The time is MEOW for the #SuperTroopers2 Red Band Trailer.
— Super Troopers 2 (@SuperTroopers) January 19, 2018
Only In Theaters 4.20.18 pic.twitter.com/bWwnluGxtP
As we've seen with Kevin Smith, a love for Canada doesn't translate to a decent portrayal onscreen of Canada on film. The Broken Lizard troupe, known for Super Troopers (2001), took on Canada in Super Troopers 2. They brought the jokes and let Canadians respond in kind.
The policemen in the original film were Vermont state troopers who kept getting demoted. Years later, they are doing construction when given the opportunity to put on the uniform. The premise is that part of Quebec belongs to Vermont and the troopers will run the transition.
There are a lot of jokes about the metric system taken to the extreme. After all, Canada doesn't measure people in centimetres. One of their duties is changing highway signs from kilometres to miles. One of the Canadian Mounties says you just need to multiply by 2, add 32, and join the rest of the human race.
The film is full of pranks, true to Broken Lizard style. When they prank the Canadian Mounties, they call them during Hockey Night in Canada. "Who calls people during Hockey Night in Canada?" The teams playing on the ice are the Halifax Bear-Eaters vs. the Banff Beavers.
The mayor Guy LeFranc (Rob Lowe) explains the origin of his nickname Halifax Explosion after the actual Halifax Explosion. Lowe told Jimmy Kimmel on Jimmy Kimmel Live that he wanted to talk about the actual Halifax Explosion. As has been noted in various stories, some of what LeFranc says is true, other parts aren't. No one ever accused the Super Troopers of being completely historically accurate.
At one point, the Ontario Provincial Police gets mentioned. This leads to the obvious joke that they are down with OPP.
All the troopers Thorny (star and director Jay Chandrasekhar) sample illegal drugs from a seizure. Thorny ends up on a female libido enhancement drug called Flova Scotia.
Even though they are converting this part of Canada to the United States, the exit signs in the station house all say "Sortie."
Will Sasso, Tyler Labine, and Hayes MacArthur play the Canadian Mounties. Sasso and Labine are Canadian. We even get a cry of "tabarnak" from one of the mounties. Canadian actress Emmanuelle Chriqui plays French/Canadian cultural attaché Genevieve Aubois. Bruce McCullouch has a cameo as the border guard when the troopers first enter Canada.
The Mounties point out that Canada gained its independence in 1982. The American troopers are surprised they can say queefing on Canadian television. You can say and see a lot more on Canadian TV.
Super Troopers 2 has the spirit of a passionate exchange between the two countries. The response from Quebecers is relatively light compared to how they would really react if the United States threatened to take their land.
CanadianCrossing.com film reviews
CanadianCrossing.com film coverage
The Canadian jokes, for and against, were mostly well-thought and constructed. Some of them were cheap and a little weird. Given what most American films say about Canada, Super Troopers 2 rank as one of the most authentic American films about Canada. Not where Scott Pilgrim Saved the World rests but above Yoga Hosers, which to be fair to Kevin Smith was way better than Tusk.
Fans of the first Super Troopers film will remember a syrup (probably not real maple) chugging contest. That would have fit in well in Super Troopers 2.
Videos credit: @SuperTroopers; YouTube/q on CBC
Photos credit: Super Troopers 2
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