Off the Cuff Reviews South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut (1999)

I've literally been sitting at my computer for the last 5 minutes trying to think of a way to begin this review. An exclamation of joy, a statement about the show, some philosophical talk about what movies can be, but nothing feels appropriate. I really don't think that would be in the spirit of the movie I just saw. South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut (1999) is truly unlike any movie I've seen, and I'm glad I got the chance to see it. Starring Trey Parker as Stan Marsh/Eric Cartman/Gregory/Satan/Mr. Garrison/Mr. Hat/Phillip Niles Argyle/Randy Marsh/Clyde Donovan/Midget in a Bikini/Adolf Hitler and others, Matt Stone as Kyle Broflovski/Kenny McCormick/Saddam Hussein/Terrance Henry Stoot/Big Gay Al/Stuart McCormick/Gerald Broflovski/Butters Stotch and others, Mary Kay Bergman as Liane Cartman/Sheila Broflovski/Sharon Marsh/Carol McCormick/Wendy Testaburger/Clitoris and others, and Isaac Hayes as Chef Jerome McElroy.

South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut (1999)

First of all, I'd like to address how genius the premise of this movie is. The entire point of the film is everyone getting worked up over foul language being used in a movie, which I'm sure echoes sentiments being thrown around about the show at the time, and maybe even today. This kind of satire is exactly what makes the show so great. I'm not a die-hard fan of the show, but I've seen the first couple of seasons, and a handful of later episodes, and it's definitely something I'd be interested in catching up on at some point. The writing in this movie feels true to the show, as if a regular episode was extended by 400% and made somehow crazier. Because, yeah, things take an insane turn multiple times over the course of this movie. It's patently ridiculous how much things escalate and how quick, that a little kid being sent to hell just feels normal by the end. And it's wonderful. With the internal logic of the show, watching everything get so f***ing out of hand is just beautiful, and the organised chaos of the whole thing was written so intelligently, you have to respect it, regardless of how juvenile everything is.

Matt Stone as Terence and Trey Parker as Philip

The animation is wonderful to watch. I love the style of the stilted, felt-like world of South Park. The characters' movements, the minimalist backgrounds, it's so deliberately low-effort that when it gets bigger and there are more characters and more movements happening on screen at a time, it just looks amazing. I said 'low-effort', but I'm sure there's a lot of work that goes into making everything look the way it does. I'm not sure if it's fully CGI or if it's something more akin to stop-motion (though I'd wager it's the former) and either way it looks great. What's really impressive, however, is how the animation style of South Park blends seamlessly with other computer effects, namely the sequence where Kenny gets sent to hell. I was in awe throughout that entire scene, and it happens a few other times throughout the movie as well. Then you get the incredibly, incredibly low-effort moments like Saddam Hussein's animation and all 3 styles just work hand-in-hand with each other to produce something that looks truly unique.

Matt Stone as Kenny & Trey Parker as Satan

The songs in this movie are especially good. I'm familiar with some of Matt Stone & Trey Parker's other musical work, and I've been impressed before, but this takes the cake. They use typical tropes of musicals and flip them on their heads, like being super crass and pessimistic in the uplifting 'lovely day' opening number that you usually get. Not only are the songs well written and perfectly placed, but each and every one is a banger. They're all toe-tapping gifts to the ears, and I'm sure with a few more listens, these will become part of my regular 'shower-singing' repertoire. I saw 'a few more listens' as this is one of the few problems I have with the movie is that, in moments, the lyrics can become a little muffled and hard to understand. This is mainly when there are lots of people singing at the same time, like the back ends of Blame Canada and Mountain Town Reprise, as well as La Resistance. I'm not sure how this could have been remedied, other than slowing it down a little, which would also be a little distracting in some moments. I'm not a music creator, so I wouldn't know, but, on a first watch at least, some of the lyrics, could be a little difficult to understand. I'm sure, once I get to know the songs better, I'll be able to pick up on the lyrics better, but the first time round, a lot of it was lost on me.

Mary Kay Bergman as Sheila

The voice acting is wonderful, as well. Stone & Parker provide the majority of the voices, and they're all juuuuuuuuust distinctive enough that I can call them varied performances. It's was to the point where I was surprised by some of the characters they voiced when it came time to list their credits, so there's that. I also love the main actor that voiced the female characters, Mary Kay Bergman, and I genuinely thought they got multiple different actors to do so many voices. Isaac Hayes plays Chef, and he's absolutely my favourite character in the series, from the episodes I've seen and this movie. I was also utterly shocked to find that George Clooney played a part in this film, and I still can't pick out which character he played. Of course, these voice performances go hand-in-hand with the writing, which is hands down the best part of the movie. It's just so quick, and there's joke after joke after joke, and they all land. It uses immaturity to disguise how legitimately clever the movie is, and that's the kind of humour I like the most when it's done right.

Isaac Hayes as Chef

South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut (1999) absolutely does it right. This was a delight to watch, and I'm sure to return to it in the future. I'll also be checking out more of the show, and I'm glad there wasn't some entry barrier, such as prior knowledge of the series. Mainly because it doesn't screw with my OCD. 9/10.