Film Review: Super Troopers 2

The United States of America is surely not the most adorned country in the world right now. Once considered to be the globe’s superpower, has easily been the running and laughing gag to the rest of the world, including its absurd President, peaking violence and of course, its laughable gun control laws. Yet, you would think that the men who make up the Broken Lizard comedy collective would use all of these disheartening issues plaguing the United States, and come up with a comedy farce that would/could redeem the American integrity, or (at the very least), offer some sort of hopeful message wrapped around some poignant and redeemable comedy farce, especially using such iconic and classical culty characters. Instead, the guys behind Broken Lizard bring back the Vermont State Highway Patrol Men in disappointing fashion, after seventeen years of leaving their highly absurd and man-childish antics legacy lingering on the big screen since Super Troopers, with Super Troopers 2.

Following up with such an iconic and classic sequel to a beloved comedy is always such a hard thing to do. After a seventeen year absence from the silver screen, things like comedy, pop culture and trends change drastically. For the guys behind Super Troopers 2, a film and passion project for the Broken Lizard bunch, the film was more than an endeavour of will; the film which was funded using Indiegogo purposing a budget (then) of only $2 million, surpassed its goal within twenty-four hours, and was greenlit by the studio shortly after, you would think that the film would come out guns blazing. Instead, Super Troopers 2 comes out like a cop out of retirement; tired, lazy and full of fatty doughnuts.

While many young people and millennials today couldn’t tell you for the life of them who Broken Lizard is, especially after the dud that was The Slammin’ Salmon in 2009, the Broken Lizard canon is one that offers an interesting take of culturally significant issues plaguing the world today, with films like the first Super Troopers, Puddle Cruiser, Club Dread and of course the beloved Beerfest, a film many hoped would help the chances of WeedFest coming to fruition. All of these films, while wildly inappropriate and somewhat whacky in execution, do offer some very concurrent and relevant questions for people in the United States today.

Sadly, while the premise behind Super Troopers 2  is quite original and promising, the execution of the film is quite disappointing and insulting to both Canadian and American parties involved.

When its discovered that the Canadian-American boarder is actually incorrect, the five disgraced super state troopers of Vermont are asked to quietly transition the small fictional Canadian town of St. Georges du Laurent from a Canadian township, to an American one. Yes, I know exactly what you’re thinking; given the current state of boarders in the United States today, there was so much potential that the Broken Lizard boys could have used to establish their newest film, yet, so many wasted opportunities trample Super Troopers 2, and the collective opt for insulting and degrading comedy that revolves around insulting the Canadian and American cultures until you are red, white and blue in the face.

As a Canadian, we are famously well aware of the misconception Americans have of us, especially since many American admit that, this lack of knowing, isn’t because of ignorance, but simply because they aren’t taught anything but American history and geography in school. While many Americans have asked myself and other fellow Canadians as well if we in fact, do live in Igloos, even though, cities like Seattle, Minnesota and Barrow are more North than the largest populated city in Canada, Toronto, actually is. Yet, in Super Troopers 2, the fact that all Canadian speak like people from Quebec (a predominantly French speaking province), is laughable throughout the film, especially when the Troopers mimic the mounties that are helping out with the transition between Canadian-to-American. This use of the Québécois accent provides the best and most consistent comedy of the film, and perhaps the only and biggest reason to watch it at all.

While Americans should be used to it by now, the constant barraging of insults and parodies of the American culture, Canada on the other hand isn’t quite used to being the centre of such rude, crude and insulting comedy, especially surrounding issues of the boarder. Super Troopers 2 is a road-kill, highly outdated comedy that suffers from director Jay Chandrasekhar’s recent experience of television directing and writing; at best, the film has sitcom level laughs and dialogue, and that’s being generous.

Super Troopers 2 is by any means an improvement on its predecessor. While the original film premiered at The Sundance Film Festival in 2001 (yeah, you heard me right), we can’t imagine this film at any festival in the world. Not that being in or out of a festival means anything, but what the original Super Troopers did was create an absurd comedy about the immunity and lengths crazy cops can go and do whatever they want for their own amusement. With Super Troopers 2, while that abuse of power is obviously evident here, there is nothing of merit, not morally, ethically or comically, that redeems the wasted comedy that is on display here. Like a closed highway ramp or freeway closure, avoid, yield and detour from this film at all costs.

Night Film Reviews: 1 Out of 10 Stars.

What did you think of Super Troopers 2? Excited and amuse, or insulted and disappointed? Leave your suggestions in comment section below. 

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