This came out of nowhere, didn’t it? This year has seen a fair number of iconic characters return to the big or small screen such as The Invisible Man, Mulan, Scooby-Doo and Bill & Ted. Now Borat is back with another movie, which is quite unexpected, kind of like how his first film is seen by some as one of the greatest comedies of our time. A stance I almost find myself agreeing with only having seen the 2006 Borat a few weeks prior to this new film, and really enjoying it. Moving over to Borat Subsequent Moviefilm and does it live up to the original film’s legacy? (Well if you read the title of this review, then maybe that is the case.)
It’s a nice change to see, especially in a comedy, that Sacha Baron Cohen didn’t put on the Borat suit again just because it’s recognisable, but because he actually has something to say and wants to give audiences a new experience. Borat the racist, sexist, perverted, often clueless foreigner is back to take another jab at the US and A! I didn’t know what to expect, except that it’s going to have Borat roaming around in COVID-19 America, which will make this the first COVID-19 movie I’ve seen. I was pretty disappointed to see that the virus played a very small part and marketing has lied to me yet again. This movie is actually focused on modern-day American Politics and more particularly taking pot shots at those who are currently at the top in the White House. Nothing too exotic for comedians of our modern era, but this is Borat’s take and I doubt it’s a coincidence that this movie was released in the lead up to the election.
I don’t think there is much point going into the story because it’s so purposely stupid, even more than the first movie. All you need to know is the world needs Borat again to redeem his country in the eyes of the Americans. This movie introduces his daughter, Tutar, who is as clueless as him and knows nothing about American culture, more so what a 2020 woman is like. Borat wants to marry off his 15 year old daughter to some old white US politician as a gift from Kazakhstan and you see where I’m going with this? As long as you haven’t been living under a rock, it’s very on the nose as to what’s it commenting on but it’s pretty damn funny.
The real highlight of the movie, the same as in the first Borat, is how unscripted everything is. What I mean is about 75% of the movie is Sacha Baron Cohen and now his daughter improvising off the conversations they have with regular people who are unaware they are being filmed for the butt of their jokes. This is where the bulk of the Borat controversy comes from, which is understandable, but I can’t argue with how the result is normally comedy gold. It’s easily the charm of these films. To keep the formula fresh we have already mentioned Tutar and now Borat is in numerous disguises for most of the movie. Outside of these movies I can understand how that makes sense, but within this film’s universe, I’m not so sure. I guess I can forgive it as it does result in some unique situations that even had me in awe of how on Earth did they get away with filming that, which would be kind of impossible if Borat only wore his iconic grey suit.
Overall Borat Subsequent Movefilm was a surprise and it’s probably my favourite comedy of the year. My only real problem is the story as I don’t like the set-up, nor the inclusion of COVID-19 nor really anything to do with the last 30 minutes. Luckily Borat is easily a series that you will be more into the unsimulated comedy set pieces than Borat and his daughter’s character development. As long as you know the whole thing is a joke, then you should have a good time. I still prefer the first movie over this as it’s more simple and I think it’s a bit more clever with what it’s making fun of. I’m more interested to see how this second movie is going to age in 5 or even 14 years time, If only Captain Hindsight was here.
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