Borat Subsequent Moviefilm: Delivery of Prodigious Bribe to American Regime for Make Benefit Once Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan
amazonThe fact that a sequel to 2006’s Borat even exists in the first place is difficult to believe. The original film, while still holding up incredibly well, feels sealed by its time, and thus for Sacha Baron Cohen to bring back this iconic character sixteen years years removed from the original was always going to be a strange experience. Ultimately, that is what Borat Subsequent Moviefilm (aka Borat Subsequent Moviefilm: Delivery of Prodigious Bribe to American Regime for Make Benefit Once Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan, or just Borat 2) is best described as, strange.
Set 16 years after the events of the first film, Borat (Cohen) details the aftermath of the smash success the initial film had, more importantly the shame and embarrassment that was brought to Kazakhstan through his actions. After serving an extensive time in prison as punishment for the film, Borat is tasked with delivering a gift to the American government as a way to mend the broken bonds between the two nations. Returning to America once again, begrudgingly accompanied by his 15-year-old daughter Tutar (Maria Bakalova) after losing the initially planned gift, Borat decides that he will redeem himself by hand-delivering Tutar to vice-president Mike Pence, while on the way learning more about American culture and eventually COVID-19.
As expected, Borat is immediately recognised upon walking the streets of America due to the mass cultural impact the character still has to this day. To combat this, Cohen as well as the character, implement various disguises to allow for those moments that make Cohen so great at what he does, awkward situations that in turn work as an expose on the subjects within them. It has always been a tight balance for Cohen in his work, towing the line between the immediately comedic caricature that comes from the over the top nature of Borat, or what was found in Bruno, and working that into the public focussed scenes. Yet with Borat 2, a lot of the material seems to fall short of the great work we have seen from Cohen in the past, with the shocking scenes that made the character so famous to begin with coming few and far between.
Bakalova is a fantastic protégé to Cohen, knowing how to push the right buttons and the exact point of when to push them, often featuring in some of the films most shocking moments that will be certain to hit the news upon release. But that leads into the strangeness of everything, as narrative often seems to be in battle with the typical Borat style of scene. It is commendable for Cohen and the vast team of writers to expand upon these characters in some capacity, allowing both Borat and Tutar to have more or less a character arc. Sadly, the strength of him as a deep character has never been the draw of Borat, resulting here in a narrative that often can feel far more pre-conceived than the original film ever did, with the scripted scenes being painfully obvious this time round. Perhaps that is why 2018s Who Is America worked so well, providing Cohen with the chance to create whole new personas that were forced to adapt and respond to some truly appalling situations. While these situations certainly do arise in Borat 2 they never manage to quite pack the same punch as they once did 16 years ago, with the exception with a couple of great moments.
Where there are certainly laughs to be had, and Cohen once again shows his incredible dedication to his character acting abilities, successfully bringing the infamous character into the modern period. Borat Subsequent Moviefilm is unable to reach the same heights as the original, but is sure to provide just enough shock value to keep most entertained. Just do not expect to be thinking about it the next day.
