Paul Farren takes to the roads in his review of Super Troopers 3.
Twenty-five years after the original, comedy group Broken Lizard are back. Following in the footsteps of such classics as Animal House, Porky’s, and more, Super Troopers 3 delivers crass comedy at a fine rate for audiences with the disposition to enjoy immature, puerile shenanigans. Director Jay Chandrasekhar has teamed back up with co-stars and co-writers Kevin Heffernan, Steve Lemme, Paul Soter and Erik Stolhanske to deliver a perfect storm of spectator meets spectacle.
Having only caught the first in the trilogy, I missed the crowd-funded sequel, Super Troopers 2, which was released seventeen years after the original. Still, this narrative gap doesn’t matter much. The moustachioed Vermont state troopers are back in exactly the same place as they were in the early 2000s, only now they are older and no wiser, repeating the same dumb decisions that made the earlier films both crowd-pleasing and critically lambasted. Brian Cox returns as Captain O'Hagan, alongside newcomers including Simone (New Girl), Chace Crawford (The Deep in The Boys), Nat Faxon (Loot), and SNL's Andrew Dismukes.
Still so obnoxious he makes the rest look positively sophisticated, Farva (Heffernan) is gearing up to marry fellow officer Sarita (Hannah Simone), who also happens to be the sister of Thorny (Chandrasekhar). Even though Farva rescued her from a burning vehicle, suffice to say, Thorny is not enjoying this one bit. Around that, the loosely woven plot threads revolve around the vandalism of syrup trucks, the introduction of a Canadian electric police car to the department – essentially a Canadian Knight Rider cop car – and a general sense that the rules exist purely so the troopers can ignore them. Narrative be damned... the real joy is simply hanging out with these likeable idiots, with an unwanted-erection scene that may well be the funniest in recent film history.
This brilliant vulgar nonsense had me laughing my ass off – the kind of laughter you don’t get when you’re trying to “evaluate” a comedy. There’s something oddly empowering about seeing these guys doing the same dumb things they were doing a quarter of a century ago; immaturity rarely looks as much fun as it does in middle age. The original was made for less than $3 million and eventually grossed around $23 million, becoming a cult hit largely after its theatrical release. While this film concludes (a supposed) trilogy, Broken Lizard has promised a quadrilogy – so if audiences go to see this in droves, there’s potential for number 4.
It's no Citizen Kane – but for a journey this highway, Super Troopers 3 is worth a ticket: highly recommended for anyone looking for a dumb, funny night out.
In cinemas 7th August 2026.
