Courtesy of Fox Searchlight

"Super Troopers" was a clever comedy that took the world by force upon its release circa 2002. However, looking at box office totals, you might not see where a sequel would be justified (the film grossed $18 million against a $1.4 million budget - not bad, but not great either.) And so the comedy troupe of Broken Lizard whose hits you may know ("Beerfest" and "Club Dread") - set out to crowdfund in order to greenlight a sequel and some two years later the troupe has delivered on that promise.

When first viewing "Super Troopers," I must say, the effects took a while to grow on me. I remember the first time seeing it and thinking 'why does everyone think this movie is so outrageous' - alas, I grew to appreciate its value and how it became a cult hit and that I could quote "liter of cola" and almost everyone knew what I meant.

"Super Troopers 2" is all fan service, and by that I mean: if you liked and have seen the first one, at a minimum, four times than its sequel should hit the sweet spot. Everyone else, it'll probably look like a crude raunch fest (and it is) without any morals or hardly any purpose. Agreed, this film hardly does have a purpose. Its plot, which centers around the gang - Thorny (Jay Chandrasekhar), Farva (Kevin Heffernan), Mac (Steve Lemme), Foster (Paul Soter), and Rabbit (Erik Stolhanske)  - being thrust back into the trooper life as a border dispute arises between the U.S. and Canada, and the mustache brigade is stationed in the disputed area, is really not that important.

I hardly think anyone purchasing a ticket for "Super Troopers 2" will be in attendance for the plot; no, we're here, for the shenanigans. Which ST2 has plenty of, though not all of this sticks in comparison to its predecessor. The film does feature some lousy jabs at Canadian culture (including a game Rob Lowe playing the town mayor that spouts every line in the book from "so-ory" to "great Tim Horton's ghost,") and numbing side gags - (Thorny taking estrogen pills is an exception) - which aren't as funny. It is funny that Canada operates on the metric system, so Farva is very happy to find out they do have liters of cola at the local restaurants. 

Another fun sequence involves the gang taking drugs to figure out what exactly they are. The one Farva takes results in the only instance that I laughed out loud, almost hysterically, and was embarrassed for those sitting around me. Other than that, it's all routine. Which is, of course, to be expected. Brian Cox also steals some jokes as there now "senior citizen" chief and there’s a decent opening scene that features some fun cameos.

Goodwill can only stretch so far, and I find myself recommending the picture on that basis alone. I enjoyed seeing these guys on screen again, getting themselves into trouble and partaking in good-spirited jokes; they all have incredible chemistry. That being said, I can't recommend it for folks that didn't like the first one. Meow, you should know exactly where you fall in this category.

Grade B-

Rated R for crude sexual content and language throughout, drug material and some graphic nudity.

Runtime: 1 hr. And 40 minutes.