Jay Chandrasekhar’s “Super Troopers 2”

One can argue that a film sequel (for the most part) can be considered as not much more than an artless cash-grab, running off the steam produced from its far better, (and due to its state of being, far more original) primary source material. Time and time again however, there are exceptions to the case out there – where quality sequels were created not to shamelessly profit from their originals, but to provide a level of depth and understanding to a uniquely crafted premise and maybe build on the world of that story in a productive and admirable way. For a sequel should only be made if there is another quality story worth telling. Blade Runner 2049 (2017), The Dark Knight (2008), Aliens (1986), Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991), even Toy Story 2 (1999) for example, were all great sequels that added to well fleshed-out and underlying stories. Clearly, there are examples out there of sequels getting it right, even in this day and age. However, there are far more instances of sequels getting it flat-out wrong, in a very apparent and brazen way. In the case of the sequel to the 2001 comedy Super Troopers, directed again by writer and star Jay Chandrasekhar, Super Troopers 2 (2018) is one of those instances – where it is every bit as wrong as you imagined, and then some.

Could it be time and the seventeen year gap that built up the original, while also causing the new release to flounder in such a way? While the 2015 crowdfunding campaign raising $4.4 million for Super Troopers 2 is nothing to scoff about (being one of the most successful movie crowdfunding campaigns ever, second to that of the 2014 film Veronica Mars), you would think the comedy troupe over there at Broken Lizard would have felt seriously dedicated to making a quality sequel, particularly due to the fact that the original Super Troopers (2001) had a mere budget of less than $3 million. In fact what was delivered as Super Troopers 2 is such an egregious product that if I was one of those super fanboys that helped finance this movie as a crowdfunding benefactor, I would be demanding my money back. Right. About. Meow.

TABLE SETTING/FIRST-ACT
Super Troopers 2 begins erroneously from the start, in which an unexplained cyclone of nonsense shuffles the viewer into the perspective of two unnecessary and unexpected police officers (Sean William Scott and Damon Wayans Jr. as themselves) who are found shamelessly fanning out over the Broken Lizard gang in quite an unbelievably vein and self-referential show of conceit. This meandering scene of self-gratification happens to transition into a high speed chase involving a tour bus full of the cast that now make up the sequel (minus the equally-odd inclusion of Clifton Collins Jr. as the bus driver). This poorly devised introduction to the film seemingly encompasses the mentality and direction of Super Troopers 2 in an almost undeniable way – scenes haphazardly thrown together with little to no meaning, explanation, or rationality, for no other reasonableunderstanding other than “we think this might be funny for the audience.”Finally once this stilted introduction reachesits eye-rolling climax, we discover that it is nothing more than a dream sequence imagined by Erik Stolhanske’s character (reprising the role of Rabbit), in which upon the awakening, we find our not so familiar state troopers to be no longer troopers at all (and no longer all that super to boot).

After losing their jobs as a result to a failed ride-along with the less-than-relevant actor Fred Savage (more-or-less known for the show The Wonder Years from the late-’80s /early-’90s), our clowny troupe of former officers now act as construction workers in North Vermont near the Canadian border, working under their supervisor and constant ball-buster Farva (played by Kevin Heffernan). Due to a ridiculously contrived redemption premise in the guise of a recent land survey, the Broken Lizard boys find themselves with another shot at “keeping the peace” as temporary state troopers in Canadian land, recently discovered to be part of Vermont and in turn, United States territory. As the boys attempt to settle back into the glory days as state troopers, they must learn to integrate Canadian land into Vermont territory, through such duties as settling into the community, getting to know their culturally different (and newly-American) citizens, and attempt (but not really) establish civility with the previous authority figures of the territory – the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

At a reception “welcoming” the new troopers and the newly staked-Vermont, the boys meet the town mayor, (Guy Le Franc), played by Rob Lowe. This may be a new level of degeneracy for the renowned Parks & Recreation star (yes, I’m even taking into consideration his sex tape), who simply phones in his entire role in Super Troopers 2, with one of the most piss-poor accents ever attempted on screen. To make matters more confusing, Rob Lowe is playing someone other than himself, which completely clashes with the former mechanics revolving around the dream sequence (in which actors play themselves), as well as in part to the much referred to “Fred Savage situation,” (that very much misses it’s mark once “revealed” at the end of the film). The Royal Canadian Mounted Police that are heavily featured in Super Troopers 2 (and whom are all played by American actors), attempt to provide equally appalling efforts at Canadian accents and culture, that lean more towards hack and amateur acting rather than satire. Through a highly miscalculated comedic strategy, the entire plot and premise of Super Troopers 2 revolves around making fun of Canadian culture, which loses it’s grasp on humor in roughly five minutes, becoming a running “gag” that is delivered with a teeth-wrenching level of elegance. Ultimately (to return to the thinly-veiled plot) a “conspiracy” arises involving drug and weapon drops cropping up throughout the newly-surveyed American territory, and it’s up to the new troopers to get to the bottom of the criminal enterprise and to discover who is behind it

DIRECTION, DISSECTION & VERDICT
After watching the first twenty minutes of Super Troopers 2, it doesn’t take a genius to realize who is the criminal mastermind behind this elementary drug-smuggling ring, and there is no pay-off once the “reveal” is delivered. In fact, I lost hope and faith for this film far before the third act; the introduction proved to me that it would not be able to deliver the goods anywhere within shouting range of the first film. Super Troopers (2001) revolved around making fun of police officers in a bit of a tongue-and-cheek (however respectable) way; unfortunately, Super Troopers 2 loses direction from its dream and drug-addled beginnings. Even though I will admit the original is far from a masterpiece and is quite silly, it is still a respectable cult classic comedy that managed to hold its own in 2001, releasing around rivaling comedies that all still hold up to this day (Joe Dirt and Zoolander, to name a few, that ironically also suffer from dumpster-caliber sequels). As a result to its success, Super Troopers (2001) was a film with tons of charm and loads of comically-driven moments. Super Trooper 2(2018) lacks all of the charm from the original and manages to disappoint throughout its entirety with over-the-top attempts at humor, poorly-crafted storytelling, and depth as shallow as a kiddie pool. This goes to show that the comedy troupe Broken Lizard is sadly and sympathetically out of touch with what is funny, and is officiallyout of their wheelhouse in regard to the audience it is attempting to pander to.

While I will give marginal credit to the fact that it is considered an indie film, Super Troopers 2 has a soundtrack that is far less than stellar, but manages to lose even more credit due to how poorly this film is shot; after watching this film in theaters, every scene seemed out of frame, never failing at cropping character’s heads out in just about every scene. This movie just couldn’t get anything right – from it’s over-played Flova Scotia bit to it’s rookie-hazing of Rabbit, the guys at Broken Lizard seem to believe that a joke is only funny if it’s hammered down the audience’s throats over, and over, and over again. Even with a return cameo from Jim Gaffigan is an epic fumble; with a failed attempt at readdressing the spotlight moment from the original, the scene is horribly executed a second time around, providing nothing to honor or to add to the original classic scene that may have been one of its best on-screen moments back in 2001.

What is it then? Did time build up Super Troopers (2001) to an unreachable standard? Are the boys at Broken Lizard out of touch? Am I placing the original on such a high pedestal that just can’t be reached? Yes, yes, and probably yes. I don’t hate Jay Chandrasekhar for this utter flop of a movie; his other works with Broken Lizard (including Club Dread and Beerfest) are classics themselves. You can’t even put the hate on him for The Slammin’ Salmon (2009) either, a misfire that was actually directed by Kevin Heffernan. What’s ultimately the saddest and most disappointing aspect of Super Troopers 2 is that it simply tarnishes and degrades their previous works. Broken Lizard—a small indie troupe that has shown to work hard with minimal budget, that typically provides quality work, has now shown to pivot on quality. After seeing this film, I’m afraid they have given up creatively, and it discourages me to have any desire to see any future works they intend to churn up in the aftermath of this calamity of a film. Evidently, I expected too much from Super Troopers 2. However the hype revolving around this movie, and the seventeen-year time-gap between these two films, caused an anticipation factor that could not be abated. To preserve the quality and originality of its original, it may be a good idea to pretend that Super Troopers 2 just didn’t happen and doesn’t exist. Unfortunately, the curse of the sequel struck again—and this time, it hurt.

Super Troopers 2 (2018) is currently in theaters.