Team America: World Police
	Rated R
	Runtime: 1hr 40min
	Starring: Trey Parker, Matt Stone, Kristen Miller
	MFG Rating: 4/5

Here's a shocker!  South Park creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker have once more given the world a movie that is sure to offend pretty much anybody that watches it.  Hard to believe, huh?  But it's true!  Even a burnout case such as myself couldn't help but cringe a couple of times while watching scenes that can only be described as "soooo wrong".

I must admit to having doubts about a bunch of puppets and marionettes being funny, but then I considered the fact that the original South Park characters, hysterical as they were, were made out of construction paper.  With that thought bolstering my confidence in these two creators of mayhem, I strode into the theater with high expectations.  Did they deliver?  Oh, heck yeah!

There are laughs galore and satire sharp enough to cut diamonds.  In carrying on another tradition for the South Park boys, there were musical numbers in the movie, too.  Thankfully, though, there weren't many and they were generally funny.  Still, we hate musicals just on general principle and this prevents Team America from getting the maximum 5-star MFG rating.

Is there a plot?  Sure!  The story here is as developed and compelling as any late summer blockbuster action flick, which is to say that it appears thinner than Mary-Kate Olsen sitting in a Richard Simmons studio audience.  The quick rundown goes something like this:  Team America is an elite fighting force that has spent a lot of time destroying terrorists (as well as national landmarks and priceless treasures) in spectacular fashion.  The time has come, however, to add a new member to their team and the one they've selected is Gary Johnston, a Broadway stage actor.  Why him?  Because they need someone to infiltrate a terrorist cell and "act" like a terrorist.

From there, it's all formula and every action movie cliche is thoroughly re-hashed in a most humorous fashion.  As well, nearly every scene includes a send-up of a famous movie moment, my favorite being a well known Star Wars scene.  The political slant of the movie remains fairly neutral as both liberals and conservatives get skewered pretty hard.  I have to say, though, that I was especially happy with how the Hollywood ultra-liberals were dealt with.

The much talked about sex scene, which originally caused the MPAA to give the movie an NC-17 rating, was edited so the film could be given an R rating.  I'm not sure what was cut out of it, however, because it was as hardcore and explicit as you could get with marionettes.  I personally counted SIX different nameable sexual positions and the only thing missing was a money shot.

Overall, you will laugh out loud several times and find yourself chuckling almost constantly.  That said, however, it isn't *quite* as funny as the original South Park movie, but it would still have been good enough for a 5 star rating had it not been for the musical numbers.  This one is definitely worth a view, especially if you don't mind showtunes.

-Alex