The Broken Lizard ensemble may not be for everyone, but if your cinematic palate is too “refined,” they are probably not on your radar anyway. The team that made a huge impact with 2002’s “Super Troopers” and would go on to things like “Club Dread” and “Beerfest,” their success both together and separately could never quite get the attention that their maiden voyage to the silver screen got (mostly as time has gone on). About three years ago, they went to crowdfunding after they decided to do a sequel to the film about Vermont State Troopers that have more fun with their jobs than perhaps they should and raised the money at a break-neck pace. Thus, “Super Troopers 2”.
Taking place a few years after the first film, Thorny (Jay Chandrasekhar, who also directed and co-wrote the script with the rest of the troupe), Foster (Paul Soter), Mac (Steve Lemme), Rabbit (Erik Stolhanske), and of course Farva (Kevin Heffernan) are invited up to the Canadian wilderness to meet with their old captain, John O’Hagen (Brian Cox). They have not been cops for a bit after a failed incident with a celebrity and working construction, but they get a chance to get their jobs back after O’Hagen tells them about an error in an old treaty that will make a small town in Quebec part of the United States, and they are to work with the local Royal Canadian Mounted Police (Tyler Labine, Will Sasso, and Hayes MacArthur) and their government in Mayor Guy Le Franc (Rob Lowe) and his attaché Genevieve Aubois (Emmanuelle Chriqui) in the transition. In the meantime, they stumble on a case that must be solved before everything goes haywire combined with some less-than-cooperative Canadians.
With a supporting cast that also boasts Seann William Scott, Clifton Collins, Jr., Bruce McCulloch, Lynda Carter, and more, I am flirting with believing that this film is funnier than its predecessor. There are laughs at every turn here, with people from all walks of life consistently laughing out loud throughout the theater during the screening I attended. Granted, this is humor that is VERY adult in nature, but sometimes it’s just good to let your hair down and admit that it’s OK to enjoy guys getting tipped over in Port-A-Potties, getting chased by bears, and stuff that is so much darker I can’t really reference them here. And very few do it better in the modern age than the Broken Lizard guys.
The other great thing is that if you have not seen the first film, that does not work against the enjoyment of this one. The characters are established in a way that new people can understand everything that is going on without fans getting bored with the introductions. This is a separate story with the same characters and everything works really well. Seventeen years may be a long time between putting these two films before the cameras just seemed to make everything even more awesome, so don’t bring the kids, but go meow and go often!