Team America: World Police (2004)

Team America: World Police is a special film: on the surface, it appears as a typical satirical affair from South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone, lampooning the world of 2004, as well as high-budget, low-intelligence action films, mixing in a few funny songs to chortle at. However, when looking within the red white and blue folds of the film, there's something more incisive. Don't let the beautifully crafted puppet intercourse distract you - Team America cuts deep, and then fills those cuts with freshly squeezed lemon juice, made up of a blend of perfect caricatures of terrorism, double, triple, or even quadruple entendres, and the non-stop rapid M60 fire of disgusting imagery of every bodily fluid coming out of places you never thought possible.

The plot of the film is simple enough: Gary, an actor from New York, is scouted by the leader of Team America: a police force made to stop evil crimes (despite the insane levels of property damage they commit), made up of a crack team of the best of the best. Gary joins them to fight a mysterious terrorist plot, acting his way to gain as much information from them as possible. But the fracturing of the patriotic idealism they hold dear threatens to tear them apart - will the team be able to survive the liberal apocalypse heralded by Hollywood and stop the lonely organiser of the attacks?

The film's humour derives heavily from the world surrounding its story: the blatantly offensive cultural stereotyping is so over the top that it circles in on itself, going from hilarious, to crude, and back to hilarious. Every location has the extra detail of how far it is away from America (including South America). The portrayal of Hollywood as a villainous force has never been done with such vitriol as Team America does. Absolutely no-one is safe from the comedic timing of Parker and Stone: however, not all of the comedy comes from the plot. The style of the film is so reminiscent of Thunderbirds and Captain Scarlet, you'd swear it was made by Century 21's B-Team, as the use of semi-professional puppetry is equal parts impressive and so-bad-it's-good funny. And on top of all of this, the film also functions as a musical, thanks to the creative songwriting talents of Parker, with hits such as "Everyone Has AIDS", "Montage", and the main theme, "America, **** Yeah". Fill in the blank, if you will.

Overall, Team America captures the spirit of the gun-toting, flag-waving, beer-drinking, anthem-singing american perfectly, while still presenting it as an ideal to embrace in an ironic fashion. The comedic strikes pack huge power, showing that if anyone doubts they can be made fun of, Trey Parker and Matt Stone will always be there to prove them wrong. The political climate of the early 2000's being mocked resonated then, and still resonates now. While it may not be for some, that much is clear, Team America: World Police is a trip well worth taking across the 50 states.