Our Paul Gratton takes a look at the Broken Lizard team gearing up again for another round of silliness in Super Troopers 3. Yours truly also has a brief reaction as well below.
About: When Farva’s over-the-top Indian engagement to Thorny’s sister spirals into chaos, the Super Troopers must navigate Thorny’s schemes to break up the relationship, all while trying to bring down a pernicious new drug ring.
Paul’s Reaction: This is probably the funniest of the three Super Troopers movies made so far, but that’s not saying much, unless you think a group is moustached Vermont state troupers making non-stop dick jokes is your idea of great fun at the movies. The five members of the comedy troupe Broken Lizard have been real life pals since they were eighteen, so they have an easy-going sense of comic timing that make the non-stop sophomoric humour almost palatable. The plot, which serves as the hook for one crude set-up after another has Thorny’s (director Jay Chandrasekhar) Indian sister falling passionately in love with the unapologetically vulgar Farva (Kevin Heffernan). This leads Thorny to plot all kinds of situations that are designed to expose his fellow cop for the pig that he really is, and save his sister from a disastrous union. This leads to lots of racist jokes aimed at Indians, and some amiable playing with Bollywood musical and wedding tropes. The hostile jokes aimed at Canadians will provide most of the laughs north of the border, as a new squad car is an imported EV from Canada, whose voice can vary from Québecois to hoser. A subplot involving drug smuggling involves a new opiate called Canadian Crystal, which involves stealing fake maple syrup made in the States from corn syrup. If you are a previous fan of the Broken Lizard style of humour, then by all means, enjoy. If you are not, consider yourself warned.
Rating: 4 out of 10
Jason’s Reaction: With the recent box office numbers, it was clear that no one was asking for a new Super Troopers movie, and after seeing it in an empty auditorium over the weekend with one failed joke after another, I am surprised this one had a theatrical release at all and should have went straight to Searchlight’s streamer Hulu (or Disney+ in Canada). Though part of me loved seeing the boys on the big screen and they tried really hard, the more baffling thing to me is that there is hardly any footage here of the troopers messing with civilians, which was the total charm of the first movie (I must admit I remember SEEING the second one years ago, but I remember NOTHING about it) even if that first the movie didn’t work. It was strangely satisfying to see that first high-way pull over for example. Here, the wedding process and the friendly rivalry between Thorny and Farva just made me want to walk out; it painfully drags and there’s an extended sequence about a computerized car trying to jump over a ravine that wore out its welcome very quickly. (Also odd is that at the end there’s a joke about ANOTHER movie happening that I doubt will ever see a camera running.) I know some die-hard fans might want to check this out but based on the actual numbers, I guess they either didn’t know about it or did not want to pay full ticket price for such a downer of a comedy.
Rating: 3 out of 10
