
- It is essentially a cross between Thunderbirds and South Park. (which the film's writers also created) Both of which are great.
- The film's overall message about how you ultimately need to defend yourself even if it makes you look like a jerk, albeit you need to exercise some restraint in doing so, is still a relevant one today.
Bad Qualities
- The film does feel a little dated in certain ways now that 2011 has ended, most notably by using Kim Jong-il as the main villain; his son Kim Jong-un has since succeeded him following his death since 2012, and proved a far more reckless and unpredictable leader than his father ever was, making the film's depiction seem kind of mild in comparison.
- A few of the jokes involve political figures (such as Hans Blix) who modern audiences might not recognize, which might cause the jokes to go over their heads.
- The "Lease" joke may go over the heads of modern audiences.
Trivia
- Unlike Supermarionation, which uses solenoid mouths and string-pulled eye mechanisms, the film uses servo motors in the heads of the puppets, allowing more expressive faces.
- The film had a troubled production due to a release deadline and scheduling. The stress of production led Trey Parker to use sleeping pills and caffeine to continue working. After the film was finished, Parker said he would never direct another feature film due to the stress he went through.
- Gerry Anderson, the creator of Thunderbirds, saw the film and felt "there are good, fun parts [in the film] but the language wasn't to my liking." Which implies that he enjoyed the film but was annoyed by the characters swearing.
Videos
External links
Team America: World Police at the Internet Movie Database
Team America: World Police on Rotten Tomatoes
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