"[Team America] is patterned on jingoist Reagan-era contraptions like Top Gun (1985). It's got the maverick - hero - with - the - guilty - buried - trauma - backstory - resulting - in - emotional - blockage - that - must - be - manfully - overcome template. It's got the soap opera triangle that rears its stupid head even in the middle of apocalyptic action sequences. It's got the turning point where the despairing hero wanders the streets to a soul-filling R&B tune, recovers his skills in a montage of training scenes (with a hard-rock backbeat), and goes mano a mano with the bad guy in the name of the father figure who recruited him and the sultry babe who believes in him. It's got the final face-off that comes at the emotional blockage with a gargantuan plunger."
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