Sex and the City

'Sex and the City,' based on the hilarious, poignant HBO comedy series of the same name, is grossly insulting. In a strong divorce from the series, the movie picks up five years after the series finale - where we find out that each one of the characters have become vapid, soulless versions of their former selves. Now, writer Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica Parker), and her friends Miranda Hobbes (Cynthia Nixon), Samantha Jones (Kim Cattrall), and Charlotte Goldenblatt (Kristen Davis) walk around New York obsessing over shoes, handbags, and love.

Carrie Bradshaw was, at the end of the show, an independent woman - not the needy girl she started out as. The movie turns it's back on Carrie's development as a character, shaping her into the stock romcom lead. Think Katherine Heigl with no charm. She is now painfully unfunny, shallow, and quite possibly retarded. She spends the first half the film setting herself up to have the man whom supposedly loves her jilt her - which he does. The second half of the film, Carrie spends complaining about literally everything, dying her hair brown, and discussing bags and love with a painfully useless, annoying Jennifer Hudson, as Carrie's new assistant Louise from Saint Louis.

CARRIE: "Louise from Saint Louis. Oh you brought me back to life." LOUISE: "And you gave me, Louise Vuitton."

Yes the writer of "The Real Me" and "A Woman's Right To Shoes" actually wrote this garbage.

Lawyer Miranda is now a frigid shrew who swats her deadbeat husband away like a fly every time he tries to get near her - and spends the entire 2.5 hours complaining about how marriage changed her, it made her move to Brooklyn. She is no longer likable, funny, or smart.

Meanwhile, housewife Charlotte spends the 2.5 hours prancing around like a little girl, screaming at the top of her lungs, and carrying her confused, Asian daughter around like a dog in a handbag. The problem with continuing Charlotte's storyline on the show is her storyline came to the only logical conclusion it could have had at the end of the show. Now, it' just a retread through old territory. Davis is ultimately given a thankless role in this film.

However, it is Samantha who is given the most honest adaptation. While certainly a cartoon version of her former self, Samantha's story revolves around her inability to maintain a monogamous relationship - despite being very much in love. However the payoff is ultimately ruined as Samantha is no longer human.

This incarnation of 'Sex' is so incredibly shallow - it basically acts a prop to advertise luxury goods. The most obvious scenes to illustrate this are when Carrie tries on designer wedding dresses for a Vogue shoot, which goes on for an excruciating 10 minutes, followed closely by Carrie and co. going through her closet trying to decide what to take to her new apartment with husband-to-be Big (Chris Noth). The scene is ultimately pointless as she is moving to a closet that is 10 times to the size - which, if you can imagine it - is actually a plot point in a film that will make you feel compelled to throw out every designer label you own. The show was about the importance of following your own trajectory, and self actualization. The film abandons this concept.

The queens of NYC are back in spectacular fashion. Is it Oscar worthy? No, but it doesn't need to be. The storyline is on brand for the emotional chaos that was the series, I would expect nothing less. I love the display of friendship and kindness that the women show to each other in this film.

...or at least try to be original?

Saying that "Sex and the City: The Movie" is just for the fans is unnecessary (like it was made for another audience, right?). Who else except die hard fans of the show will be crazy for this movie?

Is it predictable? Yes. Is it just a longer episode of the TV show? Yes. Is it funny? Depends. If you like the show, you'll laugh; if you don't, you won't. Simple as that.

It doesn't try or pretend to be art-house material or an Oscar contender (except for the costume design, of course), but it's definitely good entertainment and a pleasant couple of hours with buttery popcorn and a Red Bull. 7/10.

Since any opinion on this movie has to be tempered by sex and viewing history let me just make it clear up front that I am a man and, while I don't dislike the series, I didn't ever get into it beyond watching (and enjoying) the odd episode that someone else was watching in the same room as I was sitting. Please feel free to dismiss/accept my opinions accordingly in light of this information. My first proper reaction to the Sex & the City movie was to baulk at the running time, which struck me as pretty excessive for what it was. I was right on this as the film is longer than it probably deserves to be but at the same time it never dragged as badly as I expected. The characters are older now and, after the series ended, all partnered up to a certain degree and "happy" in their relationships. Carrie and Big have settled into a new flat and this has made Carrie think about commitment and legal connections – a path that leads to them deciding to get married. While Big gets nervous, Carrie goes planning crazy, Miranda sows the seeds of problems in her own marriage, Charlotte plays happy families and Samantha has it all except one thing.

This plot setup creates the focus of the film – less on the free-wheeling sex and modern relationships of the series and more on the pitfalls of a mature relationship. This offered more substance to carry the film from my point of view but unfortunately this was not to be the case here. For too much of the film the material is superficial and sentimental with "love" not ever being all that real and instead smacking of easy steps in the writing that focused on events rather than the characters. Fans may say that the show was never about great depths and, in my limited experience, I agree – it was witty, light and bubbly. The problem is that, the occasional moment aside, the film just isn't that way – understandably perhaps given the narrative demands of the platform and the running time. Problem is, without the witty swiftness of the series, something else is required and this is why the substance was important – and why the film is damaged by the lack of depth on this occasion.

This doesn't make a bad film but it does severely limit it to being "average" in the main content. What doesn't help at this time of recession (and the film was released during this period) is just how endlessly capitalist the whole thing. The audience needs to care for these characters and that is a little difficult when money is no object for them, retail therapy solves everything and so much dialogue is about expensive items. To top all that, given how easy it is to get product placement into a film about shopping why on earth did we have to have such clumsy and obvious product placement (the iPhone being the worst example). The cast do their usual shtick and all look good and play comfortably with their characters. Some reviews have criticised the four actresses but the material is to blame rather than them. The male cast are mainly just narrative devices and, with the exception of Eigenberg and possibly Noth.

The Sex and the City film is an average film with lots of problems. Generally this opinion is dismissed if it comes from a male non-fan but I cannot imagine that fans of the series are totally happy with this either. It doesn't manage to capture the spirit of the series but nor does it manage to replace it with anything else of note in regards depth or substance. It is glossy and professional enough to distract but if the plan was to continue the series through the occasional film then this is a pretty poor way to start off.

Let me preface this review by saying I have never seen any of the show or had any previous knowledge of this franchise. While this is not a film I would normally watch, my wife wanted to watch this and I was skeptical going in. I was pleasantly surprised to find that it was easy to jump in, 10 years of storytelling missed, and still easily got invested in each character. With a simple love story plot, my only complaint is that it is dragged out and begins to feel like multiple TV episodes stitched together, rather than a full film. All of the actresses are very well into their character and the bond they have feels genuine and they make it a delightful time. Did it convince me to go back and catch up? No, but it was a fun 2 1/2 hours spent and can easily be enjoyed by fans and newbies.