JOIN US'Borat Subsequent Moviefilm' review: Making Kazakhstan great again
Director: Jason Woliner
Cast: Sacha Baron Cohen, Maria Bakalova
Age Rating: The most 'A' rated film this year, though that's not saying a lot
Score: 3.5
When Kazakhstan was made glorious 14 years ago in the first Borat, no one probably could have seen what would have happened in 14 years. Much has happened in the world, and once again, it is Kazakhstan's number 4 journalist's job to navigate the harsh, cruel world. And try to gift a monkey to Michael Pence.
Borat, who is, depending on who you ask, either the best or the second-best character ever played by Sacha Baron Cohen (personally, Admiral General Aladeen remains unmatched in his sheer audacity) has come a long way from his early days on The Ali G Show.
Unlike his debut feature in 2006, which indicated a sharp rise in popularity for the character (a fact that is repeated often in this film, to Borat's annoyance), this film sees him breaking stones in a Gulag for making Kazakhstan a laughingstock, a fact that cannot much be argued when you realise that Nursultan Tulyakbay profited heavily from Borat's documentary (and one of his sons has rechristened himself, Jeffrey Epstein). Fortunately, Borat gets a chance to redeem himself by delivering a monkey to Michael Pence, second-in-command of the greatest President the US of A has ever known, McDonald Trump.
After an shamefully short map montage, Borat arrives in Texas, and realises his daughter Tutar (Maria Balakova, who is usually caged) has somehow stowed away into America, and Borat decides to gift her to Pence instead, all the while packing the classic Borat mockumentary road trip movie style, filled with the standard anti-semite gags, with a new side of incest gags. If you thought the first movie was offensive, this one leaves it in the dust to pick on stones in a Gulag.
Borat Subsequent Moviefilm is just as unhinged in its brand of comedy, yet somehow made with a lot more maturity. The film is set largely in the first few weeks to months of the Covid-19 pandemic, which at this time has hit over 8 million Americans and killed no less than 210,000 of them, though back then it was just a small-time flu (though, depending on who you ask, it's still nothing but a flu). Gone are the days of Barack Obama, whom the film describes as someone who stood against all American values. If you're still sitting at that point, you're probably asking for what Borat is selling, and it only gets better.
That is not to say that Borat and Tutar do not undergo any change. To the contrary, creating a father-daughter dynamic lends itself to the film admirably, as it leads the parent-child duo into a journey of deeper self-discovery as Tutar, who dreamed of being put in a cage like Melania (who, by the way, gets an excellently produced in-universe cartoon, complete with McDonald Trump) and believes that physical self-discovery will lead to your body eating yourself rather graphically, to a more independent and free-thinking journalist. Meanwhile, Borat deals with his usual fare: Unwanted popularity from his earlier escapade, to QAnon and Face "The Holocaust is a lie!" book. Sacha Baron Cohen retains his explosive, perpetually offensive personality, but it feels more tempered and focused this time around, perhaps as a result of the many years of comedy he has created.
Anyway, getting back to it, Borat and Tutar really get on their adventure in America, and at one point Borat breaks into a conference held by Mike Pence with Tutar lying on his shoulders, as he shouts an unnecessary edited version of 'Pence' as the Vice President delivers a proud speech noting America's "15 cases of coronavirus", while dressed as Donald Trump. It does get a little too frisky and serious later on in a section featuring Rudy Giuliani (which we will not spoil), but that's all part of Cohen's great design (if there even is one, given the nature of this film).
To close, Borat Subsequent Moviefilm: Delivery of Prodigious Bribe to American Regime for Make Benefit Once Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan is either a great Sacha Baron Cohen feature, or not a great Sacha Baron Cohen feature. It's really a binary choice, unlike being condemned to hard labour in Gulag. Personally, it's a great film, as long as abortion gags and fake news don't trigger you.