By Vincent Volcano
There are punishments in the lower circles involving endless paperwork, lukewarm coffee, and being forced to watch comedy sequels remember jokes harder than they invent them. Into that sulfurous tradition cruises ‘Super Troopers 3,’ a film that arrives with the confidence of a patrol car doing 15 mph in the fast lane, siren blaring, engine coughing, and everyone inside insisting this is still hilarious.
Broken Lizard returns to Vermont, where the roads are rural, the cops are immature, and the screenplay appears to have been assembled from sticky notes labeled “callback,” “Farva yells,” and “say the thing again, but older.” Jay Chandrasekhar directs with the relaxed energy of a man who knows the audience came for familiar mustaches, not mise-en-scène. To be fair, the low-budget aesthetic has always been part of the troupe’s charm. Unfortunately, charm ages like milk when the comedy is this dependent on nostalgia doing CPR on a punchline.
The plot, such as it is, involves Farva getting engaged to Thorny’s sister, Surita, while a mysterious new drug slithers into the jurisdiction. In theory, this gives the film a dual narrative engine: romantic chaos and crime-mystery hijinks. In practice, it’s a coat rack wearing a police hat. The drug plot mostly exists to push the boys from one sketch to another, while the engagement storyline gives Kevin Heffernan plenty of room to go full Farva, which is either a selling point or a medical warning depending on your tolerance for volume-based comedy.
Now, I am not immune to the appeal of these characters. The original ‘Super Troopers’ had the scruffy electricity of a cult comedy made by people trying to sneak into immortality through the back door. It had timing, looseness, and the blessed stupidity of youth. This third outing has the posture of a reunion tour at a casino just outside the city limits. The hits are played. The crowd cheers out of loyalty. Nobody asks too many questions about the new material.
Chandrasekhar, Paul Soter, Steve Lemme, Erik Stolhanske, and Heffernan remain likable performers. That is the film’s emergency flotation device. Their chemistry still sputters to life in places, like an old furnace remembering it once had purpose. But the jokes are frequently telegraphed from three exits away, and the rhythm often feels less like comic escalation than a group of men waiting politely for the audience to recognize a reference.
Nat Faxon brings some welcome oxygen as the new captain, while Brian Cox returns as O’Hagan, grumbling with the majestic irritation of a Shakespearean king trapped in a DMV training video. Hannah Simone does what she can as Surita, though the script treats her less like a character and more like a narrative accelerant poured onto Farva’s already-burning nonsense. Andrew Dismukes appears too, which is nice, though the film seems unsure whether to use him as fresh blood or decorative garnish.
Visually, there is not much to report unless you are deeply invested in the cinematography of men standing near vehicles. The coverage is functional, the pacing uneven, and the editing occasionally has the haunted air of someone trying to locate the laugh in post-production. I once staged a battle scene with 300 damned cavalrymen, twelve flaming towers, and a practical lava rig operated by goblins with union grievances. Here, we get another gag about professional incompetence shot like a training video that failed its physical.
Still, I will offer begrudging praise, because even my blackened director’s heart contains a few embers. ‘Super Troopers 3’ is not cynical in the worst modern sense. It is not a corporate content brick painted to resemble comedy. The troupe genuinely seems to enjoy being together, and that warmth seeps through the cracks. For fans, there will be enough familiar absurdity to justify the ticket, especially if expectations are lowered into a ceremonial pit.
But let us not pretend this is a triumphant return. It is a passable, occasionally amusing, mostly reheated plate of highway patrol leftovers. The mustache rides again, yes, but at this point it needs new tires, a better suspension, and perhaps the dignity of retirement.
Rating: 60 out of 100. A mild burn, not a blaze.
Flames Fade, but Classics Burn Forever!
Ah, Vincent Volcano, once again erupting with all the molten fury of a microwave burrito. Still, credit where it’s due: calling *Super Troopers 3* “nostalgia doing CPR on a punchline” is annoyingly accurate — I’m stealing that and blaming a raccoon.
Sounds like the mustache didn’t just ride, it carpooled straight into a midlife crisis with Farva yelling shotgun. Broken Lizard apparently delivered comedy leftovers, reheated just enough to burn the roof of your mouth but not enough to be dinner.
And yet… there’s a tiny wisdom nugget under Vincent’s lava toupee: not every sequel needs to be a masterpiece. Sometimes it just needs old friends, dumb jokes, and Brian Cox grumbling like Zeus got stuck at traffic court.
60/100 feels right. A ticket, not a citation.