I thought the first "Brat" was really good. Too bad I can't really say the same about it's sequel. Here, director Aleksei Balabanov basically united with the character of his own creation (Danila, that is) under the banner of Russian nationalism. This movie is anything but politically correct. Danila and his older brother from the first movie go up against everyone, from Ukrainians and Russian mafia, to American cops and, ahem, African-Americans. The basic message here is something like "we are Russians; we may be messed up but we got the truth and the spirit on our side, while all the rest of you are wicked because you can think of nothing else but money and material gains." This invective, of course, is aimed at America and its materialistic culture. The accusations are not totally unfounded, but "Brat2" really takes them to an overblown, bombastic level, boosting and enflaming Russian patriotic sentiments. For that reason, I bet that huge parts of Russian audiences certainly took it to their liking, although I don't really know how much commercial success the movie has actually enjoyed in Russia proper. Some good gags are still present, but they are far too few and are even more macabre and virulent than before. The musical score took a downturn as well, being dominated by cheesy Russian pop stars this time around. I mean, Slava Butusov (whose songs comprised the soundtrack for the first Brat) is no Tchaikovsky, but he very well may seem so compared to the music we have here ("Good Bye America" and song by Aukcyon notwithstanding) . The atmosphere and visual style of the first Brat was also lost. Balabanov's shots of Moscow and Chicago don't even come near what he was able to pull off in St. Petersburgh. And, of course, the whole movie is not nearly as engrossing and compelling as the first installment. In interviews, Balabanov was saying that initially he was gonna stop after the first Brat, but then the idea for the follow-up happened to materialize. Well, he should've stuck to original considerations. Or maybe the man who gave us "Of Freaks And Men" just wanted to go commercial (in Russian terms, that is). Then again, it may depend on how you interpret this whole Russian patriotism thing. As far as I am concerned, the "kirdyk" to America didn't turn out to be that exciting.