Super Troopers 2 Plot Summary:
When a patch of land transitions from the Canadian government into the United States, the Vermont State Troopers are reinstated. Amidst new hijinks, the troopers become engulfed another smuggling scandal where the Mounties they are replacing could very well be the culprits.
I could end this review with one line: If you love the first Super Troopers, go see the movie. The end. Fine. I’ll dig deeper.
Comedy sequels rarely work, in particular this new trend of taking cult hits and revisiting them fifteen years later. Bad Santa 2. Garbage. Zoolander 2. Garbage. Super Troopers is a dead on comparison to those other films. It didn’t light up the box office first time around, but it became your prototypical cult classic. We all love Super Troopers. I’ll get the obvious out of the way first: No. It’s nowhere near the original. Having said that, I’m glad they made it. While not as good, it’s everything you love about that first movie. It’s non-stop shenanigans.
The first scene had me shaking in my boots. It’s an awful opening sequence. It’s uncomfortably unfunny. It tries to ride off two mediocre cameos, and that’s it. As I was watching this play out, all I could think about was Bad Santa 2. No. Please. Don’t ruin the first movie for me. But just as I was freaking out, Rodney Farva (Kevin Heffernan) pops up in the very next scene, and everything was fine. From that point on, it’s Super Troopers.
The plot could not cater to these characters better. A parcel of land that once belonged to Canada now becomes the United States. This brings back all our beloved characters, including Captain O’Hagan, played by Brian Cox, who’s just a joy to watch as he has to deal with all these clowns. The plot also brings us an onslaught of Canadian jokes. It’s essentially the entire film. It’s like if you took South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut, but the director said “Put more Canadian gags in it.” For some, this will get tiresome. It’s relentless. This would normally be a problem for me as well, but the cast embraces the material so much, I kept chuckling along. It works.
The cast is what ultimately sells this movie, as did the first one. Aside from Farva, the other four cops are essentially the same character. It’s a wise-cracking group of friends who bust each other’s balls. Some of the troopers get better material than others. Thorny, played Jay Chandrasekhar, has a funny recurring bit involving unmarked pills that I won’t spoil. Rabbit (Erik Stolhanske) is still the poorly treated rookie, even worse this time around. He’s clearly the Charlie Brown of the gang.
Aside from all the Canada jokes, this plot gives Farva the opportunity to act like your typical obnoxious American. It’s a lay-up. Once again, he’s the best part of the damn movie. It’s impossible not to chuckle whenever he does anything. They never over use him. You get just enough Farva, but not to the point where he tires you out.
They introduce some good newbies to the mix as well. Rob Lowe as a retired minor league Hockey Player turned Canadian mayor named Guy LeFranc? Sold. Emmanuelle Chriqui from Entourage fame is also very likable and funny as a love interest to Rabbit. The rival Mounties played by Hayes MacArthur, Will Sasso and Tyler Labine are also hysterical and have great banter. They have one argument about a certain actor that cracked me up.
Speaking of banter, it’s what sells the film. The cast clearly had a lot of fun coming back. The real weakness compared to the original though are the pranks and antics are nowhere near as clever. They sort of try and duplicate the “meow” thing, but it’s not that great. No scene is in the ball park of being as brilliant as that first sequence from the original.
Is this sequel perfect? No. Do they recreate all the magic? No. You always want to walk out of a sequel saying “I’m glad they made that.” That’s how I felt. Did we need it? Hell no, but I was happy to return. It wears a bit thin, and the end devolves into total madness. If you’re fan, you’ll walk out with a smile.
Also, don’t leave during the credits. Much like the first one, they constantly tease this incident that you finally see play out. It’s worth the wait.
Rating: 7 out of 10 (Good)
