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Parody has the purpose of imitating in detail to achieve humor or to mock. Sometimes mockery is frowned upon, if the sole purpose is to hurt the individual through ridicule. This ridicule is also a source of laughter, as it could also be a form of criticism. The criticism is to express a discontent with what has been expressed prior to the parody. Thus, parody is essential for free speech and the freedom to express ones own thoughts and ideas. Team America: World Police pushes the envelope in regards to parody, as it pokes fun of the American tapestry under the Bush administration’s era with the help of puppets. ***

The first half of the film provides hilarious outtakes from notions and similar events that have taken place in the world, and the perceptions of Americans throughout the world. The film begins in Paris where some terrorists, Middle-Eastern looking puppets, plan to strike Paris with Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD). Fortunately, or should the Parisians say unfortunately, Team America arrives to save the day while also succeeding in blowing up the Eiffel Tower and the Triumph Arch. This is a funny, yet a bloody event while Team America blows away the terrorists without consideration for art or history in Paris. This is a view many outside the United States have of Americans, uncultured and with poor knowledge of history. And to balance this out, the filmmakers make fun of other nationalities through caricature. ***

One of the outcomes of the Paris event led to the death of one of the members of Team America. Consequently, the leader for Team America, Spottswoode, decides to recruit Gary Johnston, a Broadway actor, who currently performs in the musical Lease, which has an obvious hint towards the musical Rent. Spottswoode believes that they need Gary’s acting skills to get close to the terrorists, as Gary graduated from Iowa University summa cum Laude with a double major in theater and world languages. The recruiting process includes convincing Gary to join Team America, which in itself provides an amusing scene where Spottswoode tries to induce fear in him. However, it does not affect Gary who goes to Washington D.C. to ponder his decision among the war memorials of fallen men and women. ***

Through the second half, the story increasingly turns away from parody toward what seems to be a MTV production that tries to rely on the shock value of things while heavily borrowing from other sources. Much of this is amusing in a cruel way. Some examples of the borrowing turn up when Team America arrives to Cairo, Egypt where Gary enters the terrorists’ bar. This bar has strong resemblance with Jabba the Hutt’s place in Star Wars: The Return of the Jedi (1983). Another amusing scene appears when Gary first arrives to the Team America headquarters in Mount Rushmore, which seems more like the first episode of a new season of MTV’s Real World. A final example is the North Korean president, Kim Jong Il, who seems to be more like a James Bond villain who terminates the Swedish Top UN weapon’s inspector Dr. Hans Blix through feeding him to sharks among many other things. ***

Freedom of speech brings filmmakers such as Trey Parker a certain level of social responsibility. This notion seems to have been utterly crushed in the film, as Trey Parker and Matt Stone throw their characters into explicit violence and sex. Yet, these scenes are not what are most offending in the film. Several ideas surface throughout the film; however, the director Trey Parker and writer Matt Stone never even try to explore any of these ideas. They simply spew out their discontent in an extremely hostile, yet comical manner, which leaves the viewer with unfinished thoughts of violence and intolerance toward different thinkers. One major part of the film is the use of numerous known film stars such as Matt Damon, Sean Penn, and Alec Baldwin. These stars join under Baldwin who is the leader for the Film Actors Guild (F.A.G.), which Parker and Stone seem to use suggestively in a prejudicial jovial manner. The sole purpose of the actors appears to be for target practicing, as Parker develops a full out assault on them by killing them in various gruesome ways. This suggests that is ok to threaten or even exercise violence towards those that freely express themselves, which goes against the notion of freedom. ***

Maybe Parker thought that the idea of using puppets would limit the ideas and thoughts that he provided in the film, as the strings control puppets. This might be a symbolic gesture toward how people are being manipulated; yet this idea was never fully developed. Jan Svankmajer’s film offers strong and bizarre material through puppets and clay, yet his films are thoughtful in regards to society even though disturbing. Nonetheless, the discontent is obvious, to point of nihilism, which Ebert even concluded in his review. This nihilistic attitude does not seem to bring anything more than a parody of itself, as the film unfolds, which gradually increases in meaninglessness. As mentioned before, the parody, or spoof if you will, seems to evaporate, as Parker and Stone ultimately turn this venture into a cavalcade of shocking scenes for an ever increasingly desensitized audience that will find it funny in the same way a bully muses over his or her victims. In essence, Team America: World Police begins as a parody that eventually drops the thought it had to embrace and becomes the very same thing that it tries to ridicule. ***

Yet, the film also has a different side where the creators of South Park are able to cause sidesplitting laughter through shocking puppetry with ruthless abandon. This can only be allowed in a society where freedom allows it. Many will find this film repulsive while others will deem it generously entertaining. One great thing comes through this film, which is the exchange of ideas, a dialogue if you will. In this dialogue people with different convictions first begin to scream, as they try to out scream each other. Hopefully, both sides realize that screaming does not work, and they lower their voices in order to hear each other out. Maybe, some are hurt in the process, but so are soldiers in war as some of them fight for the right of the first amendment. War is not something new and neither is the idea of world peace. Maybe people need to find some humility through humiliation before people will know that no one is above any idea, and all ideas must be considered for peace to have a chance. *** ---

The crystal clear image shines through in the 2.35:1 aspect ratio, which comes in anamorphic widescreen. There are no noticeable digital distortions in the image while the colors are solid. Both the foreground and the background details appear rigorously complete. However, there is some chroma effect with the reds, but this is will not effect the visual experience. ***

The sound is solid as it offers terrific action sound that pushes bombastic power out of the sub-woofer when needed. The surround is also exceptional, as one can almost feel the sound of bullets and missiles traveling across the viewing room. Dialogues are distinct and clear while all speakers deliver solid and a comical score. *** ---

This is a loaded DVD with several interesting extras of variable quality. Some are very good while others are totally uninteresting. Nonetheless, many of the extras can provides some interesting views for many viewers. A side note should be made; if you are a person who is easily offended stay away from some of the extras. ***

Team America: An Introduction – This offers a quick introduction, duh, that actually is just okay, as go into great depths of why they used puppets and how much they hate actors. ***

Building the World – Talks about how much work and effort was put into creating the world in the film. It shows some of the sets built for the puppets while insightful comments are made to how the characters exist in the world that they created for in the film. ***

Crafting the Puppets – Opens with remarks from the puppet designers on how they reacted to the script to which they were to make puppets for. There are also scenes showing how they created the puppets, which is sort of interesting. ***

Pulling the Strings – It shows the true actors who controlled the puppets in the film in many complicated scenes where they almost had to stand on top of each other. Parker and Stone also share with the audience how they had to learn that they could not control the schedule, or the movement of the puppet masters. It is actually interesting hearing how they created the movements in regards to the script and so forth. ***

Capturing the Action – This shows how Parker and Stone got their action cinematographer Bill Pope who also shot the Matrix. It discusses how close they stayed to the action genre, as they wanted it to feel authentic with the exception of the puppets. It is also interesting to see and hear how they problem solved scenes with the lights, as the puppeteers had to stand above the puppets. ***

Miniature Pyrotechnics – Again Parker and Stone share their thoughts, but this time it is in regards to the explosions in the film. It is interesting to hear that they pretty much blow up everything in the film, as Stone puts it “…it otherwise would have collected dust somewhere.” The scene of the Panama Canal is very cool to see, as it illustrates how it actually looked on the set when they detonated a bomb that flooded the set. ***

Up Close with Kim Jong-II – Bill Pope informs the audience that Kim Jong-II reminds him of Elmer Fudd and the Bugs Bunny characters, which he actually does in a comical way. It also displays the meticulous work that was put into the puppet of the North Korean leader, and what was astonishing to hear is that the glasses that the puppet wore in the film ware ludicrously expensive. This sequence brings the audience a little closer to the making of the puppets, which must have been an enormous task. ***

Dressing Room Test – Shows the scene when Spottswoode hires Gary in the dressing room, which is rather straightforward. *** Puppet Test – This is a test shot of how Spottswoode moves and behaves in front of the camera. Rather amusing. ***

Deleted / Extended Scenes and Outtakes – There is a total of ten different scenes that have a collective running time of approximately six minutes. You’re a Puppet! sequence is a hilarious scene that should not have been omitted from the film. The scene with Michael Moore is also pretty funny. ***

Animated Storyboards – Six scenes have received the treatment of displaying the storyboarding, which are pretty simple pencil drawings with sound. ***

Theatrical Trailers & Previews – There are two theatrical trailers while one points out that some people in particular will be angry after having seen this film. The previews offer some trailers from films such as coming attraction The Longest Yard and recent DVD release Fade to Black. *** ---