It sounded like a project which was guaranteed success. The guys behind South Park, arguably the greatest television program ever, doing a puppet movie mocking America’s view of its standing in the world. Early reviews were extremely positive and I remember that I was already laughing before I arrived at the theater. It’s name was Team America: World Police, for the love of God! This was going to be the greatest movie ever.

It wasn’t. In fact, a lot of people hated it, resulting in a very high FCQ of 49.01 (Film Contentiousness Quotient — details on the math here).

So what happened? Well, a film that calls itself Team America: World Police and sets its climax in North Korea ought to deliver some scathing political satire, and this just didn’t do it. There were some funny scenes — the Montage song and “MATT DAMON!” are brilliant — but those were apolitical. And how many jokes can you make about Kim Jong-Il’s bumbled attempts at English? It’s ignorant to ridicule non-Americans for not speaking in a perfect American accent.

Team America: World Police

• Great! (72%, 23 Votes)
• Terrible! (28%, 9 Votes)

Total Voters: 32

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And now, let’s hear from some Criticker users:

booksyouburn – “Once again, Trey Parker and Matt Stone combine intellectual satire with vulgarity on a level that defines film as art in its own weird way. And also once again, the songs in the film are more memorable than the action movie montage music that it parodies.”

Ytdadel – “One of the most overrated movies of 2004. The real cats and the AIDS song are the lone highlights. Anyone who actually takes this as a trenchant political satire is broken.”

Empire Records was put to your vote in the last installment, and we’re happy to say that by a nearly 2-1 margin, you’ve deemed it TERRIBLE. We agree.