South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut.
Starring the voices of Trey Parker, Matt Stone and Mary Kay Bergman Directed by Trey Parker Running Time: 1 hour 21 minutes
(Warner Brothers)
It's been a rather abysmal summer so far, with The Phantom Menace and Wild Wild West being drab disappointments, and Austin Powers 2 only offering a few true laughs. However, this new movie based on the hit television series is good fun, and although lags in some parts, is outrageous enough to make the 80 minutes running time fly by.
The film centres on four kids of South Park: Kyle, Stan, Cartman and Kenny. They go see the new Terrence and Phillipe movie, Asses of Fire, which happens to be full of swearing (and the entertaining song 'Uncle F*cka.) The kids cotton on to the vulgarity, and their parents and teachers are shocked by the words that come out of their mouths. The parents blame Canada, where Asses of Fire was filmed, as to the cause of warping the kids, and America declare war on the Canadians. They also demand that Terrence and Phillippe are executed. In another subplot, if Terrence and Phillippe are killed, Satan and his lover Saddam Hussein will rise again to walk the earth.
The plot is obviously a jab at the MPAA and parts of American society, who believe that kids hearing stuff on the screen will automatically copy what they hear. The irony is, of course, that many kids will sneak into this film, and parents will be worried that they will copy the contents. But while the film at first makes a satirical comment on society today, (e.g violence is O.K but swearing is bad) it soon loses it way and becomes bought up in a silly rescue plot that lacks all the bite featured before. The satire is also a little broad and lazy, and never makes any biting comment. But satire isn't the reason audiences are going to see this film: they are going to see it for vulgarity and filth.
And South Park delivers in spades. While the television series has to be toned down to be able to be broadcast, the film gets away with a lot more. There's swearing every few seconds, and while rather funny at first, it soon becomes a bit irritable. The film realises this, and incorporates some more less swear based jokes, which is good and keeps the film going. There's stabs at all types of groups: Christians, gays and the army. Even Bill Gates gets a mention, and there's a funny stab at the new Star Wars movie.
A new addition to the standard South Park formula is the songs. Written by Stone and Parker, there are largely catchy, but not particularly humorous. Some of them are a little unnecessary, and the film seems a little unsure on how to finish them off (it just cuts to the next scene.) The voices are actually rather good though, and can keep a good tune.
The standard South Park animation remains (the film makes a joke about this) although there's some interesting animation in the Hell sequences. The animation being sub standard doesn't detract from the film in any way. And although South Park is out to shock, it never seems forced or desperate to make the audience shocked. It's never truly tasteless either.
With the various spoofs scattered here and there, the constant stream of decent (if smutty) jokes, and listenable songs, the South Park movie is actually very watchable, if undemanding. Far better than the second series of the television show, South Park is a funny movie with a suitably short running time so the attention doesn't wane. It's not perfect, and the 'satire' is a little heavy handed, but I recommend South Park to anyone looking for a filthy good time.
RATING=***1/2 OUT OF *****
A David Wilcock Review ©1999
DAVID WILCOCK david.wilcock@btinternet.com Visit the Wilcock Movie Page! http://www.wilcock54.freeserve.co.uk
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