Directed By Jason Woliner

Starring – Sacha Baron Cohen, Maria Bakalova, Luenell

The Plot – Kazakh funnyman Borat (Cohen) risks life and limb when he returns to America with his young daughter (Novak), seeking a marital companion for her at the heart of a worldwide pandemic.

Rated R for pervasive strong crude and sexual content, graphic nudity, and adult language

POSITIVES

– Comic muscle. As should be the case by any delve into the mind of a madman like Cohen, the film’s strongest feature once more is its level of crude humor that it unleashes on the audience and the extra’s in frame ever so bluntly. It’s important to note that nothing in material here is ever repeated from its predecessor, choosing instead to create an entirely different narrative that blazes its own trail creatively, despite the general outline of the film bearing some noticeable similarities. Some of my favorite moments involve a Father/Daughter dance at a debutant ball, an invasion of one of Vice President Mike Pence’s political rally’s, and of course a Borat sleepover at a MAGA member’s residence. The movie is wise enough to stay away from taking sides in the political stratosphere, choosing instead to be an equal opportunity offender that spares no expense in bringing the humility to light that its two brave protagonists are invincible from.

– Art imitating life. One aspect that I always found unique about the Borat and Bruno films respectively is the surprising abundance of social commentary emitted from Cohen’s ability to make people feel comfortable in opening up around him, and attaining some revealing details that deconstructs American prejudice because of such. This latest film is more of the same in that regard, especially considering the issues of racial inequality, homophobia, and political bias appear more vibrantly than ever before in a society with so much access into opinion on social media. This not only makes “Subsequent Film” one with a lot to say about its particular place in time, like the previous film, but also weaves its way into the movie’s narrative ever so wonderfully with how Borat and Tutu’s fictional story reacts to the real world unity crumbling around them. It makes them feel like the two most logical characters in the film, a fact echoed in resounding transparency the further they make their way across the southland, and one that gives the movie truth to its documentarian approach.

– Sentimental underlying. Even with all of the chaos that the duo of protagonists endure throughout their journey of America, the movie is slowly unweaving a hearty layer in its family narrative that sprinkles a surprisingly sweet satisfaction to the movie’s overwhelming vulgarity. This offers a much-needed breath between the stunts that are prepared and realized back-to-back in the screenplay’s structure, but even more than that succeed on their own merits by the impeccable chemistry of Cohen and Novak, which keep it from feeling like excessive weight that could easily be cut from the movie’s finished product. The original Borat did have a flimsy goal in its yearning of Pamela Anderson, but the sequel raises the stakes by constantly holding onto the one person most valuable to Borat, and one that transforms him before our eyes into the kind of parent we not only root for and embrace, but one with the kind of similarity in ideals that proves how far the character has grown.

– Celebrity familiarity. Since the 2006 original film, Sacha Baron Cohen has attained a level of fame and notoriety not present with the previous film, so obviously some challenges arose in keeping his identity a secret for this sequel set in the same real world that the original film took place in. Thankfully, the movie addresses it colorfully, scattering across no shortage of wigs and prosthetics work, which distinctly transform Cohen’s likeness before our very eyes, and grants the movie an advantageous quality of getting as many as six different Cohen personalities for the price of one movie. It serves as a testament once more to the versatility in range as a committed actor for Cohen that is on display frequently throughout the picture, and in many ways bares a striking similarity to his titular character’s ever-growing fame because of the lasting legacy that they’ve both had on the expanding face of comedy.

– Two against the world. The performances from both Cohen and Bakalova are nothing short of brilliant, if even just for the way both commit to the roles without a shred of breaking character for the way the elements of the moment sometimes influence the way they retort to such. This is seen in consistent accents that are every bit believable as they are thickly compromising at times to the clarity of the dialogue, but beyond that it’s the way that each of them comprehend how to constantly push the envelope of their prey while feeding into the narrative of story notes that they hit on while tying it all together. In particular, Maria’s arrival gives the story an abundance of female topics and contemporary issues like teenage pregnancy, objectification in the professional workforce, and condemning of sexualization, which grant her character enough justification with the story, even if this is still obviously Cohen’s vehicle for the taking. Ultimately however, it’s the banter with Cohen that is most pleasurable, highlighting two character actors who are stronger as a team, and only get sharper the longer the film persists.

– Visual consistency. Most sequels, especially ones that follow a movie with the kind of cultural and entertainment influence like Borat, sometimes convey that air of influence of a budget that is twice that of the previous film, but the first decision from Woliner, and one that ultimately pays off immensely for the film is trimming the mileage in fourteen years by immersing us once more in the look and feel of the Khazakstan documentary. It begins with masterful cinematography from documentarian Luke Geissbuhler, whose many angles covering the mayhem as well a handheld operating scheme that never hinders the capture of what is depicted, grants the movie a rich authenticity that vibrantly channels documentary footage of the contemporary age, and contextually feels like the same group of people responsible for a first film that attained so much with so very little.

– Perfect timing. Considering 2020 is the year of worldwide chaos for so many with regards to a wide range of topics, could there ever be a better year for Cohen’s titular protagonist to spring free from subdued sleep? The answer is of course no, and thanks to a wide range of focal point topics that weren’t even conceived in a world a decade and a half previously, the film strikes accordingly when it attains lightning in a bottle. From the chaos surrounding the Covid-19 scare, to the upcoming pivotal election in our nation’s history, to the barrage of racial and women’s issues still plaguing our country, the film springs forward with a sharp sting that offers no apologies along the way, nor does it crop any particular scene for the sake of pushing a narrative. One such example is with the Pence rally that I previously mentioned, which can be watched online in its entirety. It sync’s up beat for beat with what unveils from the heat of the moment, giving us truth in filmmaking which is sometimes difficult to come by, and cements the perfect storm of person, place, and time that lines up accordingly with the film’s intentions.

– Twist ending. This is an aspect I truly didn’t see coming, and I shutter to even talk about it because everyone should go in blindfolded, but I offer praise to the movie’s script for constructing a summary of events during the first two acts that leads to one big blow during the film’s climax. This is not only a big moment for Borat, but also one for the world if you choose to buy into what it’s selling. Obviously, the film’s character is a work of fiction, but the way the details line up accordingly to everything we know about the historical event in tow is remarkable to say the least, and at the very least offers a crowning joke that is perhaps the biggest takeaway from a movie with no shortage of thought-provoking social commentary that begs discussion after the film’s conclusion.

NEGATIVES

– Growing pains. One common nag that the movie’s promiscuity might be stilted by is contrast in world’s, from 2006 to current day, whose division is alluded to in the film, but one that will unfortunately alienate certain audiences with fully investing in the commentary of the character. This also unintentionally dates the sequel in ways that the timeless original exceeded through, mainly because this film focuses on a particular place in time, as to where the previous film was a stripped down social satire on the problems plaguing our world for generations previously. I feel like all audiences of every kind could watch the original Borat, and at least give in to a series of unpredictable moments and never-ending laughter that was escapism despite the reflection it granted in the world we live in. The world evolved when the sequel didn’t, and even if I myself had a blast with this movie, it would be irresponsible of me to think other audiences of the mocking commentary wouldn’t have an effect on its lasting legacy.

– Occasionally formulaic. While a majority of the gags are effective enough at attaining some hearty laughter in the way of its extremism, there’s a noticeable lack of consistency in landing power from the previous film, which was as nearly perfect with its reach as any comedy I’ve ever seen. The problem here is two-fold. First, the gags are formulaic now that we’ve seen the set-ups for nearly three whole hours between the two films. Secondly, and more importantly, a couple of the gags are bit too convoluted in the way they move towards their punchlines. One such example is a baby joke that is entirely too on-the-nose to remain spontaneous. You see where it’s going from the moment it hits the ground running, and because the structure of the film’s material is 90% similar, it lacks the true shock factor that the film’s predecessor continuously capitalized on.

My Grade: 8/10 or B+