In a sentenceAli G keeps stopping the interviews to have a plot, which is inconsiderate of him
Alistair Leslie ‘Ali G’ Graham (Sacha Baron Cohen) becomes the subject of a political story as scripted scenes alternate with prank interviews. The encounters take in American political extremists and elderly experts interviewed in a TikTok-style format. The fictional cast includes Julie (Morgana Robinson), Malcolm “Rocky” Atkins (Clive Russell) and Manu (Alpha Miknas). Sacha Baron Cohen also plays Colonel Erran Morad and Dr. Nira Cain-N’Degeocello, while A$AP Rocky, Rihanna and George Santos appear as themselves. A backstory and a rescue-thriller plot connect the interviews.
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Sacha Baron Cohen can still make an interview funny, but Ali G: Who Iz I? keeps interrupting him with a cumbersome story. The successful pranks are too scattered to make this a comedy we can recommend.
The interviews give Sacha Baron Cohen room to be funny, and Ali G: Who Iz I? is a poor comedy largely because it keeps finding reasons to leave them. He directs as well as plays Ali G, surrounding the encounters with a backstory and a rescue thriller that take far too much explaining. At 89 minutes, the film is short enough to make its sluggishness a particular disappointment. There are laughs here, but too much time goes on getting the next one ready.
Sacha Baron Cohen’s comic timing works well in the interviews with elderly experts, conducted in the manner of TikTok clips. We laughed at the mismatch between the interviewees and the format. The gag is clear without an elaborate introduction, and it does not need an adventure elsewhere to justify its presence. Here the comedy comes from the interview itself, which sounds an elementary achievement until the film starts having trouble managing it.
The encounters with far-right figures have a harder purpose, and some work because the participants supply the nastiest material themselves. Sacha Baron Cohen’s improvising lets their prejudices emerge, though their willingness to oblige him does not automatically make each exchange funny. It is reasonable to want more than evidence that such people hold unpleasant views; the comedy needs to make those views look newly foolish. The better encounters manage that, and give the film a use beyond putting a familiar character back on screen.
The scripted story is much less rewarding. Dan Mazer, Keisha Zollar, Anthony Hines, Sacha Baron Cohen, Peter Baynham and Dan Swimer share the screenplay credit, but Ali G’s elaborate backstory takes too long to tell. Making Ali G himself a political subject is a laboured choice: it asks us to invest in the character between interviews when the interviews already provide the interest. The rescue-thriller material requires stretches of plot that the strongest comic moments do not need.
The editing does not solve the problem of moving between the scripted material and the pranks. Too often an encounter has to compete with explanations of who is playing along, and that information makes it harder to enjoy the uncertainty while it lasts. We do not need to mistake every participant for an innocent bystander, but we do need enough uninterrupted time to see what the exchange can produce. By repeatedly settling the question for us, Sacha Baron Cohen makes the film fussier and less funny.
Music by Nami Melumad, Erran Baron Cohen and Andrew Wyatt cannot make these interruptions worthwhile. Prank comedy can survive a flimsy story if the plot stays out of the way; here, the connecting scenes keep demanding attention. Nor is shock sufficient compensation when an encounter produces more disgust than laughter. Being offensive is not especially difficult, and the film’s willingness to offend becomes less impressive with each stretch that passes without a decent joke.
Anyone chiefly interested in the political pranks will find a few passages worth their time, provided they are willing to wait through the scripted adventure. Affection for Ali G may make that wait easier, though it should not be a condition of enjoying a comedy. We would save the evening for something that asks less patience between laughs.
Most critics find Ali G: Who Iz I? a tired return, though even several unfavourable reviews acknowledge scattered laughs and effective stunts. Praise centres on Cohen’s improvisation and the pranks that let political extremists expose their own prejudices. The more receptive reviews see some sting left in the satire, particularly when the film gives its targets space to incriminate themselves. There is less enthusiasm for sustaining the character at feature length.
The divide is over whether those encounters justify the rest. Reservations cluster around a cumbersome scripted story, uneven pacing and repeated explanations of who is in on the joke. Several critics question Ali G’s relevance, while others find the shock tactics more disturbing than funny. The spread is wide: HeyUGuys finds the satire imperfect but frequently inspiring, whereas The Wrap regards the revival as dispiriting and largely humourless. Even the warmer responses leave room for substantial misses.
The review calls the sequel erratic but funny and hit-and-miss. It praises its Borat-style punking of America’s political extremists.
Read the full review →Scheck finds the film hit-and-miss, with laughs offset by dead spots and humor that drags at feature length. He praises Cohen’s comic instincts and improvisation, but says Ali G works best in small doses.
Read the full review →The critic finds the film largely unfunny, though its final stretch provides a startling payoff. The standout moments include a bone-chilling game show and a horrifying drone-related decision.
Read the full review →The critic finds the return uneven and too heavy-handed, questioning whether Ali G remains relevant. They acknowledge some laugh-out-loud moments but say the character’s comedy struggles to land.
Read the full review →Bradshaw finds the sequel intermittently funny but ultimately tired, with Ali G feeling irrelevant and its humor often crass. He praises the prankster’s energetic, Jackass-like hoaxing, while faulting the film for repeatedly explaining who is in on the joke.
Read the full review →Grierson argues that the film’s familiar satire feels stale and inadequate to the moment, despite some effective stunts. He praises Baron Cohen’s influence on later comics and documentarians, who have found fresher ways to expose America’s absurdities.
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BoratSacha Baron Cohen takes another ill-equipped interviewer into uncomfortable American encounters.
Four LionsBritish satire that finds frightening consequences beneath its characters’ incompetence.
This Is Spinal TapSelf-importance supplies the jokes in a mock documentary about touring musicians.
The Castle · not reviewed yetAustralian suburban comedy with more affection for its unlikely underdogs.
The Square · not reviewed yetSocial embarrassment and institutional vanity make for a more controlled discomfort.
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