Super Troopers 2 is an exceedingly silly movie, which should come as no surprise since the first film is also very silly. But what separates the two films—besides more than 15 years—is an actual, decent plot weaved amongst rude, crude and usually very funny situations.
Does the film have callback to the first film? Of course it does; the five-member Broken Lizard comedy team that created both films (as well as such works as Club Dread and Beerfest) would be insane not to. But they never lean too heavily on their most quotable work, instead choosing to harness all of their naked aggression and hurl it right where all right-thinking Americans want to hurl it…at Canada.
Image courtesy of Fox Searchlight Pictures
Partially crowd-funded, this command performance sequel takes place along the Vermont-Canada border, in a small Canadian town that is about to become an American town because of a border correction. Although the small French-Canadian town is well protected by its mayor (Rob Lowe) and a small group of mounties (Hayes MacArthur, Tyler Labine, and Will Sasso), the governor of Vermont (Lynda Carter) wants our currently unemployed heroes—Mac (Steve Lemme), Thonry (Jay Chandrasekhar, who also directs), Foster (Paul Soter), Rabbit (Erik Stolhanske) and perpetual asshole Farva (Kevin Heffernan)—along with their captain (Brian Cox) to strap on new highway patrol uniforms and be the new law as the town transitions into part of the state. I’m not exactly sure when comedy began hating on Canada, but thankfully the mounties can give as good as they get, and an all-out war begins between the two epic collections of idiots.
One of the only voices of reason is Emmanuelle Chriqui as Genevieve Aubois, an aide to the mayor and a potential love interest for Rabbit, who is desperately trying to maintain something resembling peace between the nations’ least appropriate representatives. Life-or-death pranks seem to be the order of the day between the two groups, but we also get a few prime examples of the troopers doing what they do best—messing with civilians, mocking the metric systems, making fun of accents—while the Canadians remind the troopers that brothels that cater to both men and women are acceptable and that bears are actually quite dangerous. The film’s true villain is kept secret for most of the running time and how that person is attempting to smuggle tons of paraphernalia into the states is actually pretty great.
While most of Super Troopers 2 may not seem to be breaking any new ground, the group continues to combine broader comedy with very specific jokes that are almost hidden from view. This is actually the way they usually work, despite their reputation for being brash. There’s a level of sophistication and precision to their brand of stupidity that can be a real treat for those paying attention. Over the years, director Chandrasekhar has built up quite an impressive list of film and TV credits, and his skill as a comedic filmmaker is impeccable and finely crafted, as can be witnessed here.
When you consider that much of what is considered the Broken Lizard-brand of humor can be equally appreciated by both stoners (this sequel is being released on 4/20) and more straight-edged comedy connoisseurs alike, that is not small feat. Certainly not for all tastes, Super Troopers 2 is a worthy follow-up, and I’m guessing you already know if you’re going to see it, so why are you reading this?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eEed-o8fVpM