The movie opens with a live action introduction with Jeff
Dunham talking about cartoon characters with his Achmed puppet, leading to
Achmed saying he wishes he were animated. Then the animated film begins, with
Achmed riding a motorcycle with a bomb across the desert. His first line, which
is directed at us, is “I will kill you.”
Perfect. His boss calls him on his cell phone, upset that Achmed hasn’t killed
any infidels, and calls him “the worst
terrorist in the whole non-Muslim world,” a nice way of not offending
people while simultaneously making fun of the idea of having to avoid offending
people. Achmed responds, “As a devout
non-Muslim, I am offended by that.” He then accidentally blows himself up,
becoming the skeleton terrorist that we all know and love, and in the process
landing on a plane heading for the United States.
He ends up in a town called Americaville, with plans to
kill everyone. He is soon picked up a family who believes he is Claude, the
French exchange student they were supposed to meet at the airport. Achmed keeps
a terrorist journal, which creates opportunities for him to voice his
observations. Seeing foreclosure and “For Sale” signs, Achmed notes, “Their town is in terrible shape and their
lives are filled with emptiness and failure, yet they don’t take the obvious
route of blowing themselves and everyone around them up.”
Achmed soon loves the people of the town and joins in a
parade (“where people wait all night to
get great seats to watch other people walk”). The boy in the family
secretly wishes to be a ventriloquist (perhaps modeled on a young Jeff Dunham),
leading Achmed to say, “That is the
stupidest thing I’ve ever heard.” (I always appreciate when folks poke fun
at themselves like that.)
There are some really funny lines that had me laughing
aloud, like when Achmed notes, “These are
nothing like the Americans I was taught to hate, which makes me hate them more”
(which is followed with, “Plus, I had no
idea women could drive”). And when a redneck says, “You’re the real hero, two hundred and ten percent American,” Achmed
reponds, “You people suck at mathematics.”
I love that this movie pokes fun at Bill O’Reilly, Oprah
Winfrey and crazy cult member Tom Cruise. There’s also a good joke regarding
the television series 24, and an E.T. reference. But there are also some
weak jokes, like the blow job/leaf blower bit. The movie is a bit on the tame
side, which surprised me, as I expected it to be a little edgier. Achmed comes
to love America pretty quickly, and so he becomes a bit soft. There are some
obvious, easy targets, like the early shot of a street with nothing but
Starbucks coffee shops.
But I did laugh out loud several times. I really
appreciate this line (spoken by the redneck character): “It ain’t ironic if
you don’t get the joke.” There is also a musical sequence.
Special Features
The DVD contains some bonus material, including The Making Of Achmed Saves America, in
which Jeff Dunham talks about the characters and about doing many of the voices
himself (we see footage of him recording the various parts). There are also
short interviews and behind-the-scenes footage with Perry Zombolas (storyboard
artist), Mike Guerena (colorist), Ryan Mattos (animator) and Leo Papin
(editor). This bonus feature is approximately five minutes long.
There is also a commentary track by Jeff Dunham, Kelly
Asbury (who directed Gnomeo And Juliet,
wrote a book about ventriloquists and helped Jeff Dunham design the look of the
characters for the special) and Michael Price (who wrote the script for Achmed Saves America, and also writes
for The Simpsons). Jeff Dunham
mentions that the animators, without telling him, placed Jeff's other characters
in the background throughout the movie (including Walter and Peanut). They
discuss the style of the animation.
Achmed Saves
America is scheduled to be released on DVD and Blu-ray on March 18, 2014.
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