Part of me wants to stand up and applaud the Broken Lizard guys; unhindered by bad reviews, taste, plot, flow, or talent, these guys have constructed a giant man cave in career form. It would be hard to imagine a Hollywood quintet less burdened by casting agents – have you seen any of these guys in non-Broken Lizard projects? – and yet their exclusion from the comic elite has not stopped them from making more films. This is kinda what it would look like if you and the four funniest immature people you know decided to say, “Screw it! Let’s make movies.” Are they better than you and your friends making a career out of bad comic cinema? Yes. Are they a lot better? No.
Every once in a while, a film comes along to poke fun at the friendly rivalry between the United States and Canada. This is that film. I’ve yet to see the hilarious version of that particular film, perhaps I just don’t find metric conversion, French accents, and mispronunciations of “sorry” to be comic gold. And, of course, this is the Broken Lizard edition, in which a night-vision thermal detector can be introduced in Act I and by Act III, my prediction that the tool will be used exclusively to capture heat-vision farting will come to pass. *sigh* Would I have found it funnier if I didn’t see this joke parading down the QEW in hockey skates? I don’t know, eh.
In the award for “Most Fabricated Non-Sci-Fi Plot of the Year,” Vermont has annexed a divot into Canada which both governments apparently agree is technically US territory. Making matters worse, the Canadian Royal Mounties are to be replaced by Vermont’s finest. And when we say “Vermont’s Finest,” we are actually talking about the Broken Lizard guys. Even the movie gives us a “WTF?” at this announcement; those guys were all stripped of uniform years ago after contributing to the death of Fred Savage.
So five guys you wouldn’t trust to buy lottery tickets get put in charge of law enforcement for a hostile, but very polite, crowd. Meanwhile, the Mounties are just as unhappy with being shipped out and want to be sure that five guys who enjoy jokes about scrotum shaving appreciate their feelings. And there’s an illegal meds ring going on. The latter yielded my favorite set of jokes in the film especially the Canadian version of women’s Viagra entitled “Flova Scotia.” This particular pill attracts and addicts trooper Thorny (writer/director Jay Chandrasekhar).
If you like jokes about losing a toe, kids on speed, or being attacked by the employees of a bisexual brothel, Super Troopers 2 is the 
movie for you. Personally, while acknowledging I did laugh several times, I found myself much more embarrassed than not that I’d chosen to enter the theater. The laughs are especially weak in the first half of the film. Even when the Broken Lizard guys are on their game, their hit-to-miss ratio barely squeaks above 1:2. For the first 45 minutes of film, that ratio was more like 1:10. I happily conclude I wasn’t the target audience, and this film might indeed work for another group.
Despite writing screenplays aimed at boys who make “Wet Willie” and “Hertz donut” jokes, the Broken Lizard films have a weird way of lingering positively if far enough removed. For instance, I have fond memories of Club Dread, Beerfest, and the original Super Troopers; I say this knowing I’d find each mildly intolerable or at least cringe-worthy if ever forced to view a second time. I’m not sure if I’ll ever get there for Super Troopers 2, but I’m willing to believe a year from now that it wasn’t as bad as I’d imagined it; my rating has been adjusted accordingly.
There’s a movie in theaters now
With a force most art won’t allow
An elegance in motion
Sparks Oscar devotion
Or a bunch of cops who say, “Meow.”
Rated R, 99 Minutes
Director: Jay Chandrasekhar
Writer: Jay Chandrasekhar & Kevin Heffernan & Steve Lemme & Paul Soter & Erik Stolhanske
Genre: The state of arrested screenplay development
Type of being most likely to enjoy this film: The bullies from The Simpsons
Type of being least likely to enjoy this film: People who take the Canada-US rivalry seriously
