Part of me questions how to even start a film as outlandish as this one, particularly because that (used to be) the main staple of Sacha Baron Cohen's wheelhouse.
Given that his wonderful turn in a more dramatic role just came out, it's wild to see him flirt back and forth between the zany and serious actor.
Being honest, I never truly got into his spoof characters all that much. Partly because I was late to the game and partly because they always felt like "too much". I didn't see the original Borat until many years after the "Very Nice!" had died down. I distinctly remember liking Bruno more (though it suffers the same "too much" fate) because I just found Bruno to be ridiculous.
Either way, that's to explain that - while I find these films quite funny - I don't hold them as classics as some might. But, in a year like 2020, a surprise sequel positioned in this political climate and being filmed partially in COVID is really too good to pass up.
Almost immediately, you can tell that Borat Subsequent Moviefilm is going to be ridiculous. It's right there in the title. But by the time he starts talking to his daughter in her cage as she dreams of living in a cage as gorgeous as Princess Melania's, you know it's going to be ridiculous + push the envelope. We're introduced again to Borat - a journalist from Kazakhstan - who brought shame on his country with the first film and has been working in a gulag ever since. The whole gist with Borat is that he comes from a 3rd world country where goats are still currency, woman are possessions, and the US of A is the ultimate land of bad asses. As the first film did, it creates a lot of ridiculous scenarios, but also holds a mirror up to America in many different ways.
You should make no mistake, this is a left-leaning film through and through. The original full title was about trying to gift a monkey to Mike Pence for him being such a ladies man. SBC doesn't shy away from aggressively holding up the lens to the far and moderately-far right. Most of this is hilarious, some is shocking, and some of it is disturbing (a particular rally being perhaps the saddest part of the film). For what it's worth, I like my political commentaries evenly spread, so as much as I enjoyed the segments here, the one-sidedness of it all led to it growing stale by the end. Perhaps I'm the only one in that camp, but there's plenty to make fun of on both sides of the political aisle and it feels like a bit of a missed opportunity.
I also struggle to believe parts of the film as genuinely as I did the original. The "gags" range from huge (crashing a Mike Pence speech dressed as Donald Trump) to minimal (a recurring period with a fax machine). The big ones show true shock from those around and props are due to SBC and newcomer Maria Bakalova (more on her later) for having huge cahones to pull these off. The smaller ones I found myself unbelieving. With obvious cameras there, and the zany antics of Borat - even for those people that didn't recognize him - how can they think what's happening is real? In 2006, sure. In 2020, I find it harder to believe. Despite the laughter and fun I was having, this was consistently removing me from reality the film wanted to create. And if you're curious about the Rudy Giuliani bit (which is truly a daring prank), you'll have to watch the film and make the judgment call yourself. To me? It felt a bit like a "gotcha" prank, but that doesn't change the fact that he's being creepy throughout and can barely form a coherent sentence. So...either way he doesn't come out looking great. 
Hilarious song, disturbing audience
That's all a lot of preface to arrive at the positives: Borat Subsequent Moviefilm still made me laugh. A lot. Some were full belly laughs. Some were laughs out of cringe. And some were just the zany antics of the Kazakh reporter (i.e. trying to kill the coronavirus on surfaces with a magnifying glass and a frying pan). There's some wonderful humor here and even some of the people that get picked on, you can't feel too sorry for (nutjob conspiracy bros, I'm looking at you). SBC slides back into the role easily, but he's overshadowed by the addition of his daughter, Tutar, played by newcomer Maria Bakalova. The film's journey of having her - an unkempt girl living in a cage in Kazakhstan - find out that women can drive cars, own businesses, etc. in America is a funny but also semi poignant one (as much as something can be in a film as ridiculous as this). She keeps up with SBC without issue, and I'd argue there are many instances where she's funnier in her own right. Her boldness shouldn't go unpraised either; she's at the crux of many of these pranks.
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| Running away after the "big one" |
CONS
- Personally? I like my political satire to cover all sides. It's clear that Borat is going to ignore the left
- Feels longer than it is. I think a few gags could have been cut
- I found it more difficult to believe some of the smaller segments this time. They're funny, but I kept questioning, "How can these people think this is real?"
- Is this our first major film that deals with the pandemic? Kudos to being incredibly timely and making what I imagine was a really difficult film to produce during this time
- Consistently outrageous, often funny, and can be cringe-inducing. So basically it's more Borat
- The lens it holds up to America is multifaceted. I'm not sure its as "smart" as the original film, but there's some depressing outlooks here
- Sacha Baron Cohen delivers a zany comedic performance but its Maria Bakalova who comes out of nowhere to shine and steal the show
- Massive guts to pull off some of the stunts they did. Probably a shocking amount of planning as well
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