The boys are back for round three as Thorny deals with the horrors of his sister marrying Farva, in the funny-enough, in a nice familiarity of Broken Lizard’s Super Troopers 3.
The original Super Troopers is one of the funniest films of this century. I have great memories of watching the 2001 film three times with different sets of friends theatrically, each time with filled audiences roaring with laughter. Many more viewings came as one of our flicks in the cabin at the summer camp I worked at for several summers. Quotes flew fast and heavy then, and still remain in my and the public consciousness. Since then, the Broken Lizard comedy group has had several not-so-well-received films, although Beer Fest and Club Dread do well enough. Within, was also Super Troopers 2. The 2018 film came and went from theatres as if it was being chased by a Vermont State Trooper trying to throw dildos through its open window. It was fine; it had solid laughs but also failed to recapture the magic of the first. That’s often the trouble with comedy sequels. The best comedy films are worked and captured as they are shifting and changing from idea to execution, flying fast and furious to craft comedy gold. Sequels have a high bar to hit: find those laughs again and regain the magic, but don’t come off like a repeat. Thus the weaker entries of Airplane II, the atrocious Caddyshack II, and I’ll even give the slightly forced Ghostbusters II (although it’s my personal fav..) and yes, the lesser entries Super Troopers 2 and 3.
Super Troopers 2 was fine enough, a welcome return. There, the boys, fired after the first film, find themselves put back in uniform to open a new station in a section of Canada that is now in Vermont. Jokes were based on leaning into Canadian stereotypes and, again, clashing with the other cops. Had a great time with those Mounties. They probably had the biggest laughs with the Danny DeVito bit. Super Troopers 3 picks up with them at the same station a decade later, though they seem to have forgotten the Canada aspect of that, and are seemingly back in the Vermont town they squabbled with in the first, and act like they’ve been living in this area their whole lives? It’s more of an excuse to use Ursula more than last time and clean things up for other jokes. Anyway, enough of Super Troopers 2 meow? Onto the third.
Akin to the second, it’s decidedly fine. Not bad, not at all. I had many long and continued laughs, and was never bored. But not as uproarious of 25 years ago, but littering and happy chuckles, with a few that really land hard. Think of it this way, which is also a way to approach the first sequel: it’s like hanging out with a bunch of old buddies. That’s what Broken Lizard, Jay Chandrasekhar/Thorny, Paul Soter/Foster, Erik Stolhanski/Rabbit, Steve Lemme/Mac, and Kevin Heffernan/Farva feel like at this point: very funny guys hanging out and riffing you’ve known for so long and genuinely enjoy being around. Many of the jokes may be the same from twenty years ago, a little faded and familiar but still funny. There are some new gags tossed in, a few updates to keep it fresh for sure. But it’s all nice and easy, a good hang. Heck, for the third movie in a row, the “Action Plot” side is drug running. Weirdly, they don’t lampshade that, although I felt they were about to at a few points. Solving “the mystery” is incredibly easy; one can even say they aren’t even trying.
Most of the better jokes come from the bigger focus on the personal interactions and ram(rod)ifications of an unexpected marriage: Farva is set to marry Ramathorn’s sister, played by New Girl’s Hannah Simone. Of course, Thorny doesn’t like his sister getting mustache rides from the loudmouth. Most of the set-pieces are based on wedding planning or destruction (as Thorny is trying to stop it, and the others comment and help/hinder along with their own things to deal with). So, they do get new jokes for the guys to play off one another within. (I wonder if they originally had this as a Non-Super-Troopers plot idea, but needed the Vermont troopers for the funding). Especially with the new and returning characters this time around. Simone uses her years of sitcom work to mine everything out of the sitcom-like set-ups (many fall into cliché, but the guys have enough charisma and winky knowledge they are familiar to keep it going). At the station, Brian Cox’s O’Hagan is retired but hanging around. He’s not in the movie enough, but Cox is still clearly enjoying the hell of playing against his more dramatic typecasting (funny, I just saw him terrify as the original Hannibal in Manhunter’s theatrical re-release last week and he’s on my TV right now as I work through Troy’s features). Nat Faxon as the new Chief, who gets great loving ribbing from the guys, and SNL’s Andrew Dismuke shines as the new Rookie. Both gain natural laughs and settle into it all wonderfully, no Poochies here. Finally, I loved seeing Lisa Gilroy, a favorite of Dropout. She brings her chaos gremlin energy to the film, especially at the end. She actually gets the best line in the movie, albeit in the credit bloopers (so awesome to have them).
Super Troopers 3, directed by Jay Chandrasekhar and written by Broken Lizard as a group, is a good enough entry. It gets pretty decent laughs from spending time with a great crew. Broken Lizard’s chemistry and friendship shine through any issues. A little more sitcomy in set-ups, sure, but they make something work across it. Speed back to Vermont for some needed laughs, knowing they might not be as strong as they were in 2001. Meow.