Here's a review from SpellChecker, who didn't enjoy the film as much as Chichlisuite, but then... he was annoyed by an incredible a-hole that sounds like Robert De Niro in CAPE FEAR... But here's his review....
I managed to grab a few tickets to the Tuesday screening on the Paramount Lot of South Park:Bigger, Longer, and Uncut a few hours ago, and thought I'd write in with a review. I noticed you've already got one from chichlisuite, but I thought, since my opinon differed, you might be interested in hearing from me.
Now, I have to admit, I'm not a super-huge fan of South Park. That's not to say I don't find the humor funny, it's just that I'm not the type to go out of my way to catch an episode. If it's on, I'll watch it, and enjoy it... I've only seen four or five episodes, and I laughed out loud for each and every one that I've seen (except the one with the Jackoffasaurases... for some reason, that one bored me). The only real problem I've ever had with the show was that sometimes the voices were difficult to decipher.... The characters were either a)speaking way too fast (for me) or b) were just plain unitelligible (to me) or c) were both (again, to me). Other than that, I've enjoyed the episodes I've seen.
So... I went into this film expecting to have a rip-roaring good time. After all, the few episodes I'd seen were a lot of fun. Unfortunately, however, I found the film as a whole to be quite disappointing.
Here's the plot, in a nutshell. The kids go to see the newest Phillip and Terrance film, in which there's much swearing and cussing. Of course, they pick up the swearing and cussing themselves, and spread it like a disease to all the kids in South Park. Soon, all the kids in South Park are swearing and cussing like sailors. This gets so many adults in an uproar, Mothers Against Canada is formed by Kyle's mom (Phillip and Terrance are Canadian), which eventually snowballs into the US deciding to declare war on Canada. Terrance and Phillip are captured and sentenced to death. Meanwhile, Kenny is killed, goes to Heaven, is REJECTED (for reasons I won't spoil here), and is consequently sent to Hell. In Hell, he learns that the seventh sign is the death of Terrance and Phillip, so, appearing as a ghost, he warns Cartman that he must stop T & P from being executed... or Satan will take over the Earth. It's up to the South Park kids, now, to stop T & P's execution.... To save the world from Satan... There are a few subplots, but that's basically it. If you don't understand my summary (sorry), go read chichlisuite's.
The problem I had was that the jokes I saw in the film were the exact same jokes I saw in the few episodes I've happened to catch on TV. Maybe this is a part of the fun for real South Park fans, the repetitive nature of the gags, but I guess not for me. There was a lot of quite clever new material (I think, I haven't seen all the episodes) that I found quite hilarious, but not nearly enough of it. All too often during the film's 80 minute running time (I looked at my watch several times during the film a REALLY BAD sign) I found myself saying "Oh, I remember that from the episode where...". I've only seen a few episodes, and I recognized fifty percent of the gags.... so I wonder if ANY new jokes were actually made up for this film....
For example... At one point, to show the kids of South Park getting out of control with cuss words, a history class erupts into a fit of swearing which seems to go ON and ON and ON. At first, it WAS funny. But it goes on for far too long. Again, I guess, it's the repetition. I need something new. After a few minutes, I was bored. There needs to be, I think, more SITUATIONAL humor. The film seems to rely too much on just plain old swearing.... The kids are VERY charming, VERY adorable, and carry a LOT of potential for situational comedy. But there wasn't enough of it in the film, and that's unfortunate, because some of the most memorable moments in the TV show (and the film) are SITUATIONAL. Just go back up to the summary I gave, read it over.... The fucking SITUATION is what's so funny... Who could ever come up with such a BIZARRE plot? THAT'S HUMOROUS. Why couldn't we see more of that?
QUICK COMMENTS:
- Where the hell was Chef???? One of the funniest characters has only a few scant minutes of screen time. And NO SONGS???? There were tons of songs from all the other characters, but none from Chef??? Disappointing.
- Why so many songs? They weren't really that funny... I thought I was watching a (granted, r-rated) Disney film. And why weren't they more NEW songs????
- There was much offensive humor, most of which I found to be in good fun, but I'm sure there'll be a lot angry minorities out there who take these joke the wrong way.
Don't think I'm giving this film a bad review, because judging by the audience's reaction, they LOVED it, and I think, as chichlisuite said, if you're a real South Park fan, you'll love this film, too. I had a good time, but I didn't have quite the time that the real fans seemed to be having. I did notice one disturbing thing, though... The amount of laughter seemed to decrease as the film went on.... I know that's what happened with me, at any rate. I think a lot of people who don't know South Park are not going to like this film, and it's a shame... because the episodes I've seen on TV are lots of fun. I'd recommend newcomers to skip the film, and just enjoy the show...
I feel I need to add something, to give you all a context for my review. About four seats to the left of me, six or seven rows from the front, there was this annoying bastard who laughed at EVERY FUCKING JOKE IN THE FILM NON-STOP, and, during the musical numbers, kept CLAPPING HIS HANDS TO THE BEAT, as if to engage the audience in the music, too (which never worked, he was the only one who ever clapped to the beat). Several people told him to shut up, but this IDIOT would not stop. It seems like every once in a while, when you see a film, there's a guy like this in the theater, who's TOO much into the film. Not being rowdy, not yelling out, but just LAUGHING and CLAPPING and HOOTING and HOLLERING, as if the fucking film was the greatest film ever made. He may have worked on the film, because, as the credits were rolling, he pointed up at the screen and said "That's my name!". I don't know if he was being an idiot, joking, or telling the truth. All I do know is that he was pretty fucking annoying, so that may have tainted my review of the film, for what that's worth. Anyway, if you're reading this, and I think you know who you are, asshole, LEARN TO SHUT THE FUCK UP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Spell Checker
