Super Troopers 2 (2018) Fox Searchlight/Comedy RT: 100 minutes Rated R (crude sexual content, language throughout, drug material, some graphic nudity) Director: Jay Chandrasekhar Screenplay: Broken Lizard (Jay Chandrasekhar, Kevin Heffernan, Steve Lemme, Paul Soter and Erik Stolhanske) Music: Eagles of Death Metal Cinematography: Joe Collins Release date: April 20, 2018 (US) Cast: Jay Chandrasekhar, Kevin Heffernan, Steve Lemme, Paul Soter, Erik Stolhanske, Brian Cox, Emmanuelle Chriqui, Rob Lowe, Lynda Carter, Tyler Labine, Will Sasso, Hayes MacArthur, Marisa Coughlan, Damon Wayans Jr., Seann William Scott, Paul Walter Hauser, Jim Gaffigan. Box Office: $32M (US)
Rating: ** ½
SPECIAL NOTE: This review is dedicated to my friend Carl Rosen who passed away this week. He was my regular movie buddy and I surely would have taken him to see Super Troopers 2. Rest in peace, Big Guy. You will always be in the seat to my right.
Normally, I don’t look forward to comedy sequels. The joke is rarely funny the second time. I dread belated sequels even more. For every The Color of Money and Creed, you get several like Superman Returns, Independence Day: Resurgence and Blade Runner 2049. So you can imagine that I had my doubts about Super Troopers 2. It comes 16 years after the original 2002 cult comedy created by the Broken Lizard comedy troupe. Why they waited until now is anybody’s guess. Well, the good news is it doesn’t suck. It’s actually pretty funny at times. The problem is that, as a whole, it feels like warmed-up leftovers. It’s lost some of its flavor but is still edible. It satisfies your hunger yet leaves something more to be desired.
As with the first one, Super Troopers 2 is very loosely plotted. The “plot” is essentially a clothesline for Broken Lizard to hang their jokes on. The new movie finds the former Vermont State Troopers no longer in law enforcement due to an incident with actor Fred Savage. They’re called back into action by the governor (Carter, TV’s Wonder Woman) when a US-Canada border dispute arises. They’re to replace a trio of Canadian Mounties in a small town that’s now considered US territory. They’re met with hostility from both the locals and their Canuck counterparts. They decide to prove their worth by busting up a “passive smuggling” ring. Based on my own understanding, this entails smuggling things that are legal in Canada but illegal in the US across the border. One of these things is a female enhancement pharmaceutical drug called “Flova Scotia”. A running gag has one of the guys addicted to the stuff.
I only now realize that I never mention any of the characters or actors by name. While fans of the first movie know who’s who, others may not. Here’s a quick rundown. Thorny (Chandrasekhar) is the leader of the gang. A running joke from the first movie about nobody knowing his ethnicity continues. Foster (Soter) is nice but dim. Mac (Lemme) is a prankster. Rabbit (Stolhanske), even after nearly two decades, is still considered the rookie of the bunch. He’s clumsy and a frequent target of pranks, mainly ones involving shaving his private parts. Farva (Heffernan) is fat, loud, arrogant, ill-tempered and obnoxious. Because his temper frequently gets him into trouble, he usually mans the radio back at the station. Captain O’Hagen (Cox, Rise of the Planet of the Apes), their commanding officer, tries to run a tight ship but cannot contain his guys’ pranking.
A lot of Super Troopers 2 consists of the troopers screwing with motorists they pull over for whatever reason. They also screw with their Mountie rivals. At one point, they steal their uniforms and go on a mischief spree. There’s also a romantic subplot involving Rabbit and Canadian liaison Genevieve Aubois (Chriqui, You Don’t Mess with the Zohan). It’s an uneasy pairing. It doesn’t work nearly as well as Foster and local cop Ursula (Coughlan, Freddy Got Fingered) from the first Super Troopers. Coughlan, who hasn’t been seen much lately, was one of the best characters in the original movie. She only gets a few minutes of screen time in the sequel. Former teen heartthrob Rob Lowe (Youngblood) shows up as town mayor Guy Le Franc. The troopers are impressed more by his side job, operating a bordello which is apparently legal in Canada.
As for any potential plot twists, I can only ask “Are you kidding?” Figuring out who’s behind the smuggling operation is a total no-brainer. It’s also easy to predict where the Rabbit-Genevieve romance is leading. But it’s fine. Super Troopers 2 is a silly comedy. Such things aren’t important. What is of paramount importance is whether it’s funny or not. It is mostly funny. It tries to replicate the first movie’s laid back feel but doesn’t entirely succeed. It almost feels like everybody is on autopilot here. Many of the gags from the first movie get a call-back- e.g. the “Meow!” bit, a liter of cola, etc. In this new movie, there’s a great bit involving two of the troopers speaking mock French to a pair of baffled tourists.
Super Troopers 2 is an enjoyable movie. It’s better than it should be yet not as good as it could be. Take the ending, the final few minutes in particular. The movie doesn’t so much end as it fizzles out. It’s like director Chandrasekhar told everybody to just wrap it up and go home. It doesn’t sink the movie but we deserve better. It has its flaws but it doesn’t stink which is more than anybody could hope for when it comes to belated comedy sequels. I leave you with a frightening thought. How long will it be before somebody decides to resurrect the Police Academy franchise?
