The presidential campaign is rushing to its climax, and it seems like everyone on the planet has something to say about politics this year. Hollywood, and the entertainment industry in general, has probably been the most vocal contingent. I've never quite understood why anyone cares about the political opinions of celebrities-or, in fact, why celebrities even feel the need to talk at length about their political opinions. Knowing that Sean Penn doesn't support the war in Iraq does nothing to change my appreciation of Mystic River and knowing Britney Spears supports President Bush doesn't make me hate her music any more than I already do. Celebrity political opinions are inconsequential at best and yet, this year more than any other, the public has been bombarded with them. And that's where Team America: World Police comes in. In a year of political films, some partisan and some objective, Team America eschews attacking the Democrats and the Republicans in favor of the next biggest target: Hollywood. And it attacks in perhaps the best way imaginable-with puppets.

On the surface, Team America is a send-up of the last 20 years of bloated, big-budget action movies. In the opening sequence, terrorists gather in Paris, moments away from blowing something up with a WMD of some sort. Suddenly, Team America shows up to save the day, kind of. They stop the terrorists but destroy the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre in the process. As the team celebrates their victory, member Lisa's boyfriend (the team's captain) prepares to propose to her, only to be gunned down by a hiding terrorist. From there the film moves to New York, where acclaimed Broadway actor Gary Johnston has just finished a production of "Lease: The Musical." After the show, Spottswoode, the head of Team America, shows up to recruit Gary. The team needs a capable actor to infiltrate a terrorist group and stop a potentially deadly strike, and since Gary had a double major in acting and world languages in college, he's a natural choice. Gary initially declines, but after a montage of Gary standing in front of national monuments while the song "Freedom costs a $1.05" plays, he decides to join the team. As the team works to stop the terrorists, it's revealed that North Korean dictator Kim Jong Il is pulling the strings, so to speak, of the terrorists. The team's mission becomes even harder when the Film Actors Guild, headed by Alec Baldwin, starts protesting Team America's reckless ways. Again, this is all done with puppets.

As a parody of action movies, Team America is dead on. There are some snappy one-liners-"Hey terrorists, terrorize this!" quips Lisa as she blasts a terrorist-and there's some Matrix-style kung fu fighting, along with the requisite amount of explosions and gore. Kim Jong Il is played as a cross between Elmer Fudd, Cartman from "South Park" and Blofeld from the James Bond movies. Tim Robbins, Sean Penn and Alec Baldwin take the brunt of the abuse, and it's no accident that the Film Actors Guild is constantly referred to by its acronym.

Finally, because this is a Trey Parker and Matt Stone production, there's plenty of original songs, ranging from Team America's hard-rocking theme "America, Fuck Yeah!" to Kim Jong Il's ballad "I'm So Ronery." And then there's the over-the-top humor-graphic puppet sex scenes and a five-minute puppet-vomit sequence. It all works, mostly because there's something inherently hilarious about puppets having sex and swearing all the time. And even when the jokes fall flat, the movie tosses so many jokes out that it's impossible not to laugh.

Team America is 20 percent political satire and 80 percent Hollywood satire that in the end, like some of the best "South Park" episodes, makes a pretty intelligent argument about the need for thoughtful discussions on both sides of the political spectrum.