So as far as campy drag flicks go, Hurricane Bianca was fine, even serviceable. In my review of that movie, I noted the implausibility of the situations and the stupidity of most of the cast of characters. Well... this sequel really upped those elements here. I must go into spoilers for the last film and to a lesser extent this one so you get an idea of just how much.
A year or so after the events of the first film, Richard is still working at the same school and is now the most popular teacher among the students. He is notified of a prestigious teaching award he supposedly won AS BIANCA, and is expected to accept in person at a science fair in Russia. Without a second thought, packs all his drag and his clothing and hops on the first flight out of Texas. But ruh-roh! Turns out the "award" is a more-elaborate-than-necessary ruse cooked up by Debbie, the former assistant principal at Richard's school, fresh out of jail for attempted murder and assault of a minor, and the mother of Carly, the teacher Richard beat out for the Teacher of the Year award at the end of the first film. Knowing that the anti-LGBT laws are brutal in Russia, she lures Richard there in the hopes that he would be arrested or even killed in drag.
To complicate things further, Richard is somehow now responsible for a friend of his, a recovering drug addict named Rex whose drug use has rendered him brain damaged beyond all probability, but somehow he is still alive. I call this guy Pod Person Willam, because he really comes across as a less intelligent, more insane and incredibly pallid "body snatcher" version of the much-loved drag queen, who does not return for this sequel. That said, he does have maybe one or two funny and poignant lines, and some dialogue with Carly that really isn't all that bad.
Anyway, as one would expect, things run amuck almost immediately upon Richard's arrival. The hotel he lives in is absolute crapola, his drag is confiscated, Debbie is in the next room spying on him and Rex and Debbie's daughter are thrown in jail. Richard and Debbie must now team up to save them, but not without the help of bestie Shangela who, after having dumped Rex in Richard's lap to compete on RuPaul's Drag Race, hightails it to Russia to provide Richard (and herself) with drag in order to trick the guards into thinking they are women chosen for a prison experiment to turn Rex straight. All the while, despite seemingly calling a truce, Debbie still wants to get her revenge on Richard.
Whew! This plot is so convoluted especially for what's supposed to be a sequel to a light drag film. Everything feels so much darker, and it really doesn't help that the majority of the film takes place in the dreariest corners of Russia (not that a bum town in Texas is a huge upgrade from that, although there is a clever joke about that toward the end of the film). This film has an ugly look to it that the glamour of the drag costumes simply do not make up for. And yeah, the drag is not as good this time around, part of the reason being that Richard's gets confiscated and he has to make do with cheap wigs and makeup before Shangela arrives with the kitty. The only drag queen who really glams it up is the Drag Race fanbase's beloved Katya, in this film known as scientist Mitya out of drag. Bianca herself doesn't show up all that much until the last third of the film, appearing mainly in very short dream sequences for most of the movie (one of which leads to a fourth-wall joke that isn't very funny). Speaking of not showing up all that much, Karma has maybe a two-second cameo at the end of the film, despite being an essential character in the original movie.
As for the plot, I find it hard to believe that a man as smart as Richard would fall for this trap, especially considering he outed himself at the Teacher of the Year ceremony and revealed that Bianca was non-existent. And the character change in Carly seems so forced, I can't really see it as any sort of growth. Where in the first film she went along with everything her mother said and was pretty devious herself, in this one she is a lot more reluctant and is always (rightfully) looking at her mother as though she is insane.
Still, the entertainment value is present here and there are some salvageable things, like Mitya and Richard's romance, which has a sweet, awkward charm to it like all budding romances. Bianca's biting wit, though downgraded to fifth-grade cutbacks in Debbie's dreams (which is believable since Debbie isn't particularly sharp and is only badly imagining what Bianca would say to her), is still there, along with Katya hilariously delivering exposition on some of the more minor characters. And there are many more Drag Race cameos (a few of which appear in the jail scenes which are completely unrealistic but add light to an otherwise bleak situation), plus an appearance from the legendary Lady Bunny herself! And finally, the opening credits sequence is a thing of beauty and God help me, I really love the song the chose for it.
So... is it the worst? Well, it's not Cherry Pop (next review, kids), but it really isn't great either. Still, there is lots of fan service for those who love the first film and the queens of Drag Race. If that's enough for you, and you can suspend your disbelief for the duration of this film, you might actually enjoy Hurricane Bianca: From Russia with Hate.
