"Sex and the City 2" has nothing on the HBO series and isn't nearly as good as the first film. However, as a huge fan of the franchise, I still enjoyed it because I got to see the girls on the big screen.This film picks up two years after the first "SATC" movie. Carrie and Big are married and still living in NYC, but Carrie's afraid they're in a bit of a rut. Meanwhile, Samantha is struggling with menopause, Miranda's irritated with her new boss, and Charlotte's kids are driving her crazy. When Samantha lands an all-expenses paid trip for all four girls to enjoy a week of luxury accommodations in Abu Dhabi, all four women are thrilled at the chance to escape from reality for a little while. During the trip, Carrie is shocked to run into her ex-fiance, Aidan, in the middle of a Middle Eastern marketplace. How will this chance encounter affect her relationship with Big? Watch the movie to find out.
Here are some of the pros and cons of the movie. (Warning: I'm going to go into some spoilers that weren't included in the movie trailers.)
PROS
+ It's another "SATC" movie! If you love the girls, you will enjoy this movie at least a bit. How could you not?!
+ Although there was some Big/Carrie drama, it was refreshing that everything stemmed from Carrie's behavior this time. For once, Mr. Big didn't do something massively awful to screw the relationship up, which was refreshing to see.
+ The gay wedding was super over-the-top and ridiculous, but very funny to watch. It was also hilarious to see who was getting married (I won't spoil that surprise for you!).
+ Yes, some of the Abu Dhabi scenes were a little much, but I loved the luxury hotel scenes, and when Samantha started flashing condoms and screaming "Bite me!" to an angry mob of religious men, I wanted to applaud.
+ The girls get up and sing karaoke! And they do a good job! Who knew Kim Cattrall could sing so well?!
+The biggest pro for me...THANK GOD the film didn't feel the need to give Carrie and Big a freakin' baby. I am so sick and tired of society telling people that they need children in order to lead happy and fulfilled lives. Carrie and Big have a great relationship, a gorgeous home, and a rich life together. My husband and I are also child-free, and we get so many odd reactions from people when we have to explain that not having kids is our choice. I could very much relate to that scene with Carrie, Big, and the other married couple at the gay wedding, and I'm so glad the producers handled this issue the way they did.
CONS
Unlike the first "SATC" movie, Samantha, Charlotte, and Miranda really took a backseat to Carrie in this film. Their respective subplots were all glossed over and were mainly used as filler material, which was disappointing.
With the exception of Mr. Big, the other supporting characters like Steve and Smith only had about two minutes of screen time each, which was another bummer.
The girls are still sexy and the clothes are still great. I love Kim Cattrall and I think she's gorgeous, but Samantha is supposed to be 52 years old now, and some of her outfits and makeup kind of made her look like a drag queen. It was very sad. Women can be sexy at any age, but that doesn't mean they can pull off any and every look.
Another character that wasn't featured in the film as much as it should have been was New York City! The city itself was such a central focus of the series and of the first movie. I don't think this film did it justice at all.
I enjoyed the gay wedding, but Liza Minnelli singing Beyonce's "Single Ladies" was too much. Seriously. All through the number, I kept whispering, "Make it stop!"
We all know that "SATC" is all about over-the-top fashions, but this movie took things a new level of extreme. On several occasions when Carrie stepped out in a crazy ensemble, everyone in the theatre could be heard muttering, "Seriously?!"
Why did Aidan have to show up?! Sorry, but I have always been on Team Big. I though this Middle Eastern run-in was super unrealistic. Boo!
Finally, if I ever kiss a man other than my husband, I doubt that my hubby will react by rushing out to a jewelry store and buying me the biggest diamond ring he can find. I'm just sayin'.
Overall, I enjoyed the movie, and I'm sure most die-hard "SATC" fans will like it as well. However, I hope that a "SATC3" is in the works, and that it's much better than this film.
The gay wedding scene, for me was not that bad, the Liza Minnelli "single ladies" performance, I could deal with that, I thought it was slightly funny.
Carrie started whining about not going out every night, really Carrie; you are 1,000 years old, too old to be on the scene all of time. Younger women laugh at older women like Carrie's character who are always on the scene; you look pathetic. I am not married but the t.v. in the bedroom and Carrie thinking she is too cool to stay in w/ her husband being a big problem in the marriage was lame, immature, and made Carrie look like an old pathetic brat.
For the first time Miranda was actually the cool one; she was more chilled out, and the only person who was the voice of reason on their trip to Abu Dhabi.
Charlotte, a dumb plot, I mean storyline; there was no plot. Who is going to allow their nanny to walk & play around their children and husband w/o wearing a bra; come on.
The trip to Abu Dhabi was pointless, I was expecting the plot to begin once they arrived in the U.A.E. That did not happen. There was no plot. I have been to the U.A.E. I thought they would use the movie as a platform to break stereotypes about the middle east, they just reinforced them. The biggest one is that all women in that part of the world wear a veil, not true. Many of the women dress just like us. Samantha seemed tired and trashy,in America if a women grabs her dates crotch in the middle of a restaurant there would be plenty of people who would by outraged by it, why make it seem like the middle east is overly sexually repressed in that situation.
I was done when Carrie ran into Aidan in Abu Dhabi, so dumb. Kissing him, calling her husband to tell him about her misstep, and upon her return home he rewards her with a diamond. I pretty sure that just does not happen.
I was hoping the ladies would be growing old gracefully and being an example to younger women about accepting who you are at every age. But instead Carrie is old and whiny, Charlotte is an airhead, Samantha is a tired tramp, and all wore bad make up and even worse clothes.
Buy Sex and the City 2 (2010) Now
This. Movie. Was. Just. Too. Much. It showed absolutely no restraint on all fronts. There were so many reasons to hate this movie, but I'll name a few:1) It was another road trip. I think the rationale for setting this movie in the middle east was something like, The audiences enjoyed the exotic road trip scenes in the the first movie, so let's create that. Plus the girls will have the opportunity to wear some bright, showy clothing.
2) It was culturally insensitive. The movie was written so that ladies would applaud at the strong women being strong women and sexually liberated antics, but when it is done at the expense of another person's culture, it is wrong. They should have hired a consultant from the middle east to run a sensitivity check on some of these scenes. It just felt like the typical American egocentric, index-finger shaking stance of "Our way of life is the right way to live. Your culture is backward!" Let the middle eastern people live in the manner they see fit. They didn't ask for Americans to validate them and bless their way of life. I just feel like whatever problems they may have is their cultural battle to fight, not ours. I cannot stand the black and white thinking. It feels so sophomoric. I hate when other countries talk crap about America, especially when they don't live here.
If a country is "sexually repressed" and you are not, I think the smartest thing to do would be not to visit. It is not liberating to pretend that you are somehow helping the women of that country by pushing your values on them. It's silly and imperialistic. There was a scene with one of the girls raving in a souk, that was absolutely cringe-worthy and horrifying.
3) The older the women get, the more childish they seem to act. Instead of embracing age with dignity and grace, one of the girls is desperate to turn back the clock. Everyone has to get old, everyone has to die, no amount of Louboutins or Herve Leger dresses is going to stop that from happening. Why not be a role model, show us young-ins how to age with grace, and make way for the new generation? Everything has a season.
4) I get it; you guys are rich! It was so so so upsetting to see the amount of wealth and waste that went into the movie and it was celebrated! In the middle of an economic and environmental crisis, there was just too much excess.
Before I saw the movie, I thought, during the second world war, MGM and other studios made these lavish films to take people minds of the war and depression, to give them an escape. But in this day and age it didn't quite work. I think it's because audiences know too much. Thanks to Sex and the City, Cribs, E! Entertainment television, VH1, Material(istic) Rap, etc, we know exactly how much a Maybach costs. We know exactly how much their suite costs. We know that designer clothes are not cheap and that wearing them to ride a camel it somewhat akin to Marie Antoinette saying, "Let them eat cake!" in reference to the poor French masses. We're riding camels in the Middle East wearing couture! Eat cake America (or should I say, "Wear couture America!")! The movie makers throw it in our faces and we know exactly what it costs. And more importantly, we no longer view celebrities in that soft focus kind of naive way. I know that SJP works out like a dog to maintain her body. I know that she is proud to flash her legs every chance the script gives her. (Her body is great, but sometimes it was a bit excessive as well.) I know that the reason why Kristen Davis's face doesn't move freely is due to Botox and fillers. The bubble on the dream has burst.
The movie's makers thinks it pulled back in respect of the economy. What was the first script like? Did they each charter their own private plane to Abu Dhabi? Carrie says that she and big downsized with respect to an apartment. Ha! Okay, thanks, for trimming a little bit of fat off the giant prime rib.
5) This movie tried to tackle too many things: marriage troubles, relationships troubles, sexual liberation, existentialism. It sinks in a quick sand of corniess and lacks direction. At one point the script even relies on a silly " on the look out" spy trope, where their heads pop out from around a corner in a synchronized fashion. I thought, "what am I watching!?" Sex and the City the TV show was too sophisticated to rely on such tired comedy. Sex and the City is having an existential crisis. I don't think that it was a show that ever meant for the big screen.
6) Frat boy humor comedy. From four ladies in their 40s and 50s--NO!
7) I get it! Samantha has sex. I just no longer want to see her do it. It doesn't come off as funny to see her with some guy on top of her. It is feels a bit demeaning because we've seen this before and there isn't a hilarious payoff. Sex scene with no meaning is just filler. Kim Catrall is too gorgeous and too good of an actress to be used like that.
8) No more heavy black eyeliner on Sarah Jessica Parker. It just makes her eyes looks small. Not flattering. Not sexy. Actually, the make-up in general was too dark and heavy on all of the ladies.
There is probably a lot more. I wish they showed more NY and delved deeper in an organized way into the girl's issues. I thought Carrie, Miranda, and Charlotte's problems were the most interesting because the are universal. How do you define yourself after you have been married? How do you balance parenthood and self? How do you define yourself after a physical change? Why couldn't it have been a movie about the existential crisis, with nice clothes? If there is a next time, don't flash the clothing brands in my face (sorry advertisers!); let me wonder where they came from.
Ladies, maybe we can have it all. You just can't have it "all" at once and you certainly can't have it forever. But frankly, after seeing this movie, I think all is too much.
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Where do I start? Let me start with the ugly, jarring harsh makeup. What happened to SJP's lovely face? It looked like her original face was made of latex and then melted over a gas stove and stretched. Sweetheart--you're too OLD to have long dark two-toned hair. You're also too old to be that thin. SJP had the sex appeal of a dried-out stalk of wheat in this movie. Her character, Carrie, is unrecognizable now. The imperfect bubbly cute Carrie has been replaced by this humorless stretched out elitest shrew. She's the kind of woman now that Carrie would not have liked in the series. She's awful to everyone in the movie--condescending to the other characters. In fact, all of them are incredibly rude to "lesser" people--servents, foreigners (they're only foreigners after all!).Worst things (for me):
-Samantha's wardrobe. WHY do they insist dressing Kim Cattrall like a bad drag queen version of Joan Crawford? She has a lovely figure and they always stick her in these ridiculous hard-edged power suits with enormous shoulder pads.
-Samantha also got the honor of saying the worst line of the movie "Lawrence of my labiaaaa!" which was embarrassing to witness
-Miranda was tolerable, except when she lowered the window of the car in the desert, screeching like she was at a sports bar at the goat herders at the side of the road--just culturally tin-eared and disrespectful and they seemed to rush to herd back the goats who were startled, glaring at this over-privileged moron in a $400,000 Mercedes
-Charlotte gets camel toe. Oh goody. More vulva jokes! Really? Does Charlotte have to be humiliated in some scatalogical way now in every movie? The spoiled entitled American idiocy of her holding out her phone yelling about reception on top of the camel was also atrocious. Again, completely disrespectful and something Charlotte of old would NEVER have done
-Carrie's prudish covering up of Samantha at every turn, but she shows up to meet Aiden (after hilariously kohling her squinty tired-looking eyes to even smaller proportions) in a thigh-baring cleavage-revealing top and skirt.
-Mr. Big, the true virile man's man, posing like a ponce-y English Noel Coward in brown satin pajamas holding a teeny tiny teacup and saucer.
-They ask Samantha what she's eating, even though most normal people, and particularly supposedly sophisticated people from New York City have known what HUMMUS is since like 1991.
I was a huge SATC fan, and I enjoyed the first movie, but this movie was the kind of irritating where you want to kick something or drink. My beloved characters were ruined.
Want Sex and the City 2 (2010) Discount?
Wow. Just. WOW.And not "wow" in a good way, either! Sex in the City 2 starts where the first movie left off. I'm a fan of the original HBO series and even though that show didn't exactly do much for empowering women, it was still a guilty pleasure of mine. After all, there's nothing wrong with girls enjoying fashion, makeup, fabulous lifestyles in fabulous places, and MEN... Even if some negative stereotypes separating the genders were still enforced even if the show supposedly broke boundaries.
The first movie was unnecessary, in my opinion, and this second movie is even less necessary. And yet, I willed myself to see them both -it's just something one has to do if you're a fan of the show, and the makers of these films were definitely banking on the original fan base to sell this mess. It's clear the writers are different for this movie compared to the original show, because even though Carrie is just as lame with her stupid puns (which she THINKS are so clever) in this movie, the "wittiness" in these movies is more just for the sake of having some jokes rather than having the witticisms be part of Carrie's personality.
*** spoilers ***
I thought it was inconsistent with the characters' personalities that Steve would cheat on Miranda and they'd break up. I don't know if other people think differently, but that's just the way the movie hit me. I thought the subplot with Carrie and Aiden kissing in the Middle East was flat out forced and just stupid.
AND most important to me of all is that this movie is insultingly ignorant of women's issues in the Middle East.
Utterly ridiculous.
Subplots with Charlotte and Big and Samantha were all just excuses to bring familiar characters around for an extended SATC episode. Nothing shocking, though it tries to be. It's just all familiar, tired ground, and not interesting.
-and the karaoke scene! SO painful my stomach hurt, I was so embarrassed just watching it.
Rich, stupid, aging women act like teenage tramps in a foreign land and completely disrespect that country's customs. One can challenge a society's views without coming off as an ignorant snob, and yet that's exactly how these women came off.
YAWN.
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