Review Written by: Estefan Ellison
Film: A+
Directed by: Trey Parker
Written by: Trey Parker, Matt Stone and Pam Brady
Based on the television series by: Trey Parker and Matt Stone
Produced by: Trey Parker and Matt Stone
Starring: Trey Parker, Matt Stone, Mary Kay Bergman, Issac Hayes, Jesse Howell, George Clooney, Dave Foley, Eric Idle, Brent Spiner
Studio: Paramount Pictures
Most filmmakers don't want to get on the MPAA's bad side, fearing that their picture will be given a bad rating. However, Trey Parker and Matt Stone are the exact opposite. They want to push the envelope and make fun of them. This brings us to one of the most clever and quite possibly the funniest animated feature of all-time:
South Park: Bigger Longer & Uncut. If you've seen the Comedy Central series and think they can't go further, you're dead wrong. Profanity, sex and violence go everywhere, so much so that the MPAA almost gave it the dreaded NC-17 (I personally think it should have a PG-13 rating, but it almost enters R territory). Simply put,
South Park will be considered an animated classic up there with
Snow White and
Pinocchio.
Cartman, Stan (both voiced by director/co-writer Trey Parker), Kyle and Kenny (voiced by co-writer Matt Stone) are off to to see the newest feature starring their favourite Canadian duo Terrance and Philip (Parker and Stone again). The film is rated R, but they get in anywhere and thus are introduced to a brand new colourful vocabulary. After its spread to the other children in town, the parents are furious and decide to blame Canada for it, which soon spins to a war between to the two nations. When Terrance and Philip are arrested and set to be executed, the boys start their own group to save their flatulence-heavy heroes. They do all this in the span of eighty minutes full of delightful musical numbers.
That is what really makes this film more than just a long episode of the show. Trey Parker and Marc Shaiman have created many wonderful songs, all of which deserve recognition. The best ones are without a doubt "Blame Canada" (which got a well-deserved Oscar nomination), "What Would Brian Boitano Do?" and the main theme of the Canadians which is so profane, I can't even print the title on here. The social commentary is also great work as
Bigger Longer & Uncut targets the MPAA, censorship groups, Jews and the Army, all in bad taste but it's so funny, you won't even care. So, if you're tired of those computer-animated Pixar children's fests, watch this badly-animated creation to regain your faith in the style.
The South Park boys trying to sneak into the film-within-a-film.