Borat Sequel

[Cap]

@YourMother the Edgelord here you go 

[YM!]

So, that just happened lol.

[Jason]

So. Over in other thread, someone predicted Giuliani is toast.

Call me a cynic but I don't think so?

Like, maybe he'll be toast after the election (god willing), but I can't see Trump dumping him over this.

That said, definitely not going to help his credibility with regards to the Biden stuff. Not that he had much to begin with of course.

Edited October 21, 2020 by Jason

[cannastop]

4 minutes ago, Jason said:

So. Over in other thread, someone predicted Giuliani is toast.

Call me a cynic but I don't think so?

Like, maybe he'll be toast after the election (god willing), but I can't see Trump dumping him over this.

Well maybe he lost the single shred of credibility he once had but I think that was already gone.

[lorddemaxus]

This was good but way too long. The daughter subplot was just boring and didn't add much here (not really the kind of film that even needs an emotional core). The Rudy Giulani scene is still creepy as fuck but I think Cohen should've let it play for a bit longer.

[BoxOfficeZ]

The daughter was the real star of the show. She killed it. Surprised at how much heart the movie had.

 

The rally scene was creepy as shit

[WittyUsername]

That twist at the end gave off some serious South Park vibes. It’s also pretty surreal to think that Cohen actually managed to dupe Rudy Giuliani into such an embarrassing situation. 

Anyway, this is a solid sequel, but I don’t know if it’ll hold up as well as the first one. While the first one was clearly made in a post-War on Terror world, this film is so heavily tied to the 2020 election that I don’t know if I can see people revisiting it five years from now. 
 

Also, RIP Judith Dim Evans.

[cax16]

Funny stuff, that dance scene though lol 

[CloneWars]

Rudy is such a huge perve. God.

[Webslinger]

Though it runs into two obvious roadblocks – that the guerilla filmmaking style of the first Borat could not possibly be replicated to the same effect after that film’s massive success, and that said roadblock constantly raises questions as to what’s real and what has been staged or carefully edited (and to what degree) – Borat: Subsequent Moviefilm is a funny follow-up that successfully sinks its teeth into the various ills currently plaguing American culture. There’s so much to satirize in American politics at the moment that the film feels somewhat scattershot in its approach (like, you’d think the interactions with the Olympia gun nuts would get more attention given the shock value in the song Borat sings at their rally), but it succeeds most when it focuses on misogyny through Borat’s daughter, Tutar. Many of the film’s most effective bits come from her increasing independence over the course of the film, including the one that is already overshadowing just about everything else about the film in the media coverage surrounding it. As good as Sacha Baron Cohen is in slipping back into character and thinking on his feet, Maria Bakalova frequently steals the spotlight as Tutar with sharp comedic instincts and a keen ability to make Tutar’s feminist awakening feel genuine – and by extension, hilarious when juxtaposed with carefully selected targets. It was never going to be the comedic revelation that the first film was when it hit screens 14 years ago, but it’s a more consistent and more enjoyable effort than Cohen’s other post-Borat comedic work.

 

B

 

Stray Thoughts:
- So... let's talk about that Rudy Guiliani scene, shall we? I suppose it's *possible* that it was a "not what it looks like" moment, but it definitely looks like he's reaching for his crotch. I'd like to say that this will have some sort of consequence for him, but I'm too cynical to believe that anyone on the right will be outraged because I'm guessing they won't even watch the film if Fox News tells them not to.

 

- Tutar telling the Republican women's group about her - er - "awakening" got the biggest laughs from me. The misunderstanding at the crisis pregnancy center was a close second, though. Bakalova sells both like an absolute pro.

 

- I kinda love that some of the most terrifying viewpoints exposed in the movie happen in Washington? We get a rep for being a blue state thanks largely to Seattle, but there is plenty of virulent racism, xenophobia, and other assorted bigotry in much of the state, and the crowd's glee in singing along with that song lays it bare.

 

- The big twist near the end is admirably silly. I also loved the Running of the American.

[filmlover]

The jokes are hit and miss and completely lacks the novelty of the original, but it's filled with audacious and at times uproarious set pieces (the dance ) and Sacha Baron Cohen has zero difficulty slipping back into character. Maria Bakalova is a revelation. B

 

The Rudy scene was as uncomfortable as it was hyped to be. Also like that they got Tom Hanks in on the joke with that cameo at the end.

[Eric Duncan]

 

[Avatree]

I was pleasantly surprised by this. Expected it to be a cheap cash in. But I accepted from the start that it wasn't going to be on par with the TV show, and that is fine.

 

Plenty of laughs, even if they are easy targets. For the first half of the film I felt like everything was played by actors, but at around the half way point I realised that actually most of it was real. 

 

The Rudy Giuliani scene is as disturbing as it has been suggested in the news. But this is a comedy, and Sacha is at his comedic best when he's getting people to do/say stupid stuff... not when he's getting them to do sexual stuff.

For me the highlight is definitely the rally. The Wuhan Flu song is catchy as fuck.

 

Like said above, this was quite heartfelt. Particularly the black lady & the Jewish ladies, that came off as very genuine and sincere. It's a nice contrast, between the people who get "duped" and the people who can't be duped because there is nothing bad for them to get exposed. They are just good people.

 

OBAMA, WHAT WE GONNA DO? INJECT HIM WITH THE WUHAN FLU! 

INJECT HIM WITH THE WUUUHHHAAANNN FLU!

 

HILLARY CLINTON, WHAT WE GONNA DO? CHOP HER UP LIKE THE SAUDIS DO!

CHOP HER UP LIKE SAUUUUDIIIIIS DO!

 

 

Edited October 26, 2020 by Avatree

[DAJK]

In this post I'm mainly going to talk about the fundamental issue I had with this movie, but I don't want that to make it sound like my overall impression was negative. So let me get it out of the way that I enjoyed this quite a bit. It was funny, and at times scary. Cohen is always great as Borat, his daughter stole the show, and their relationship I actually quite enjoyed. Overall, I'd give it a B.

 

But it PALES in comparison to the first movie, and is NOT going to have the replay value the first one has 14 years later in 2034. Why? Because whereas in 2006 Baron Cohen was pretty much highlighting the social rot (among other things) in America in general in a post-9/11 world, here his focus is so closely tied to the 2020 Election that it doesn't carry over as well. While some stand-out scenes avoided this (the scene where his daughter tries to get "the baby taken out of her" being a prime example), this movie targeted one aspect of America with a more focused agenda than the last film, and I honestly think that's going to hurt the movie's replicability in the future. 

 

An example would be how they handled the conspiracy stuff, and scenes like "are the democrats or covid more dangerous?" While I did get a laugh out of that, the point of this scene was to highlight just how crazy these alt-right conspiracy groups are (the song scene as well.... wow). But I think if Cohen had instead used this bit to focus on the conflict WITH science America is having in general, rather than taking jabs at extreme conspiracy groups, this scene would have had more of an impact and been more shocking. Make it about how science itself has become polarized. Make it about how America has itself become polarized, rather than taking a jab at the one group that we all already know is nuts. This sequel puts a face to the social rot in America, and while that's very important to do coming into the election, it doesn't deviate enough away from targeting this "face" to really explore these issues in any depth, or with anything new to say. 

 

I guess the other issue I had has less to do with the movie itself, but with America. Whereas in 2006, some of the stuff people said/did in the first movie was shocking, it's really hard to be shocked by any of this in 2020. And I think part of that is because the people Cohen went after in this are the exact people we'd expect to react the way they did. It's horrifying to see, but were any of us REALLY shocked at the response to the "abortion" request? Or at people not immediately kicking Cohen out after he shows up into the republican event dressed as a klansman? 

[SLAM!]

It's between a B and a C for me.

[Rorschach]

Great Success!

 

B+

[Chicago]

A step down from the first movie. It felt too preachy like it was trying to push and agenda across. I like Sacha but lately he has become full of shit 

[WittyUsername]

5 hours ago, Chicago said:

A step down from the first movie. It felt too preachy like it was trying to push and agenda across. I like Sacha but lately he has become full of shit 

Sacha Baron Cohen has always been political.