Borat 2 Review: Surprisingly Good And Funny Sequel

Director: Jason Woliner

Cast: Sacha Baron Cohen, Maria Bakalova

Genre: Comedy

Year: 2020

Sacha Baron Cohen hit it big back in 2006 with Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan, a highly successful mockumentary comedy and one of the most talked-about movies of the year. That film came out of nowhere and surprised everyone – besides being a box office success, it received widespread critical acclaim and was nominated for a couple of awards like Best Motion Picture (Musical or Comedy) on Golden Globes and for Best Adapted Screenplay at the 79th Academy Awards. Sacha Baron Cohen even won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Motion Picture (Musical or Comedy). Although Cohen had other successful characters before and after Borat none was as successful as the Kazakh journalist.

At the time the character of Borat wasn’t famous like today so Cohen could easily provoke unsuspecting Americans who believed he was a real person. After Borat, Cohen went to work on other projects (Bruno, The Dictator, Who Is America) and a new Borat movie seemed unlikely especially after Cohen’s claims that he had retired the character. But Cohen surprised everyone one more time and shot a sequel secretly this year with the first and only trailer dropping one month before a sequel was finally released on Amazon Prime a couple of days ago. While it isn’t as original or fresh as the first one, Borat Subsequent Moviefilm is a surprisingly good and funny sequel.

Written by and starring Sacha Baron Cohen and directed by Jason Woliner, the sequel follows a Kazakh reporter who’s been released from prison after 14 years (because he humiliated Kazakhstan) by the Premier Nursultan Nazarbayev to deliver Kazakh Minister of Culture Johnny the Monkey to President Donald Trump and redeem the nation. But just like in the first movie Borat isn’t alone in his quest as his daughter Tutar accompanies him without his knowledge.

If you watched the first one or other Cohen’s work you’ll know what to expect from this one. Sascha Baron Cohen always used his brand of humor and characters to expose bigotry, racism, and everything wrong with society and Borat Subsequent Moviefilm is no exception – Cohen used the same format to tackle current topics and problems. Here we’re following him on his quest where he’ll meet and interview a variety of people, like Pastor Jonathan Bright, Instagram influencer, debutante coach, plastic surgeon, professional babysitter, Holocaust survivor, vice president Mike Pence, and ex-Mayor of New York City and current Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani among others. Often with hilarious results.

As we said, Borat is a well-known character today and it would be hard for Cohen to repeat what he did with the first movie disguised as Borat. So, besides adopting different disguises to keep his identity secret, Cohen used his new partner Bulgarian actress Maria Bakalova, who plays his daughter Tutar, and put her in similar situations we saw in the first movie. She’s the breakout star of the movie and a perfect fit for Cohen’s Borat. Actually, she’s so good I wouldn’t mind if she gets her own spinoff show or if she pairs with Cohen again on a completely different property.

Borat Subsequent Moviefilm isn’t as good or fresh as the first one but it’s a surprisingly good and funny satire. If you aren’t a fan of the first movie or Cohen’s humor in general, I doubt you’ll change your opinion after watching Borat Subsequent Moviefilm. But if you liked the first one you’ll probably like this one too.

You can watch Borat Subsequent Moviefilm on Amazon Prime.

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