SUPER TROOPERS 2: A Blast From The Past

The original Super Troopers film, as created and produced by American comedy group Broken Lizard, is a strange artifact of the studio comedy template. Produced on a modest studio budget of approximately $3 million, the movie went on to net $23 million at the box office way back in 2001. Followed by a string of like-minded college humor features –  most notably Club Dread in 2004, Beerfest in 2006, and The Slammin’ Salmon in 2009 – the Broken Lizard gang became cult icons in the age of George W. Bush and the War on Terror.

And even though their notoriety has dwindled to a certain extent in the ten-odd years since the release of their first and most notorious opus, the theatrical release of Super Troopers 2 has finally become a reality for all those fans who have been eagerly anticipating the return of Vermont state troopers Arcot “Thorny” Ramathorn (Jay Chandrasekhar), Robert “Rabbit” Roto (Erik Stolhanske), MacIntyre “Mac” Womack (Steve Lemme), Jeff Foster (Paul Soter), and Rodney “Rod” Farva (Kevin Heffernan).

But in the time since viewers last saw the Broken Lizard gang on the big screen, the modern state of comedy has so far outpaced the kind of content that the Super Troopers name is so well known for that it becomes hard to embrace their latest motion picture with open arms. Littered with the kind of casual prejudice and willful arrogance that passed in the days of the last conservative era of American civility, Super Troopers 2 feels tame in comparison to the current slate of comedies with which it now finds itself in direct competition.

Alcohol & Other Illicit Substances

From what began as an extracurricular theater troupe at the private liberal arts college of Colgate University in New York circa 1990, Broken Lizard was forged between the bond of five Beta Theta Pi Fraternity brothers. Fueled by alcohol and other illicit activities and substances, the group shortly found itself on the road, bringing its own brand of humor to comedy clubs and other college campuses.

Then came the advent of Broken Lizard as a filmmaking entity. After experimenting with the form by way of the 30-minute short film The Tinfoil Monkey Agenda from 1994, the group went on to produce their first feature Puddle Cruiser from 1996. Shot entirely on the Colgate University campus, the film about young co-ed’s and the realm of higher education laid the ground work for Broken Lizard to make their way into the public consciousness at a national level.

Since its initial theatrical release, Super Troopers has become a staple of the stoner comedy sub-genre and has cemented itself in the minds of those moviegoers who were just young and impressionable enough to be personally affected by its playful absurdity at the dawn of the 21st century. Its fans became legion, and shortly thereafter movies like Club Dread and Beerfest followed to further curry favor for Broken Lizard as a veritable Hollywood enterprise.

Yet Super Troopers 2 may have come several years too late, and woefully missed the crashing wave that was Broken Lizard in its heyday. Divorced from the immediate force of its generational rise to influence, the crowdfunded sequel feels like a cult-film without an audience. Whether its patrons were simply too stoned to make it out to the theater in droves to see the new movie – or more likely yet have simply outgrown such youthful shenanigans and are listlessly waiting for the film to make its way online – Super Troopers 2 doesn’t hit audiences with the kind of fervor that one might expect from such a well known property.

Beerbongs & Billy Clubs

Super Troopers 2 begins with an extended fantasy sequence that feels oddly self-aware of the inevitable shortcomings of the film that is soon to follow. Viewers are greeted by the likes of American Pie star Seann William Scott and fellow 2000s supporting actor Damon Wayans Jr. dressed to the nines as Vermont state troopers who unsuspectingly pull over a tour bus carrying the likes of the original Super Troopers cast. After sharing a few hits off of a token peace blunt, the two interlopers are tricked into exiting the party with a few tawdry promises, and viewers are brought up to date as to where exactly Spurbury’s best have really been hanging out since viewers last saw them.

After losing their positions as local law enforcement officials following a tragic mishap with former child actor Fred Savage, the Super Troopers aren’t quite so super in the 2010s. Forced to work on a construction crew led by the designated idiot Farva (Heffernan), “Rabbit” (Stolhanske) and “Mac” (Lemme) spend most of their waking hours dreaming of their days as the most uncouth state troopers on the East Coast. Luckily for them, their old Captain John O’Hagen (Brian Cox) soon calls with an opportunity to don their badges and mustaches once more.

Tasked with establishing a new police department in a region formerly governed by the Canadian Mounted Police, the Broken Lizard gang make their way to Canada for another wild and bumpy ride. Filled to the brim with the same humor that won them acclaim and recognition in 2001, the long-awaited sequel to Super Troopers plays out much like you’d expect it to.

Lacking in any overt dramatic surprises, Super Troopers 2 makes good on its irreverent name with several broad comic set pieces that are sure to please its most die-hard fans and financial backers, even as it’s exceedingly hard to objectively understand why the Broken Lizard group was so darn popular in the first place.

Super Troopers 2: Conclusion

Super Troopers 2 doesn’t offer much of anything in the way of a surprise for Broken Lizard super fans, and for that reason alone it succeeds on its own merits. By doubling down on some of the same stereotypes and stoner bonhomie that made the first film a cult-hit, the sequel should entertain those who were presumably jonesing for another hit. It’s just too bad that director and star Jay Chandrasekhar and the rest of the Broken Lizard team seem to have maintained a perpetual state of adolescence that was far better suited to their days as twenty-something undergrads.

A lot has changed since 2001, but Super Troopers 2 hasn’t. It’s still as obtusely disinterested in broadening any horizons, and seems bogged down by a mind-set that is painfully regressive and immune to maturity. Maybe a few thirty-something adults will make their way into the theater to see Super Troopers 2 and nostalgia alone will suffice for a good time. For everyone else, you’d be better off looking for a stronger high elsewhere.

Are you a Broken Lizard fan? Did you support the crowd funding campaign to get Super Troopers 2 made? Either way, let us know what you thought of the film below.

Super Troopers 2 saw initial theatrical release in the U.S. on April 20, 2018. Find international release dates here.