Borat Subsequent Moviefilm: A Very Nice Sequel With Much To Be Excite!
14 long years after he made a splash with the zeitgeist-grabbing Borat, Sacha Baron Cohen makes a triumphant return to his beloved character in the aptly titled, Borat Subsequent Moviefilm. Although it doesn’t hit the exhaltant highs of its predecessor, Subsequent Moviefilm is a wildly entertaining sequel that once again allows us all to laugh at America’s ugliness.
Released from prison for bringing shame to his country, Kazakh funnyman Borat (Sacha Baron Cohen) risks life and limb when he returns to America with his 15-year-old daughter (Maria Bakalova).
If you would have told us that Bill & Ted, Borat, and their daughters would be the cinematic heroes of 2020, we’d have thought that you were living in a better timeline. But given how peculiar this year has been, it only seems fitting that the heroes of yesteryear return with their offspring to provide us with some much needed laughter and relief through these troubled times. In a year so chock full of disappointment, Sacha Baron Cohen’s Borat Subsequent Moviefilm certainly comes as a genuine surprise for cinema enthusiasts worldwide. The film not only captures the spirit of Cohen’s original, but it gives his affably naive creation a deeper sense of purpose.
Subsequent Moviefilm finds the beloved Kazakhstan reporter wrestling with the wake of the first film’s success. Not only is he easily recognizable to Americans thanks to becoming a cultural icon (a gap the film bridges with an amusing montage), but the result of first film cast a humiliating shadow over the nation of Kazakhstan, which caused Borat to be imprisoned in a gulag for life. Or so he thought. After 14 years of imprisonment, the Premier of Kazakhstan releases Borat to send him on a mission to deliver Kazakh Minister of Culture, Johnny the Monkey, to President Donald Trump in an attempt to redeem the nation. However, when Borat’s defecation stunt outside of Trump Tower (as seen in the first film) restricts his access to the Pres., he opts to give Johnny the Monkey Vice President Mike Pence instead.
The ensuing journey is full of the kinds of humorously provocative gags you’d expect from a Borat film, and its overall feel straddles the line between the original and Cohen’s Showtime series, Who Is America?, due to its heavy use of disguise. While the film follows the same format as Cohen’s other reality-blurring comedies (which feature a titular character that embarks on an American road trip with a sidekick), Subsequent Moviefilm doesn’t feel like a shameless retread (like Bruno). In fact, the sequel manages to revitalize the format and find a level of freshness through the addition of Bulgarian actress Maria Bakalova, who makes her English-language debut as Borat’s heretofore unknown daughter, Tutar.
With Bakalova, Subsequent Moviefilm finds firm footing in its central tale of female liberation. The film’s satirical outlook on women begins as very oppressive and misogynistic on the onset, but as Tutar learns more and more about the freedoms women have in America, she begins to push back against the glass ceiling, reshaping her father’s narrowed view in the process. Unlike any of Cohen’s other films, Bakalova is given equal access to the limelight, and she proves to be just as fearless a performer as Cohen — perhaps even more so. She has several of the most memorable scenes in Subsequent Moviefilm, chief among them is the third act bit with former mayor of New York Rudy Giuliani, which sparked a lot of controversy. Whether it was a crotch grab or a tuck is hard to say; the scene mostly exhibits what we already know: that Giuliani is a scuzzy creep. However, the scariest part of the whole bit is that fact that Bakalova shares the space with Giuliani and his gross coughing fits without a mask.
While the kind of behavior Subsequent Moviefilm exposes is all too commonplace nowadays, it serves as an entertaining and humorous respite from this dumpster fire of a year. It doesn’t quite reach the soaring high notes of its predecessor, and it’s probably not going to impact the 2020 election, but it’s a solid sequel with a clear and distinct purpose. Furthermore, the film is a showcase of Cohen’s ability to sculpt a compelling narrative that is tightly woven between gags. Subsequent Moviefilm will make you laugh and probably recoil in disgust, but it also tugs on the heartstrings in ways that none of Cohen’s previous films have managed to do.
Recommendation: If you enjoyed the first Borat moviefilm, you will be very excite to see him make return in Subsequent Moviefilm.
Rating: 4 high fives outta 5.
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