South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut - Meet some friends of mine

People have argued that, after 16 seasons, South Park isn't as fresh as it once was. Its creators/writers (Trey Parker and Matt Stone) are self-confessed `Python fans' and many of the early seasons were made in the a similar vain. As the seasons progressed, it moved away from simple wackiness and into `causes' and `celeb-bashing' (the wackiness remained, but seemed to take a back seat). This lost a certain amount of viewers, leaving only the die hard fans remaining (not that that must have particularly worried Trey and Matt, as South Park has a LOT of die hard fans left out there).

But, if you really haven't seen South Park and are wondering what all the fuss is about, then its movie incarnation is as good a place as any to start.

Don't be fooled by the crude animation. You've probably heard that South Park is simply smut and crudeness. And it is. And yet it's so much more as well. The wonder of South Park is that it's an adult world seen through the eyes of a child (or four children, to be precise). They are forced to navigate a pretty weird and frightening world with only the guidance of a sex-obsessed chef and a school teacher with split personality issues. The four boys sneak in to see an X-rated Canadian movie which teaches themselves all sorts of naughty words. This, in turn, leads to America declaring war on Canada.

Yes, it's pretty wacky, but there are plenty of cultural references and takes on modern life thrown in there among the smut and depravity.

If you want to want South Park, you need an open mind and shouldn't be easily offended. It's not an `adult' cartoon for no reason. However, if you're looking for something that is - secretly - intelligent and mad in the best sort of way, then you can do worse than spending an hour and a half watching Satan and Saddam Hussain battle it out with the residents of a small mountain town in Middle America.

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