Review: Borat Subsequent Moviefilm
Borat Subsequent Moviefilm: Delivery of Prodigious Bribe to American Regime for Make Benefit Once Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan, directed by Jason Woliner, tells the tale of Borat Sagdiyev (Sacha Baron Cohen) who is on a mission to deliver a famous Kazakh “minister” as an offering to U.S. Vice President Mike Pence in the hopes of redeeming Kazakhstan after Borat brought great shame to the nation fourteen years ago. But things get complicated when Borat’s estranged daughter Tutar (Maria Bakalova) hitches along for the ride. Now the father-daughter duo must trek across the U.S. once more to make Kazakhstan great again in the eyes of the world.
The first film back in 2006 became something of a pop culture phenomenon. Borat had a very ingenious premise of pranking real life people with some very elaborate stunts as a film, but unlike other television shows or viral videos with a similar idea, this film took it a step further and tied every prank to the film’s core story and Borat’s character arc. Borat was not just Sacha Baron Cohen pranking people for the lolz, it was Cohen also telling a story in a very unique and pretty funny way.
Many other films ever since tried to replicate Borat’s success, including Cohen’s 2009 spiritual successor to his own film Bruno, but none can quite capture the magic of Borat. Now fourteen years later, Cohen dons the mustache and thick accent once again to show everyone how its done; and what better time to do so than now where people in America literally hate their neighbors with a burning passion while suffering in a global pandemic. This film is definitely more of a political statement than anything else (right-wingers beware), but it’s still Borat; people who loved the first film will love this one just fine.
Borat is still as silly and comically bigoted as ever, and Sacha Baron Cohen gives it his all, just as he did in the last film. It’s amazing how Borat manages to avoid the SJWs and the pangs of cancel culture; he’s still the Jew-hating, gypsy-fearing, horny misogynist we all know and love from the first film, although he does go through a character arc in this film so by the end he becomes a not so Jew-hating, gypsy-fearing, horny misogynist, and that is honestly one of the high points of this film. Buried beneath Borat’s ridiculous and over-the-top persona lies a surprisingly complex and unique character with a whole lot of depth to him; his character arc with his daughter is wholesome and believable.
Maria Bakalova gave a terrific performance as Borat’s daughter, and the scenes involving her and her alone are a fresh breath of air when compared to Cohen’s stand alone scenes which are very familiar to the first film. The two lead’s chemistry together works fantastically well, the pranks they pull off is as awkward as it is funny, and the people they come across make quite the colorful cast of characters ranging from store owners and babysitters to big name politicians like Pence himself and Rudy Giuliani (whose scene will be talked about long after this film’s release, for better or for worse).
Outside of it overall feeling very familiar, the biggest issue I had with the film is the story itself. This film is, when you think about it, essentially a spy movie, only with Borat. The film’s plot revolves around him working as a diplomat for Kazakhstan trying to complete a mission, going though many “clever” disguises in the process, all building up to Borat uncovering a big conspiracy involving his government. The filmmakers do a good job setting up the live pranks to go along the film’s plot, but by the last act the film decides to just give up and turn into a generic spy film.
There were also an unusual amount of scenes that felt obviously staged throughout the film, though some are with good reason like a certain scene in the film where Borat meets the late Holocaust survivor Judith Dim Evans while dressed up as an overtly racist caricature of a Jew (which oddly enough is one of the film’s most wholesome moments). It might be because today people are now all the more wiser to Cohen’s antics, but a good amount of pranks in this film felt disingenuous and edited in a very heavily manipulated manner. There’s good reason why Cohen talked about hanging up the character for good, but props to him for trying to make it work.
Overall despite the inevitable feeling of familiarity looming over everything Borat does, Borat 2 is still VERY NICE! It’s a sequel that we honestly didn’t need (this whole film is a PSA to vote basically) but its existence is very welcomed indeed. If you found the first Borat to be too cringe-worthy and awkward to watch then chances are you’re not going to be too comfortable watching this film either, otherwise this is a fun adventure to check out and see for yourself.
Final Verdict: 7/10