Sacha Baron Cohen is a funny fellow and even if you have already seen all the funniest moments in his ode to totalitarian"The Dictator", there are enough good yucks along the way to make it a pleasant killing of an hour and a bit. But if the coming attractions made you think you were in for something as great as "Borat" or "Bruno", that ain't gonna happen.
Cohen is Admiral General Aladeen, the North African (read Arab) leader of an oil nation. Threatening to make nukes, Aladeed is so irresponsible, the UN threatens to invade unless he shows up at the UN in nyc. While there he is kidnapped and replaced by a look alike, meanwhile, Aladeen escapes and, having lost his beard (yeah, I know), is let loose in a Manhattan that doesn't know who he is it. Got it?
Cohen takes pot shots at Americans, Arabs, left wingers.. oh gosh, you know it. And some of the lines are very, very funny. "I'll throw her in the garbage" after delivering a baby girl for one.
But there is nothing very original here, and why did they have to make the lovely Anna Faris such a frump? Best scene, Megan Fox playing herself.
The lectures about democracy near the end are useless and in the end this is a nothing very special show.
Musically, it is really good, two new numbers mix disco with Arabic pop to great effect. Some Western pop classics are given Arab language twists, best of which is MC Rai's "Everybody Hurts".
Movie: B
Music: A-