Sacha Baron Cohen returns with "Ali G: Who Iz I?", a film that revives the prankster character 20 years after the 2002 original "Ali G in Da House".
Unlike its predecessor, the new film abandons a traditional narrative structure. Instead, it strings together a series of hidden-camera hoaxes and pranks performed on real targets. Baron Cohen plays multiple characters: Ali G himself, Erran Morad (a Mossad officer-turned-security consultant who previously appeared in Baron Cohen's TV series "Who Is America?"), and a new character, Dr Nira Cain-N'Degrocello, described as a self-appointed arbiter against cultural appropriation.
The Guardian's review notes the film employs crude humour and what it describes as "spectacular bad taste". The targets include unspecified big names. According to the review, the material satirises "the shamelessness of anti-woke free speech martyrs" while employing shock comedy that punches in multiple directions.
The review suggests the film's reception will split sharply along existing opinion lines. Those who enjoyed the original Ali G will like this less, according to the critic. Those who disliked it will dislike this more. Anyone who suspected the earlier work of racism will find more ammunition for that objection, the review states, noting Baron Cohen has added new material apparently designed to mock and pre-empt that exact criticism.
The climax involves what the reviewer describes as a "big silly" sequence built with body doubles and presumably covert reshoots.
A Republican leader quoted in a related Guardian headline claims he was embarrassed by the film and says he plans to sue Baron Cohen, calling him "a liar and a pervert". The outlet notes this as an exclusive.
The review describes the athletic energy of Baron Cohen's pranking as comparable to later instalments of the "Jackass" film series, suggesting moments of genuine humour punctuate the shock-comedy approach.