Super Troopers 2 gives you an excellent taste of what to expect right from the word go; it has the usual team back with ridiculous hijinks and a cameo from none other than Seann William Scott) and Damon Wayans Jr themselves. That same gross-out comical humour of electricuting, lactating and manscaping is back. It’s like being thrown right back in time to the early 2000s when the first film found its cult following.
That cult following lead to this sequel through crowdfunding on Indiegogo, and clearly the Broken Lizard crew are keen to re-live the glory days and provide the audience with a reminder of what made the first so great. Jay Chandrasekhar directs and writes, along with the rest of the crew: Kevin Heffernan, Steve Lemme, Paul Soter and Erik Stolhanske, all who star as the troopers themselves. Given the campaign raised over double their original budget, fans were certainly clamouring for more.
The full squad are back, but they’re off the force due to a minor mishap that probably isn’t half as bad as the shenanigans they regularly get up to. That is, until 5 minutes in when their Captain (Brian Cox) calls them away on a fishing trip in disguise. A small town on the US/Canadian border had moved the border decades ago so that it would be a small Canadian town instead of an American one – while the transition back to a US town is made, the gang are meant to keep the peace and quiet. From there, its the obvious foray into a bunch of weird Canadian accents and highway patrol gags along with the requisite drugs, sex and booze.
The returning cast members all seem to be having a blast, and bring a gaggle of recognisable faces along as supporting players. Rob Lowe, Emmanuelle Chriqui, Tyler Labine and even Lynda Carter make appearances, but none are able to make much of an impact. Particularly wasted is Brian Cox, returning from the first as the squad’s Captain, who is far better than the film asks from him. Instead it appears to be content focusing on the annoyance of Farva (Kevin Heffernan), making many of the jokes insufferable and leaving the rest of the cast to groan and look exasperated half the time.
Since the film starts with Stifler himself, it’s hard not to compare this film to that other raunchy comedy series and what it became. Super Troopers 2 has its laughs, but they’re few and far between, the forced throwbacks and repeated craziness rarely land, and rather than adding to the franchise like an American Pie 2, it leaves the entire affair feeling more like one of American Pie’s straight-to-DVD releases. Super Troopers 2 similarly feels ideal for something to just chuck on Netflix when you have some friends over for drinks, but won’t provide the same quotable hilarity of its predecessor.
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