Team America : World Police

I was unable to finish watching the film - it lacked any sense of narrative force, the actors were too wooden, and the humor somewhat dated.

Trey Parker is a very talented individual, and South Park is a phenomenally great show, but the short duration of South Park enables the exposition of the idea before it runs out of steam. The ability to put together an episode to reflect current social angst and issues enables it to be funny and relevant.

The film "Team America" fails because it is unable to sustain the story, such as it is. The most it can do is make a series of jokes, some quite funny, and then all that is left is an urgency to reach the end. The film also fails to take on the true issues surrounding the 'War on Terror', by pandering to a need to caricature them.

The opening section, where the heroes devastate Paris, is a send-up, perhaps, of well-intentioned American 'interventions'. The build-up however, is tossed away, as the film careens away into the second plot-line of the Broadway actor recruited to fight against the axis of evil. The third plot-line, the one featuring Lil Kim, is probably the best. This is one character around whom entire epics could be written, and probably have been.

The musical parodies are good, from "America, Fuck Yeah" to "I'm So Ronery". The film does not really live up to my expectations.

2/5