Freedom Hangs By A Thread
2004-10-10
$32.0M
97 min
When North Korean ruler Kim Jong-il orchestrates a global terrorist plot, it's up to the heavily armed, highly specialized Team America unit to stop his dastardly scheme. The group, which has recruited troubled Broadway actor Gary Johnston, not only has to face off against Jong-il, but they must also contend with the Film Actors Guild, a cadre of Hollywood liberals at odds with Team America's 'policing the world' tactics.
Might have the only genuinely funny "bodily-fluid gag" ever put to screen. Which really speaks to Team America overall, and even to the entire career of Matt Stone and Trey Parker. The only thing it is more than idiotic, is genius.
Final rating:★★★½ - I really liked it. Would strongly recommend you give it your time.
When an operation to thwart a dangerous attack in Paris costs them one of their number, "Team America" boss "Spottswoode" decides to recruit pretty boy actor "Gary" to take up the slack. The team broadly welcome him and after a bit of soul searching, he decides to accept the challenge and put his acting skills to better use against Islamic terrorists. Thing is, though, who is it that's pulling the strings? Well as their investigations deepen, they discover a cunning plot from North Korea to use the ultra-liberal "Film Actors Guild" as a conduit to world decimation. As satires go, this is one of the better attempts by an American to take a look at the achievements (or not) of his own country. The "Thunderbirds" meets "Man from U.N.C.L.E." style of puppetry works really quite entertainingly as the story delivers brutality, sex, destruction and humanity in quite a sarcastically effective fashion. The script doesn't miss and hit the wall when it comes to assessing those who like to "help" but cause more destruction with their interference the any terrorist could ever hope to, and the whole thing manages to ridicule the more zealous and stereotypical notions of statehood and dogma quite potently. It has "007" elements to the storyline too, and by it's comical vituperation of US attitudes to the rest of the world - Cairo is depicted as a ramshackle collection of adobe houses, Britain is continually referred to as England and Paris, well there's not much left of that after they've received their dose of "assistance" - it does raise quite a few smiles. It's subtly scathing and the puppetry is creatively delivered for a good watch that hasn't dated anywhere near as much as it should have.
