Super Troopers 2 review

SUPER TROOPERS 2:

ASIDE FROM A FEW LAUGHS, IT’S MUCH OF THE SAME!

By Nico Beland

Movie Review: ** out of 4

FOX SEARCHLIGHT PICTURES

The mustache rides again in Super Troopers 2

            You ever seen a comedy at a young age that you thought was hilarious at the time but as you get older it doesn’t quite make you laugh as much as it used to? That’s pretty much the 2001 cult comedy film, Super Troopers for me, which wasn’t well-received by critics nor was it a hit at the box-office but later gained a following on DVD.

            When I first saw it when I was like 14 or 15, I thought Super Troopers was hilarious and definitely fed into the raunchy, gross-out humor filled teenage mind I had. Nowadays when I re-watch it, I will admit it doesn’t quite offer the same comedic experience it once did and while a good chunk of the jokes still gets a laugh out of me, the rest fall flat or it’s a gag I’ve seen done better in other cop comedies like The Heat or 21 Jump Street.

            Even though it’s shown its age, I’d say Super Troopers is a decent comedy to put on for low-brow laughs and silliness. Can’t quite say the same for its sequel, Super Troopers 2 which sadly falls victim to the comedy-sequel trope formula and aside from a few legitimately funny moments, it’s much of the same with little variety.

            What does a comedy-sequel usually do? Try to recapture the success of the first movie with constant nods to the original such as saying, “It happened again” or “Last time”, repeat jokes that were funny the first time and running them into the ground, add more dark humor that gets funny confused with sick and cruel (Blame Hangover: Part III), and slightly rewrite the script of the first movie with slight changes with a clichéd plot about the Troopers “Getting back in the game”. That’s pretty Super Troopers 2 in a nutshell and I’ll give it credit that it advertised exactly what kind of movie I was getting into.

            Years after the events of the first film, the state troopers have been fired from their jobs as police officers (Yeah, slight spoiler from the last movie), and are now working in construction with the loud, obnoxious, and overweight, Rodney “Rod” Farva (Kevin Heffernan-Sky High, Beerfest, How I Met Your Mother) as their manager. But an international border dispute between the United States and Canada arises and the guys, Thorny (The film’s director, Jay Chandrasekhar-Arrested Development, Jackass: Number Two, Beerfest), Jeff (Paul Soter-Club Dread, The Dukes of Hazzard, Beerfest), Mac (Steven Lemme-Beerfest, The Slammin’ Salmon, The Babymakers), Rabbit (Erik Stolhanske-Club Dread, Beerfest, Freeloaders), and Captain John O’Hagen (Brian Cox-Adaptation, The Bourne Identity/Supremacy, X2: X-Men United) are given a second chance to be state troopers again and set up a new highway patrol station in the disputed areas of Canada.

            The film also stars Damon Wayans Jr. (New Girl, Happy Endings, Let’s Be Cops) as Trooper Wagner, Seann William Scott (American Pie franchise, Road Trip, Evolution) as Trooper Callaghan, Marissa Coughlan (Wasteland, The Twilight Zone, Boston Legal) as Chief Ursula Hanson, Lynda Carter (Wonder Woman, Hawkeye, Supergirl) as Vermont Gov. Jessman, Rob Lowe (The West Wing, Brothers & Sisters, Parks and Recreation) as Guy Le Franc, Emmanuelle Chriqui (Entourage, National Lampoon’s Adam & Eve, You Don’t Mess with the Zohan) as Genevieve Aubois, Tyler Labine (Breaker High, Flyboys, Reaper) as Mountie Bellefuille, Will Sasso (Beverly Hills Ninja, Southland Tales, Army of One) as Mountie Archambault, Hayes MacArthur (Perfect Couples, Go On, Angie Tribeca) as Mountie Podien, Paul Walter Hauser (Betas, Kingdom, I, Tonya) as Lonnie Laloush, Jim Gaffigan (Welcome to New York, My Boys, The Jim Gaffigan Show) as Larry Johnson (No relation), and Jimmy Tatro (22 Jump Street, American Vandal, Smallfoot) as Lance Stonebreaker.

            Overall, Super Troopers 2 should satisfy its fanbase and has its moments of laughs, however those looking for something new and witty may want to look elsewhere. The plot is every boring cop comedy movie cliché with rehashed jokes (Because it was funny the first time, clearly, we need to do them again), confused dark humor that tries to be funny but comes off as disturbing and cruel, and it’s predictable.
            I’m not saying the first movie “Got it right”, absolutely not, it’s a dumb movie but from a nostalgic perspective and as cheap laughs go, it was harmless and at the time the jokes were very funny. This one tires out the jokes that were funny in the first film and doesn’t really do much new with its story or writing, it’s kind of like when Dumb and Dumber To came out, remember the first movie? Here it is again just with some slight changes.

            But with all that said, there are some moments where I laughed, mostly involving Rod who in my opinion is the funniest character in both movies. Yes, he’s obnoxious and vulgar but Kevin Heffernan’s facial expressions, actions, and delivery of these low-brow jokes are hilarious, he’s kind of like the Super Troopers equivalent of a character like Uncle Ruckus from The Boondocks or Eric Cartman from South Park where you know what they’re saying and doing is completely wrong and inappropriate, but you just can’t help but laugh at them.

            Sadly, he’s not enough to save Super Troopers 2 from a mostly unfunny script and lazily rehashed story. It certainly isn’t one of the worst comedies or movies I’ve ever seen but unless you’re either part of the teenage demographic or an enthusiast of dumb, low-brow humor, I wouldn’t recommend going on patrol with this one.