To properly enjoy ‘Super Troopers 2’ one should go back and revisit the original. This is something I do every year anyway as it’s one of those comedies that never gets old no matter how many times you’ve seen it. It came out seventeen years ago and has built up a massive cult following since its release. ‘Super Troopers’ is easily a favorite and on my list of movies to insist my friends watch, provided they hadn’t yet indulged. If I find out they’ve committed this blunder, I do everything in my power to correct the oversight and when they agree to see it, they may stay in my good graces. In all honesty, I’ve seen ’Super Troopers’ often enough that I quote it when the proper moment fits and I suspect I’ll be doing the same once part two has been seen a few more times.
When I first watched ‘Super Troopers’ I was alone. I accompanied my husband on a work trip to San Diego and while bored in the hotel room, I decided to walk to a nearby theatre and catch a flick. I had heard of the comedy and decided to watch. I was dying laughing, something not as fun doing when alone. I enjoyed it so much that as soon as hubby got off work that day I strongly suggested he see it that night. So, I saw it for the second time after dinner.
I watched ‘Super Troopers 2’ at a screening quite a bit before release and will have to watch it again this weekend, this time just to enjoy it. Like the first one, it doesn’t disappoint. Broken Lizard, the group of men who created these characters and who write, direct and star in their movies, has once again given us memorable performances as a gaggle of misfit patrolmen. As often happens, the death of a Part 2 can happen when the original cast doesn’t return. Luckily, Broken Lizard stayed together and used their seventeen years away from the roles wisely by writing a script we’ll be able to say equals the first one. When we see them again, we learn that a bad ride-along situation, involving actor Fred Savage, caused the guys who made up the Super Vermont State Troopers to retire from law enforcement.
However, they’re soon brought together again by Captain O’Hagan (Cox) to watch a Canadian/U.S. border town. This town has always been a Canadian town but after maps are redrawn, is now a part of Northern Vermont. These Vermont troopers need to help the United States solve the dispute and get their town back, but you know going in they can’t do anything without including a fair number of shenanigans, especially Farva. All of this takes place, I’m happy to announce, without a lot of rehashing of old jokes.
Officers Thorny (Chandrasekhar, who also directed) and his big brown lips, bullet-proof jockstrap wearing Mac (Lemme), large Farva (Heffernan), ‘biker’ Foster (Soter) and, a rookie no more, Rabbit (Stolhanske), are ready for duty. They meet the town mayor named Guy LeFranc (Lowe) and the beautiful Genevieve Aubois (Emmanuelle Chriqui) who Rabbit can’t keep his paws off. Chandrasekhar performs a good balancing act of giving the audience what they were expecting in these characters, without overwhelming us with stale material or tired wisecracks. No one outshines the other, giving new characters the chance to be appreciated.
While making fun of all things Canadian, not an easy task without realizing there’s a lot wrong with the U.S., the guys meet Canadian versions of themselves, Mounties, who give America a good once-over. Hell, we probably deserve it. One point brought up is why isn’t the United States on the metric system when everyone else is?! While speaking to members of the comedy troupe it was interesting to hear that they learned a lot about themselves when they were in Canada. Canadians gave them a fresh perspective on how little they knew of their own country’s history.
‘Super Troopers 2’ is fantastic and gives us sterling performances by everyone Broken Lizard and those they brilliantly cast. The humor and the storytelling are just as good as what they gave us in the first one because of, as I said, its authenticity. They knew the importance of making a legitimate movie so they came up with a plan and stuck to it. The expectation came from their fan base and they respected that, their fans opinions and respected one another during the writing process. They also felt they had a commitment to their audience to give them what they fell in love with but not cheat them out of something new at the same time. You can believe the troopers storyline because they constructed an honest account of where they’d be a few years after leaving the station. Another reason it works for both old fans and new is that you genuinely care about them and want to see them succeed, even Farva. In all seriousness, the film is fresh. This hilarious comedy is what we need right now more than ever. Thank you, guys!
Broken Lizard is our Monty Python and ‘Super Troopers’ was their ‘Holy Grail.’ One can only imagine what a ‘Holy Grail Part 2’ could have been but with ‘Super Troopers,’ get to the theatre today and wonder no more.
READ MY INTERVIEW WITH THE GUYS HERE.
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