The first time I saw Team America, I knew it was a great comedy, but I was distracted by some of its content. Was it wrong to have a musical number called "Everyone Has AIDS"? Watching the film again, its shock value has gone, which leaves only its satire, which makes it even funnier.
This is the greatest American political satire since Dr. Strangelove. In addition to being a statement on the American political mindset, circa 2004, it is also a parody on bad action films, as well as obscure 60's puppet sci-fi like Thunderbirds. That may seem like an odd combination, but everything fits together to form a holistic experience.
Shot entirely with oddly lifelike puppets, the movie's impressive screenplay (written by Parker, Stone and Pam Brady) is a perfectly structured pastiche of action films. If slightly re-written and filmed live action, it could easily be a vehicle for Michael Bay. The epic follow the adventures of Team America, an elite commando group who defend the country against the terrorists that are trying to take over the world. Having learned that a major attack is eminent, the group's leader, Spottswoode (voice of Daran Norris) recruits actor Gary Johnston (Parker) to join the group and spy on the terrorists. Little do they know that the plot is actually being masterminded by North Korean dictator Kim Jong-il II (also Parker), who allies himself with the Film Actors Guild (do the acronym), a group of celebrity pacifists lead by Alec Baldwin (Maurice LaMarche) who is, according to Gary, "the greatest actor, ever".
On paper, this might not sound like much more than a weird Saturday Night Live sketch, but man, this movie is funny. If you've ever had to sit through an interminably stupid action movie, you'll appreciate how Parker and Stone tick of every possible cliché, from the scene that demonstrates just how bad-ass the villain really is, to veteran group member who hates the newbie with no motivation, to the false victory, to the insipid speeches about the theme of the movie to, well, the get everything, right down the visual style.
If the movie was only a parody of a movie genre, it would still be successful, but the movie has a strong and cogent political commentary on America's perception of the rest of the world, and the jingoism that resulted in a post 9/11 world. Every other culture is presented as a collection of stereotypes. The hilarious prologue, set in Paris, shows the Franceland of American mythology, disrupted by unmotivated Arab terrorists who seem to say only three words: "durga", "Mohammed" and "Jihad". Although they mean well, Team America is oblivious to the collateral damage they cause and doesn't understand why anyone could dislike them, even though they are essentially incompetent.
The movie is also deeply funny from beginning to end and is particularly hilarious when featuring song parodies. I particularly like "Freedom Isn't Free" a reference to jingoistic country crap like "Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue" and "Only a Woman", a parody of the Diane Warren power ballads that graced way to many films in the late nineties.
So Team America ends up being one of the greatest comedies of the decade and something more. Despite all the seemingly thousands of ..aries made to show the wrongs of the Bush administration, this one presents the best argument, and the most entertaining, and certainly the most funny. It's a perfect encapsulation of a time when American political discourse was reduced to the level of a bad action movie
Team America: World Police (2004)