Jay Chandrasekhar and the Broken Lizard crew return for a third installment featuring Farva's wedding, a maple syrup mystery, and a new Blu-ray release.
Back in 1989, while a student at Colgate University, Jay Chandrasekhar (Quasi, Club Dread) started a comedy troupe called Charred Goosebeak along with Kevin Heffernan, Steve Lemme, Paul Soter, and Erik Stolhanske (Club Dread). Upon graduation, the team continued to work together using the name Broken Lizard. They regularly played in clubs in New York City and had an interest in writing and starring in a feature film. Their first effort, Puddle Cruiser, played at the Sundance Film Festival, giving them some funding and ample ideas for their sophomore effort, Super Troopers. Twenty-five years after the first movie, Super Troopers 3 premiered in theaters this past August and will be available for home entertainment purposes this week.
As the third movie in the trilogy begins, the group is at Farva's (Heffernan) wedding to Thorny's (Chandrasekhar) sister, Sarita (Hannah Simone; New Girl). They met when Sarita was driven off the road, and Farva was there to save her. Of course, Thorny adamantly opposes their union and does anything in his power to stop the nuptials. Meanwhile, back at the office, the team is investigating a whole group of truck vandalism incidents pertaining to a maple syrup company.
As with the previous installments in this franchise, the script was written by the members of Broken Lizard and directed by Chandrasekhar. However, the story isn't as strong as the first two films, and it becomes somewhat tedious as a number of the jokes don't land. They do continue the racially charged insults and physical humor they are known for, and the overall feel of the franchise does remind me somewhat of the Jackass folks, so I'm guessing that is the target audience Broken Lizard shoots for. If so, I think they generally hit it, though this latest movie doesn't pack the same punch as the first two did in terms of laugh-out-loud jokes.
Back again for this third film are (obviously) the members of Broken Lizard. As a comedy troupe, they are a well-oiled machine who know how to play off each other well. They are joined by Chace Crawford (The Boys), Jon Rudnitsky (Home Again), Simone, and Brian Cox (Succession).
The technical aspects of the Blu-ray Disc are typical, but that doesn't mean the quality isn't good. The 1080p resolution and 1.85:1 aspect ratio are strong on this release, and the picture is sharp and clean. The color palette is fantastic, with deep saturation and varying hues throughout. The trees in the background of many scenes are lush and green, and the saris and decor of the Indian wedding pop off the screen.
The DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 is very good but nothing exceptional. Dialogue is crisp, and the soundtrack is robust, with layered instrumentation and vocals. The combo pack includes the Blu-ray Disc, a digital download, and less than 10 minutes of extras. The extras include Super Bloopers, Set Tour, and Deleted Scenes. Sadly, the extras don't really add anything worthwhile to the story or the Blu-ray package.
As for the Super Troopers franchise, the first film was hysterical, and the second movie was pretty decent, with a number of laughs sprinkled throughout. Unfortunately, Broken Lizard must have run out of jokes for this third movie because I don't think I laughed more than three times throughout the 104-minute runtime. Unless they can come up with a better story and funnier skits, it may be time for Broken Lizard to crawl back under the bush they came out of.
Having said that, if you are a fan of the previous two movies and the comedy troupe, you should look into purchasing this Blu-ray combo pack to add to your collection.
Grade: C-
