Did anyone genuinely think we needed Ali G back on our screens after all this time? Sacha Baron Cohen made a massive name for himself with the character over twenty years ago, but watching this latest effort, I quickly realised that some things really are better left in the past.

For anyone who has never come across him before, Ali G is basically a clueless, suburban white British bloke who convinces himself he is a proper ghetto gangster, talking in heavy slang and generally acting completely daft. The whole gimmick originally was Cohen getting into character and pranking real people who had no idea what was going on. In this new film, the idea is that Ali G has lost all his money and fame from his glory days. Then, when he finds out his missus, MaJulie, is pregnant, he sets off on a desperate mission to make some cash and get himself back on the map.

Now, the biggest issue right off the bat is that the humour just feels completely dated. They keep reminding us throughout the film that the real-life people in these scenes aren't in on the joke, but the setups are just so mental that nobody in their right mind would ever take them seriously. I don't necessarily think they hired actors to play along, but the situations are so absurd that it was obvious the people involved knew something weird was happening. Cohen is a funny guy, but here the laughs are so few and far between that most of it just ends up feeling cringe, slightly boring, and totally unbelievable.

It also doesn't help that Ali G isn't the only character Cohen plays here. You've also got Dr Nira Cain-N'Degeocello, who is this ridiculously progressive, ultra-left-wing gender-studies lecturer basically made to poke fun at extreme political correctness, and then Colonel Erran Morad, this supposedly retired Israeli anti-terror specialist who puts on this tough, security-obsessed persona to expose the prejudices of the people he interviews. In this, Morad is essentially trying to recruit radical right-wingers to hunt Ali G down. The whole point is to humiliate these extreme figures, but the jokes cross the line into pure silliness. At one point, they introduce this secret weapon built into a pair of trousers, featuring a gun on one side and a dildo on the other, where you have to pump the dildo to fire the weapon. Look, people might have crazy views, but they aren't that stupid. It was just juvenile and unbelievable, which completely ruined whatever point he was trying to make.

There was one moment that actually worked, to be fair. Ali G has to apologise to cancel culture at a conference full of serious religious figures, and he plays these blatantly obvious AI videos of people, some of who aren't even alive anymore, saying they forgive him and back him completely. Seeing these religious figures get offended and storm out was genuinely hilarious and felt like the clever satire Cohen used to do so well.

Sadly, that is about the only highlight in a film that is totally all over the place. It only runs for about an hour and a half, but it felt much longer because the pacing was so messy. It constantly flips between different characters with no real structure at all. It honestly felt like it was being completely improvised as the cameras were rolling without any proper script. I know Cohen's style has always been loose and off the cuff, but this just felt way too chaotic.

Even the soundtrack felt like a bit of a thrown-together mess. There isn't a proper film score here, just a weird collection of tracks where Cohen raps as Ali G, being deliberately rude and offensive. A few of the lines made me chuckle, but on the whole, the songs were just silly and juvenile, matching the rest of the film in the worst way.

I have a theory that Sacha Baron Cohen has simply surpassed this style of comedy now. He has grown into a far more respected actor over the years, so seeing him return to this feels like a massive step backwards. This film is a dire attempt to bring back a character that feels dated and just does not align well with today's world, and I honestly wouldn't bother with it.