OK, Comedy Central fans, here’s the reason why the cable channel’s hit series has been so lame this past season. “South Park” creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone were expending all their demented energies on their first feature-length film. And it shows.
Guaranteed to offend everyone at least once, “South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut” pillories everything from Saddam Hussein to Mothers Against Drunk Driving to Bill Gates to the notion that the entertainment industry is chiefly to blame for the rising rate of violence among kids.
While some will certainly see this filth fest as the work of Satan himself, others will see the extremely clever, pointed and dead-on satire lurking beneath the foul language and flatulence. But recognizing the wickedly sharp attacks for what they hilariously are do not make one immune to the nastiness. For as many laughs as Parker and Stone’s crew of third-graders earn, there are an equal number of groans, moans and yikes!
The movie begins on a Sunday morning in the “quiet little redneck podunk white-trash mountain town” of South Park. The gang — Kyle, Cartman, Stan and Kenny — are off to see the new movie featuring their comic heroes Terrance and Philip. Based on this comedic duo’s best gags, the movie is titled “Asses of Fire.” It’s R-rated, so the South Park crew pays a homeless man to buy their tickets. Once inside, the kiddies soak up the flatulence and foul language of Terrance and Philip like virgin sponges.
Once outside, the mimicry of their comic heroes gets them in trouble with parents and school administrators. But the real trouble begins when Cartman and Kenny argue over whether or not one can actually ignite certain bodily gasses. Kenny — who is killed off in every episode of the cable cartoon series — dies a horrible death on the operating table under the caring hands of a doctor voiced by George Clooney. Kenny, of course, does not make it. More bad news, Kenny is denied access to heaven. He goes straight to hell where he becomes privy to Satan’s floundering relationship with his new lover, Saddam Hussein. What these two talk about is enough to make a sailor blush.
Back in the real world, the gang’s moms want restitution. They want their sweet little boys back. They want revenge! So in the throes of crowd mentality, they decide to declare war on Canada, the home country of Terrance and Philip. They organize. The president and military get behind them. War is declared. Terrance and Philip are captured, tried and sentenced to die during a U.S.O. show.
The gang mounts a counter attack of its own to save the lives of Terrance and Philip.
“South Park” creators Parker and Stone may be vile, but they are also dead clever. While the action in this crudely animated series is defined by a numbing sameness, Parker and Stone make up for its lack by lacing the movie with very, very funny musical numbers. While fans of the cable cartoon will recognize the dance-mix version of Cartman’s song about Kyle’s mom’s resemblance to a female dog, the movie offers a few other evil ditties that include a riff on “West Side Story’s” “Tonight” as well as a terrific fantasy sequence where the gang ponders their options called “What Would Brian Boitano Do?”
But for all this deliciously wicked fun, there’s a price to pay for enjoying Parker’s and Stone’s pop-culture assault: The humor can be as offensive as it is sharply pointed. More than a few times I was offended, pained and uncomfortable as the gang’s creators took aim at America’s top-three “isms”: jingoism, racism and sexism.
“South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut” is most certainly NOT for everyone. And do not for a second think that the movie is just like the cable cartoon. “Uncut” is the key word here. Another is “unapologetic.” If you can take your social satire with a heavy dose of profanity and smarmy sex talk, then “South Park” will entertain. If not, well then, you need to arrange a protest. Hmmm. I have an idea — let’s sell California! After all, isn’t that where all this stuff comes from? Yeah. That’s
