Hurricane Bianca: From Russia with Hate

Never have I wanted a sequel so bad and get so disappointed because of it. The thing is, it's not Bianca's fault, it's not any of the stars faults...except one person. The character of Rex, played by... someone who needed the money, was a stale, unnecessary addition that lacked any sort of comedic flavor to an already b-rated flick. I am usually very open minded about characters but this was UNBEARABLE.

Though I love Bianca Del Rio this was one of the worst examples of camp comedy I've seen. It mansplained everything mostly through Debbie and the annoying Rex, who was shoehorned into the plot in the most unfunny way and whose purpose and timing ruined an already poorly written script. I paused it twice just to stop gritting my teeth. Though it touched on certain individual and community issues in the male gay community, it was too clumsy to make most of them clear or sympathetic - which is the hallmark of good camp comedy.

While it feels like every fan of Bianca is gushing over this film, I cannot. It was enjoyable at some base level, but it lacked the self awareness and comedy of the first while somehow feeling cheaper. The script is just bad. Plot, dialog, jokes, nothing lands or works with these characters. Nothing in the plot made sense, the situations were completely unbelievable and resolution was lazy and pointless. I mean a plot isn't everything if you enjoy the characters and journey... but no one was relatable, just wooden stereotypes beaten to within an inch of their lives.

...When a certain drag queen made her cameo (you'll know it when you see it). The fact that this movie squanders the talents of such an obviously talented cast makes it feel like an embarrassment. I love RuPaul's Drag Race, Katya, Bianca Del Rio, Shangela, Cheyenne Jackson, Rachel Dratch: nearly the entire cast (except the guy who plays Rex, Paul Hault? who was both overused and irritating in this movie) but they need a script that makes use of their comedic chops. While Bianca Del Rio and Katya are absolutely hysterical in certain contexts their dialogue does them no favors and the plot allows them no chances to be clever. Rachel Dratch's Debbie comes off like a 2-D small-town caricature. I wanted to like this movie and I feel like with the right people at the script level the cast could really shine, however Hurricane Bianca is a storm in which the lightning did not strike twice, (or once, if we're being honest).

Ehhh...I love Bianca, but dear lawd the first movie was so much better. I can't say it was a terrible movie, but I wouldn't say I will watch this again. I was expecting much more. I would have thought Netflix should have picked this production up, but it doesn't seem like that happened....