First Borat 2 Reviews Have Arrived, Is It Worthy of a High-Five?

TheBorat 2reviews have landed. It’s been 14 years since we’ve seen the iconic Sacha Baron Cohen character on the big screen, and many have wondered if his schtick still works in 2020. The movie, which is officially titled,Borat Subsequent Moviefilm: Delivery of Prodigious Bribe to American Regime for Make Benefit Once Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan, finds our main character as too famous to walk around America, so he needs a disguise and the help of his 15-year old daughter, Tutar (Maria Bakalova). There are NOSpoilersfor Borat 2 below.

One of the main points spread across a series ofBorat 2reviews is that American culture seems to have caught up to Sacha Baron Cohen’s fictional character. A.V. Club’s Jesse Hassenger says the movie “is frequently funny and occasionally pointed, more than enough to recommend it as a comedy,” she goes on to note, “It’s also another instance where doing things as they’ve always been done no longer feels like quite enough. The prejudices Baron Cohen exposes have become too fond of exposing themselves.” In other words, Borat’s victims seem even more willing to show their true feelings this time around.

Much of theBorat 2reviews are positive. CInemaBlend’s Eric Eisenberg says, “Of course, one of Hollywood’s sequel rules is that follow-ups have to ‘go bigger,’ andBorat 2follows protocol by making some audacious swings that hit spectacularly.” The addition ofMaria Bakalova’s Tutarhas been praised by practically everybody who has seen the highly anticipated sequel. You can read what Vanity Fair’s Sonia Saraiya had to say about Bakalova’s performance below.

“Borat’s frattiest fans might despair of having a girl in their clubhouse, but Bakalova is a crucial and excellent addition to the Borat schtick. She gives Cohen a shred more credibility for saying the terribly misogynist things he does-and as Borat Subsequent Moviefilm capitalizes on multiple times, offers the filmmakers twice as much access forgetting their gotchas.”

While the majority of theBorat 2reviews seem to lean more to the positive, there are a few critics who thinkSacha Baron Cohencould have come up with a better way to deliver his message. This is a criticism that the comedian has seen a lot over the course of his career. The Hollywood Reporter’s John DeFore believes that what Cohen pulled off inBorat 2is actually part of the problem in America. DeFore explains.

“America is sick, and hurting, and angry and misinformed. If Sacha Baron Cohen were toput away the latex prosthetics, dumb accents and hairpieces, he might find a new, better way to show us our reflection - and to make us look, instead of just laughing at our neighbors' most awkward moments.”

Sacha Baron Cohen’s comedy is divisive and it’s not for everybody, which should be assessed before attempting to watchBorat 2. For the people who don’t enjoy his style of comedy, the sequel will likely not be a good fit. However, for fans of Cohen, it seems to be considered a homerun for comedy when we could all use a good laugh. You can head over toAmazon Primeto streamBorat 2this Friday, October 23rd.