Broken Lizard’s 2001 comedy Super Troopers has maintained a cult following since its release so many years ago. In 2015, fans of the film ponied up $2 million via crowdfunding to see Super Troopers 2 get made. As of April 20th, 2018, the long-awaited sequel finally hit theaters… and anyone but the biggest fans of the original are going to walk away sorely disappointed.
The film’s opening sequence is interesting enough. We immediately check back in with all of our favorites from the first movie: Farva (Kevin Heffernan), Mac (Steve Lemme), Foster (Paul Soter), Rabbit (Erik Stolhanske), and, of course, Thorny (director Jay Chandrasekhar). The officers have since become a traveling rock group called Cracklin’ Bacon, and things go awry when their tour bus is pulled over by two officers (Sean William Scott and Damon Wayans, Jr.). It’s an interesting scene and honestly the best part of the film, but, of course, it’s only a dream sequence.
In reality, the cops have all since lost their badges following an apparent mishap with actor Fred Savage (stick around after the credits to find out what happened). However, the gang gets back together to don the uniforms once again as part of the Vermont state patrol. When an area of Canadian land along the border is set to transition into the United States, the unfit officers engage in a war of pranks with the local mounties who are unhappy with the change – but things get more serious when they accidentally uncover an illegal smuggling operation.
Unfortunately, the Canadian setting of the film quickly works against it. The bulk of the comedy in Super Troopers 2 are jokes about Canada – such as snickering about the way they say words like “sorry” and characters speaking in over-the-top French-Canadian accents. That kind of material was a little funny back in 1999 when Robin Williams was singing “Blame Canada” at the Oscars, but it seems a bit dated in 2018.
Barring the anti-Canada humor, the other jokes are mostly misses. I found myself struggling to even crack a smile as the film often resorts to cheap and lazy gags. This includes one officer getting high and doing naked cartwheels and another winding up in a tipped-over port-o-potty. It was hard to shake the feeling that the ensemble cast were merely laughing at each other’s inside jokes, while as a viewer I kind of felt left out.
Long story short, Super Troopers 2 is a film that can only be enjoyed by the original’s biggest fans. It’s nice to see the gang getting back together for another adventure, and some moments from the first film (i.e. “liter of cola”) are referenced as Easter eggs. But once you take out that nostalgia of seeing the “super troopers” back in uniform once again, you’re left with a flat comedy that’s hardly even watchable for a one-time viewing.
Maintain the speed limit when driving by the theater this weekend — you don’t want to pull over for this one.
