You’re going to hate it. That’s what I told myself when I first heard Super Troopers 2, after 17 years of former high school bros demanding a sequel, was finally, actually, in full reality, coming to theaters. You’re going to hate it, I told myself when I watched the trailer, didn’t laugh, and was reminded of how overrated the original was. You’re going to hate it, I told myself, when I got invited to the press screening and spent several long minutes debating whether I should a) RSVP; and b) invite my friend, which would further lock me into watching the damn thing, knowing full well he would say yes because he’s the kind of guy who would say yes to seeing Super Fucking Troopers 2.
You’re going to hate it, I told myself, as I sat down in the theater, now secretly salivating at the fact that soon I’ll have watched a terribly unfunny sequel and writing reviews about terribly unfunny sequels are generally more fun than the movie-watching experience.
I didn’t hate it.
Shockingly, amazingly, astoundingly, Super Troopers 2 is actually funny. Will Fox Searchlight put “It’s actually funny” on the movie poster? Probably not, but then again the Broken Lizard crew behind this movie that is much funnier than it has any right to be might find the statement amusing.
But seriously—Super Troopers 2 is pretty fun. It won’t win any awards, obviously, and if you’re not into crude, random guy humor, it’s probably not for you. But director Jay Chandrasekhar and his ragtag team manage to piece together well more than enough zingers, antics, and Emmanuelle “You’ll Always Be Sloan to Me” Chriqui to be worth the price of admission—even had I been forced to pay to watch the damn thing.
As is often the case with crime comedies, the plot is fairly immaterial and the climax the least entertaining part of it all, but the core concept—that the U.S. is annexing a small part of Canada and so the state troopers have moved in to take things over from the Canadian Mounties, who are just as moronic—is a terrific setup for a comedy such as this. The movie throws shade at both sides of the border with maniacal glee.
You’re going to hate it, I told myself—I lied to myself. I only hate that I liked Super Troopers 2 so much.
Review by Erik Samdahl unless otherwise indicated.