Borat Subsequent Moviefilm – A Worthy Follow-up

Perhaps no other film had a bigger impact on the public discourse than 2006’s surprise hit, the Oscar-nominated Borat or Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan. With a U.S. presidential election soon upon us, why not bring the character back in his very own sequel, Borat Subsequent Moviefilm or Borat Subsequent Moviefilm: Delivery of Prodigious Bribe to American Regime for Make Benefit Once Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan. While the character of Borat and the antics of Sacha Baron Cohen may no longer have that surprise factor, the film surprisingly still works very well and often better than the original as it plays into that familiarity factor. That being said, it’s release near the U.S. presidential election is no coincidence as the film does an excellent job at tackling these troubled times we live in just like the original did for that time with that same hilarious satirical comedy that worked more often than not (stay tuned) while adding another great character to the mix.

Borat Subsequent Moviefilm of course saw Borat (Cohen) come back to America once again in another utterly ridiculous story that the film’s long original title gives away. Basically, he was tasked to redeem his homeland of Kazakhstan after the embarrassment he caused the country after the original film. Little did he know, he wouldn’t be alone as his daughter Tutar (Bakalova) followed him there. The addition of this character made for a different yet entertaining dynamic that makes this sequel work and makes for a much more compelling story to help ground all of the craziness (which is an understatement). If anything, the subsequent journey of self-discovery for Borat and Tutar was a fun one to watch as the former groomed the latter to get her ready to be handed off to American Vice-President Mike Pence to repair the public image of Kazakhstan on the world stage. However, the story was not that simple with plenty of speed bumps along the way.

The hijinks of Borat Subsequent Moviefilm were up to par with the original and obviously won’t be for everyone though any non-fans of the original are not going to watch this sequel anyway. These precariously hilarious situations may not be as big of a surprise as the original but they still worked more often than not and many of them will continued to be talked about long after watching. One situation in particular has already been talked about before the film’s official release (we will not be spoiling anything here). While the writing here was spectacular, what ultimately made it work as well as it did was the great chemistry of Cohen and Bakalova as Borat and Tutar Sagdiyev. Though most audiences will remember the crazy hijinks, their father-daughter relationship was arguably stronger. It evolved over the course of the film, however, it did not distract from the film’s over-the-top hijinks.

It shouldn’t come as much of a surprise to anyone that Cohen was certainly up to the task this time around as Borat. He may have been more of a familiar face but Borat Subsequent Moviefilm played into this fact as the film forced Borat to adapt to his surroundings and the film to a certain extent. This was a testament to the costume and makeup department as well as Cohen for his skills as an improviser and for subtly adjusting his performance. Meanwhile, Bakalova’s Tutar does a fantastic job at taking some of the comedic responsibility and definitely holds her own alongside Cohen and the general craziness of the film around her. She was absolutely hilarious to watch, stealing scenes with a dynamic performance that is sure to put her on the map from now on.

At the end of the day, Borat Subsequent Moviefilm may not be a surprise but it is still a welcome addition to these troubled times.

still courtesy of Amazon Studios

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Keith Noakes

The EIC of the coincidentally-named keithlovesmovies.com. A Canadian who prefers to get out of the cold and into the warmth of a movie theatre.