Super Troopers 2, 2018.
Directed by Jay Chandrasekhar.
Starring Erik Stolhanske, Jay Chandrasekhar, Steve Lemme, Paul Sotor, Kevin Heffernan, Brian Cox, Marisa Coughlan, Bruce McCulloch, Lynda Carter, Rob Lowe, Hayes MacArthur, Tyler Labine, and Will Sasso.
SYNOPSIS:
When a border dispute arises between the U.S. and Canada, the Super Troopers are tasked with establishing a Highway Patrol station in the disputed area.
During the heady days of the blockbuster, I would browse shelves aimlessly; floating freely with little care, picking up whatever I may have heard was any good (I made a lot of mistakes. But, my lasting memory was of the seemingly never-ending array of straight-to-DVD comedy releases I knew I was never going to watch. For the most part, Broken Lizard released these and with the great fall of Blockbuster, I too thought it was the death knell for the smut comedy purveyors.
So to 2018 and it seems as if they didn’t get the message, releasing Super Troopers 2, a sequel as unasked for as any, 17 years after the original. Exactly why, now, they thought it necessary to make a peculiarly archaic throwback comedy to the early noughties may be a question for another day, but lord knows they should have kept on waiting.
Following the death of child-star, Fred Savage on a ride-along, the Super Troopers have found themselves fired from the police force. When word reaches them that a small town in Canada was originally designated as part of the US, they find themselves back as patrolmen, but this time, in Canada.
It’s a lame plot device that exists almost exclusively to reinforce the sort of lame Canadian stereotypes no one finds remotely offensive, but grate like nails down a chalkboard. There are bears, Rob Lowe doing an impression of Terrence and Phillip, jokes about politeness (what’s the issue?), hockey…It’s the laziest possible attempt at satire, as if they picked up a Lonely Planet guide to Canada and blindly tore pages out.
The humour too is a-boot as subtle a thumb in a car door. Genitals are smacked and waxed, there are lactating men, a bear pushing a portaloo over, drug induced mania and actual Brian Cox doing karaoke. It’s the sort of humour that we all though had died alongside American Pie, Girls Gone Wild and Blockbuster.
Not everything screams despair. Rob Lowe’s mayor also happens to run a strip club that encourages equal ogling and cameos from Seann William Scott and Damon Wayans Jr. forced a giggle. In fact, the Super Troopers themselves are unbearably boorish. Kevin Heffernen’s Farva is obnoxious and grossly misogynist (much like the rest of the film).
The Canadians – Tyler Labine, Will Sasso and Hayes MacArthur – are momentary highlights only because of charisma and accents that force a giggle.
It’s all so redundant and half-arsed. It exists to appease only the fans (fan?) desperate for a follow-up to a film left unreleased cinematically here in the UK. If we are to wait another 17 years for another Super Troopers film, it will be too soon.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ / Movie: ★
Thomas Harris
