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Super Troopers 2
**
Dir: Jay Chandrasekhar
Starring: Seann William Scott, Clifton Collins Jr.
(USA, 15, 1hr 39mins)
Remember the 2001 comedy Super Troopers? Nope? Not surprising as it wasn’t very good. Yet the Broken Lizard Comedy Troupe, who made that film, have been gifted cult status and so a very belated and totally unwarranted sequel has somehow happened.
Supposedly an 80’s comedy nostalgia fest this, with it’s lame jokes, dated horseplay and sheer, well, tediousness, is less effective than Police Academy 6. The Broken Lizard quintet play the Super Troopers, supposedly top notch American lawmen who are in fact junkie lowlifes who like to make cat sounds. They are dispatched to Canada, when one of its border towns is realigned to become part of Vermont, pitting the asinine Super troopers against some similarly angsty Canadian law enforcers.
There are a lot of moustaches, a lot of lazy cheesy jokes – including ones about sounding silly if you speak French and the shaving of testes – none of which are funny. Former Wonder Woman Lynda Carter cameos as a state governor, Rob Lowe has perky hair as a Canadian mayor, Brian Cox reprises his role as Super Troopers’ commander but the troopers themselves are blandly unengaging, trying to make each other laugh, but not the audience.
Comedy is of course subjective but just saying ‘meow’ isn’t funny. Neither is constantly speaking French badly, unless you are Peter Sellers, who did Inspector Clouseau over 50 years ago. Also, a portaloo falling over with an occupant inside has been done many times before with funnier results. Super Troopers 2 is supposed to be retro charming, but it’s not. Maybe if you are under the influence of narcotic substances, these well-worn hilarity tropes might tickle some sort of fancy, otherwise this is a bit of a sloppy endurance test with five unlikeable central characters. The troopers weren’t super to begin with and this retread unfortunately demotes them further.
words Keiron Self