Great comedy lasts forever. Except when it doesn't. Even the very best comedy has a moment or two that doesn't exactly age like wine. Even a brilliant satire like South Park fame, this controversial movie made some stinging social commentary along with making us laugh.
There's still plenty here to laugh at, with plenty of movie parody, running gags, and scatological humor to go around. If you have a weak stomach and sensitive morals, you might be offended by the whole list. Here are a few moments from the movie Team America: World Police that are still funny and some that aren't so great anymore.
Aged Perfectly: Debriefing and Cocktails
Ah, the glamour of war! It's brief, bloodless, and everyone always has great hair. The "war until we party" scenes in Team America were a direct shot at the war propaganda that always seems to dominate big-budget media and entertainment, from Pearl Harbor. At the time, most of it was about the Iraq War and military operations in Afganistan but the basic premise applies to virtually any time period.
Didn't Age So Well: The Cats Reference
Tough-talking Chris, the team's martial arts expert, has issues with actors from the very beginning but the audience doesn't find out why until the third act when he confesses to having a bad experience with the cast of Cats in his youth. The rape joke was never funny in the first place but considering the unholy mess of the recent live-action version of the feline-oriented musical, now it's even worse.
Aged Perfectly: The Reluctant Hero
Here's a classic trope that pokes fun at movies that have a "recruitment" phase, in which the main character expresses some reluctance to the team or take up the cause. Team America lampoons this common plot device and the commentary and it is just as relevant now as it was in 2004.
Initially, Gary doesn't want to accept the responsibility that goes along with being a global cop. It's a great comedic moment when he flounces out the door without a second of hesitation at the end of Spottswoode's inspirational speech.
Didn't Age So Well: The Film Actors Guild
It's easy to understand that Trey and Matt were referring to folks in Hollywood appearing in public and using their fame to preach their opinions with this plot device, but on the other hand, that doesn't mean that those famous people were wrong. The children of Iraq didn't have "gumdrop smiles" as puppet Sean Penn declares, but today, we know there was one other thing Iraq didn't have; weapons of mass destruction.
Aged Perfectly: Secret Agent Tropes
If there's one movie sub-genre that's more popular than war movies, it's films about espionage. It's not just James Bond, either, who dominates the genre all by himself. We've also got movies like ingsman using all of these same tricks, tropes, and stereotypes. That includes fancy clothing, a slick car, and a mentor with a stunning vocabulary, just to name a few.
Didn't Age So Well: Rock Bottom in the Alley
Most people are familiar with this scene even if they haven't seen it. It's one of the reasons this movie has so much trouble with the censors. It's not sexual, excessively violent, or offensive, it's just disgusting. This kind of joke is funny the first time but that fades when the novelty of the practical effects wears off.
The scene is meant to lampoon the main character's lowest point, a common device in the second act of many films. The woman yelling, "You gave up on life, didn't ya?" at Gary from her window is the funniest part of this scene but it's overshadowed by Gary practically swimming in a puddle of movie vomit.
Aged Perfectly: A Love Story
It's not just the relationship between the leading man and the object of his desire, it's also the complications that go along with it. Lisa is still hurting over losing her fiance and she's close friends with Sarah, who also likes Gary. Oh yeah, and Joe, the leader of the team, likes Sarah. As you can see, Trey and Matt have all the bases covered when it comes to relationship drama and films, and it still works.
Didn't Age So Well: "Derka Derka"
Okay, it's understood that the aim here was making fun of the limited imaginations of the public in general when it comes to depicting different cultures, but it hasn't aged well. In fact, this was always close to being less funny and more embarrassing. Was the towel really necessary? A racist slur, hur hur. It wasn't very funny then and it's even less funny now.
Aged Perfectly: War Is Hell
War movies get made fun of a lot since they have the same issues with stale storylines, stereotypical characters, and exaggerated drama. The trend continues with modern war movies, in which one of the main characters has to witness the death of a close friend or comrade in the first act.
The death of Conrad in the opening sequence is an excellent example, complete with an engagement, a drawn-out death complete with a few romantic final wishes, and the surviving character screaming, "Nooooo!" Really, when does this not happen in a war movie?
Didn't Age So Well: The Training Montage
Montages are in every movie, and that's what this spoof is about. It's not this scene that's funny, it's the song that accompanies it. If you watch this without the sound, it still makes sense, but it's not as entertaining. It just looks like a regular training montage. It was funny at the time, but now that's we've accepted that a training montage is sometimes a vital part of the movie, it's not as much fun to laugh at it.