Super Troopers 3

When comedy troupe Broken Lizard released the first film in the Super Troopers franchise, audiences were pleasantly surprised by its delightful silliness. The second film, 17 years later, was a barrel of laughs and starred a surprisingly strong cast. Super Troopers 3 is none of these.

Back for a third time, the troopers are called into action when a new drug ring arises in Spurbury, Vermont. But their attention on the case is distracted by the shocking news that Farva (Kevin Heffernan) is getting married to Thorny’s (Jay Chandrasekhar) sister Sarita (Hannah Simone). What ensues is a tirade of wedding-related events as Thorny does everything he can to stop the union from taking place.

From the get-go, it is clear that Broken Lizard are not going out there to win over new audiences with this third instalment in the franchise, rather simply appeasing their current fans. With a paper-thin plot that primarily centres itself around this upcoming wedding, there is very little to really sink one’s teeth into, and it is hard to accept that what is being watched for the next 105 minutes is a series of slapstick sketches and references to old puns. Most of the jokes are painfully unfunny, predictable and generally quite lame. To put it bluntly, the frat-house humour that made movies such as American Pie and Road Trip such hits with audiences in the 2000s just doesn’t cut it anymore.

Each member of the gang, including Mac (Steve Lemme), Rabbit (Erik Stolhanske) and Foster (Paul Soter), does what they need to do when it comes to bringing back the feeling of the older movie, but everything from the acting to the writing feels more Saturday Night Live than ever before, and not in a good way. They seem to know this too, hamming up each character as much as possible. Brian Cox also makes a very welcome return as Captain O’Hagan, bursting with frustration at everything around him to the extent that his head might explode, but he is certainly the shining light in the picture. It is surprising to see him still indulge in such a role after his recent triumphs on the stage and in HBO’s Succession, but nonetheless he seems to have a whale of a time. Who can begrudge him?

Look, there is no other way of putting it: Super Troopers worked the first time around, but it is abundantly clear that this truck has run out of gas. Mac jokes in the movie that he wants a minus one to Farva’s wedding; one might want a minus one on this trip to the movies.

Guy Lambert

Super Troopers 3 is released nationwide on 7^th August 2026.

Watch the trailer for Super Troopers 3 here: