South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut

Let's be honest: after its first season, "South Park" started to get old fast. Even the show's diehard fans have to admit that fart jokes and bleeped swearing are only hysterical the first few times. "South Park" made its name by pushing the envelope, but even on cable, there's only so far that a show can go before it starts rehashing oncefunny gags. So the movie version promised to be (at best) just a longer episode with uncensored swearing. Instead, it's a smart, funny, perfectly timed film. The plot, which varies sharply from the speculative outlines posted on various fansites, isn't complicated: the four elementary schoolage constructionpaper cutout heroes sneak into an R rated cartoon movie. Despite the fact that "the animation's all crappy," as Cartman observes, the crude humor and cussing (we get treated to the moviewithinthemovie's first song, "Uncle Fucka") affects the boys, and their parents freak out. Sound familiar? That's because "South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut" might be the most brilliant piece of satire to hit the big screen in a while — maybe ever. It opens at the perfect time, amid a new round of hysterical, misguided cries for control on mass media. Confronted about his behavior, Cartman confesses in his whiny voice, "That movie has warped my fragile little mind." Kyle's mom launches a crusade against Canada (read Hollywood), the origin of the cartoon movie in question, and fullfledged war ensues. Since "South Park" has always relied on shock value for most of its laughs, I'll refrain from poorly reproducing any of the movie's punch lines or unexpected left turns. But rest assured that there are plenty of hilarious "I can't believe they did that!" moments that leave few taboos untouched. Along the way, creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone bash everything they can get their hands on — Microsoft, the military, the Vchip (in a twist reminiscent of "A Clockwork Orange," Cartman has one implanted in his head), religion, and the MPAA. Especially the MPAA. While labeled "uncut," the film apparently had to be slightly trimmed to keep an 'R' rating, and Parker and Stone were reportedly pissed off over the MPAA's hypocritical response to the film — they objected to the language, not the film's violent content. The ratings organization takes a bunch of well deserved jabs from a number of characters (who, despite an expanded budget and a couple of scenes with slick computer animation, are still animated with delightful crudeness). The movie manages to pull off juvenile humor more consistently than "Austin Powers II," even though it is, as usual, highly offensive: Jews, blacks, women and gays are often the butt of jokes. But they're (usually) smart jokeswithinjokes that ultimately mock the antiSemitic, racist, sexist and homophobic people themselves. And even though the movie — complete with fullblown musical numbers — is just over an hour long, the laugh everysecond momentum it gains at the beginning can't be sustained. There are some dead spots where you know you're supposed to be laughing, but it just isn't funny anymore. Thankfully, the movie picks back up toward the end. And it's helped along the way with celebrity voices ranging from Brent Spiner ("Star Trek: The Next Generation"'s Data) to George Clooney ("ER"). Ironically, some of the biggest fans of the show — teenagers — aren't supposed to be able to get in without a parent or guardian because of the assigned 'R' rating. Of course, such prohibition is easily bypassed, as Stan, Kyle, Cartman and Kenny (and reallife teens) prove. Despite that reality, there were only a handful of kids in the theater the day I saw the movie. The young boy sitting next to me, accompanied by his mother and no older than eight, didn't laugh once during the entire movie. The jokes — even the most inane — went right over his head. And that's exactly the point. Of course, the witty writing and biting satire will be lost on a mass of pompous critics, "concerned" parents, and anal retentive politicians who fail to recognize their own hypocrisy and the movie's ironic subtext. But that's precisely the point, because if they did get it, all of this would be completely unnecessary. In an ideal world, Parker and Stone should let "South Park: Bigger, Longer, and Uncut" be their swan song. They've made their point perfectly. But if they were to kill the series now, their thickheaded opponents would think they'd won. So, in the name of free speech, long live Stan, Kyle, Cartman and Kenny. Well, Stan, Kyle, and Cartman, at least. Like in every episode of the series, Kenny dies early on. And what a goddamn wonderful, gory death it is.