..Gary Dretzka
..Noah Forrest
..Leonard Klady
..R.J. Matson
..David Poland
..Douglas Pratt
..Ray Pride
..Michael Wilmington

Team America: World Police

Directed by Trey Parker, Matt Stone
Paramount Pictures

If you're of a certain age, it's impossible not to see images from the Gerry and Sylvia Anderson portfolio as Team America: World Police unspools. Back in the 1960s the duo created several adventure series for television with puppet casts including Thunderbirds and Supercar starring Mike Mercury. In retrospect, the shows have a kitsch appeal but were rather outrageous in concept and execution at the time. Its kindred contemporary counterpart is also a shocker - not only in its deflation of the Jerry Bruckheimer canon but also in its decidedly non-politically correct use of language and depiction of mores.

Scatological dialogue and outré racial and cultural depictions have been the bread and butter of creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker. They constantly walk a fine line between social satire and bad taste and cannot help but tip the balance to the foul from time to time. To their credit they do not wallow in tastelessness as a virtue in the John Waters tradition. They are entertainers, and from time to time their target - particular via South Park - is resonant socially and politically.

Team America beneath its jokes and jibes is a rather scathing "what if" brought on by the changes in America since September 11th. So, what if the sundry international terrorist networks somehow managed to hook up with a potentially malevolent nuclear power? In this instance the egomaniacal Kim Jong Il of North Korea who's up to no good but has extended an olive branch that the radical peaceniks of the movie acting community have accepted.

In this scenario the balance is trued by an elite force of commandos that would warm the heart of any compassionate totalitarian government. They are attractive, stylish and ruthless in tracking down evildoers. Team America's members are so intent at making the world safer that such niceties as collateral civilian damage and the destruction of national monuments are incidental concerns.

The irony is obvious and, at times, hilarious. Only a censor with a stone heart would fail to see the absurdity and only view danger in an extended sex sequence. Perhaps it would have passed muster had one of the dolls thrust forward a condom. Still, the story is thin and once the filmmakers establish the characters and plot, there's almost nothing left in their bag of tricks other than repetition. Like the pioneering work of the Anderson's, it fits more comfortably into a half-hour television slot. The gimmicks and gags cannot sustain a feature length even with periodic musical segues to boisterous anthems like "America, F**k Yeah" or Kim's plaintiff "I'm So Ronely."

The film's other true curiosity is the puppets themselves. Though expertly realized by the innovative Chioda Bros., they move with the same sort of awkwardness one remembers from the bygone series. It's impossible to know whether that element of the film is homage or simply technical limitation. Regardless, what initially comes across as charming eventually slows down the narrative and becomes an annoying distraction.

A Paramount Pictures release of a Scott Rudin/Matt Stone production. Produced by Rudin, Trey Parker. Director, Parker. Screenplay, Parker, Stone, Pam Brady. Cinematography, Bill Pope. Visual consultant, David Rockwell. Editor, Thomas Vogt. Music, Harry Gregson-Williams. Songs, Parker, Marc Shaiman. Production design, Jim Dultz. Puppets produced by Chioda Bros. Costumes, Karen Patch.

Voices: Trey Parker (Gary, Joe, Kim Jong Il), Matt Stone (Chris), Kristen Miller (Lisa), Masasa (Sarah), Daran Norris (Spottswoode), Phil Hendrie (I.N.T.E.L.L.I.G.E.N.C.E.)

- Leonard Klady