I’m a fan of Ali G, because I understand the joke. He’s taking the mick out of himself while exposing the stupidity of others. This makes me laugh, so I was glad to see him back.
In a nutshell, if you like Ali G, you will like Who Iz I?. If not, you won’t. #deep
The Story
There is an actual story running through the movie, and it’s good. Finding out that ‘Ma Julie’ is pregnant, Ali sells some of his stuff at a local pawn shop. This included a diamond-encrusted Uzi pendant that was once owned by the Queen. He sells it for £1.
While there, he tries to flog his fax machine, only to see a fax from HBO. They want to pay him millions to make a new series. Happy days, he’s not only black, but he’s back.
Ali and Ma Julie head to the US to relaunch his career. It turns out the contract is over 20 years old, so the new show isn’t going to happen. This is a shame, as Ma Julie is looking at mansions in LA. They get this poor real estate agent to relay messages between the two of them, while Ali is having a dump in the bathroom.
With Ali being back, other characters from Sacha Baron Cohen are not happy. Dr. Nira Cain-N’Degeocello, a social justice warrior (played by Cohen), wants to cancel him. This is all in the first 10 minutes or so.
Ali learns about his heritage.
“One minute I is young, gifted and black, the next I’m white, Scottish and a gaylord.”
The Cast
As I said, I like the characters of Ali G, and Borat, and Bruno. I love how Cohen gets completely into a character. He then does some unbelievably stupid stunt, where you wonder how he isn’t shot, beaten up, or arrested.
Who Iz I? is the same. He manages to stay in character, even when there is utterly stupid stuff going on around him.
Cohen then takes it up to 11, but having some scenes with Ali in the room, Dr. Nira Cain-N’Degeocello in the room, and then, towards the end, even Erran Morad, another of his characters in the room. Three of his characters, all in the same scene.
In fact, at one point, two of his characters have sex with each other. Yes, Cohen manages to have sex with himself.
Ma Julie is played by Morgana Robinson, who’s a great comedian in the UK. At one point, they managed to fake her giving birth, which is, I have to say, brilliantly done.
Gobsmacking
There are scenes in Who Iz I? that were genuinely gobsmacked at. Ali does an apology video, where he invites people of all nationalities, races, and creeds to watch. He promises there is no AI in the video.
In one of the opening shots, there’s an AI Nelson Mandela saying what a great black guy Ali is. The rest of the video gets worse; in fact, for some reason Hitler is in it. I haven’t laughed so much in ages!
Throughout the movie, again, there are things said and done that will offend some, but if you have a warped sense of humour, you will laugh at them. I honestly couldn’t believe he was getting away with some of it.
Mild spoiler, but Ali’s baby is nearly murdered, but that’s all I’ll say. Well, apart from he is nearly murdered by a guy who’s wearing a fake ass, with a gun in it, that you must pump the penis to fire the gun. It’s as stupid as it sounds, but it’s also very funny.
Again, I see why some will not find this funny, but I did.
Overall
As I said, if you like Ali G, this is him back, and on form. It’s explained who’s in on the joke and who isn’t. Kudos to the people who are, and I do feel a little sorry for those who aren’t, but at the same time, some of them, I don’t.
Who Iz I? is directed by Cohen, and he does a damn fine job. Some of it must have been a nightmare to film, but he does it. I read that with the real estate agent, he almost broke character. However, he was having a dump while trying to get Ma Julie to get the realtor to give them the house.
The scenes where there is more than one character in play are genius at times. I mean, how do you even do that? Somehow, me manages.
As per usual, I have left out loads of the story and details. If you want a drink with mates, sit back and have a good laugh, Ali G: Who Iz I? is worth your time. If you’re not a fan of him, this won’t change your mind. I am a fan, and I loved it.
