The Broken Lizard Boys Strike Again

It’s somehow been 25 years since the first awful Super Troopers movie created by the comedy troupe Broken Lizard, which goes to show you that time flies when you’re having fun. And by fun, I mean not having to see any Super Troopers movies, with the exception of the similarly misbegotten Super Troopers 2 in 2018. The third installment has now arrived, presumably indicating that these films have their fans. But if you’re not one already, Super Troopers 3 is unlikely to bring you into the fold.

Yes, it’s another moronic comedy best appreciated by stoners and others who find dick jokes and ethnic humor hilariously funny. The old gang — consisting of Thorny (Jay Chandrasekhar, who also directed, and I use the term loosely), Farva (Kevin Heffernan), Mac (Steve Lemme), Rabbit (Erik Stolhanske) and Foster (Paul Soter) — are back, older if definitely not wiser, with their trademark mustaches intact.

Other repeat offenders are friendly cop Ursula (Marisa Coughlan) and Captain O’Hagan (Brian Cox), now retired but constantly hanging around headquarters for reasons not revealed until the final moments. You’d think that after his triumphant turn in Succession, Cox would have resisted the urge to revisit his role as the endlessly cantankerous chief, but it must be said that it suits him perfectly. Sitting with the troopers listening to a speech by their new captain Markowski (Nat Faxon), O’Hagan mutters, “It’s fun down here in the peanut gallery.” 

The storyline, summed up in the film’s onscreen subtitle Farva’s Wedding, revolves around the whirlwind romance that develops between Thorny’s sister Sarita (Hannah Simone, an excellent addition) and Farva after the vulgarian trooper rescues her from a burning car. A horrified Thorny does everything he can to sabotage their upcoming traditional Indian-style nuptials, hoping that his very old-fashioned parents (Sakina Jaffrey and Iqbal Theba, largely maintaining their dignity) will find their daughter’s new fiancé as reprehensible as he does. But Farva undercuts his efforts at every turn, putting on an unlikely charm offensive that drives Thorny to distraction, including gifting his future in-laws with a Gandhi DVD.

There are other plotlines, including Foster’s growing jealousy at the flirtation between his ex-girlfriend Ursula and a rookie trooper (Andrew Dismukes), and an illicit drug scheme involving maple syrup concocted by former weed dealers turned wedding planners the Buchanan brothers (Chase Crawford and Jon Rudnitsky). But it’s all a flimsy framework for a series of not-so-funny gags revolving around such things as the term “Dutch Oven” (I had to look that one up, having led a sheltered life) and Thorny’s mother sucking snake venom out of Farva’s neck, which results in visible erections for every male in the room. At another point, Farva force-feeds Thorny’s father some beef, prompting the Hindu vegetarian to declare, “Holy cow, that’s delicious!”

Other bits involve Farva stuffing himself with lobster even though he’s allergic to shellfish, resulting in an EpiPen-fueled battle, and a running joke about Markowski’s desperate attempts to prove his open-mindedness while repeatedly coming across as racist. 

Since the film written by the Broken Lizard troupe members features a non-stop series of gags, some of them inevitably land despite the clumsy execution. But by the time it reaches its climax with a wedding shootout, one of the troopers encased in syrup, and another sticking his hand up an elephant’s rear end, you’ll be exhausted from not laughing.

It’s worth sticking it out to the end, however, thanks to a cameo from one of the stars of the previous films and some legitimately funny outtakes, proving that Cox is just as amusing out of character as in.