Sex and the City 2

I watched the first film as someone who had only ever casually watched the show and didn't really care to do more than that. The first film didn't get the wit of the show but did try to have a bit of substance to it in some regards, even if it didn't work. The second film feels like someone has taken the decision that this should be more of an "event" than a film so instead of worrying too much about story and characters, what we should have is just an endless OTT parade of wealth. Very much like the wedding that opens it, the film is constantly excessive, gaudy and unnecessary. Some will love it for this as some sort of guilty pleasure but I'm not sure if it is what fans or casual viewers will warm to.

My understanding of the show was that, while it did have the wealthy and free of the NYC fashion world as its main characters, it did keep itself connected to reality for the majority of viewers so that, while some of it was big city fantasy, it did still have a realism and wit in regards friendships and relationships that viewers could relate to. There is none of that in this film, instead the characters (themselves living in comfort and wealth) are granted access to a world of extreme luxury that takes them far from reality and makes them pretty unlikeable and patronising for the majority of the time. In terms of plot there is not a lot going on. Each character has their own little thread and mostly they amount to very little since the majority of the time is spent with them enjoying their luxury. There are some smaller moments of potential (Miranda and Charlotte being honest about motherhood with one another) that are good but they are lost in the luxury and the long run time as our characters just run from one glamorous location to another.

Anything that is close to a plot is handled badly whether it be a device or a relationship theme. The loss of Carrie's passport is "put out there" in the middle of the film only to be resolved within seconds and used for a terribly pointless conclusion. Her relationship quandary (about not seeing her husband a few days a week) is nonsense (since she has issues with it the day before jetting off for weeks) and is also discussed in the most patronising way, with Carrie drawing from the example of her private butler having joy in only seeing his wife once a month (missing that he can only do this because he has to work all the time, serving people like Carrie, as opposed to it being a relationship choice). The thing about the nanny goes nowhere and is resolved with a piece of throwaway titillation (excuse the pun) that is as vapid as the character.

Although the majority of viewers will not be offended by it, it has to be said that SaTC2 is an incredibly insensitive film considering where it was made. In principle I have no issue with the "these women are just like us" message but when it is made in as clunky and unrealistic manner as it is in this film then it is hard not to scoff at it. Likewise the constant suggestion that the women of the Middle East are oppressed is badly done and only made worse by having Western "liberation" "celebrated" by having Samantha wearing a revealing outfit, simulate sexual intercourse in a crowd of men heading to morning prayers – I'm really not sure what part of that scene was not designed to cause religious offense.

The cast go with it but outside of the brief moments some of them get to be characters (eg discussing motherhood) none of them do anything of note. Much has been said of Parker's looks that is unfair and irrelevant to the film – her job as an actress is not to physically appeal to the viewer. However, it is hard to overlook this aspect when the film spends so much time troweling her in makeup to the point where she looks ridiculous. Her narration musings are so superficial that her delivery only sounds the same. Cattrall tries to be the Samantha she always was but it doesn't work and the material misses the chance to do anything smart or progressive with her; she is also hurt by having the lions' share of the culturally and religiously insensitive material and having to sell it as her being "right". Davis and Nixon have even less to do than these two, which is a shame because they both come over as the more natural and realistic of the four. The male cast are again mostly plot devices, although I thought that Noth's Big was a better character than normal – although maybe I just felt sorry for his situation here? SaTC2 doesn't have the decency to be a car-crash of a film, the sort of thing that you watch aghast, but nor is it any good whatsoever. It is gaudy, superficial, overlong, offensive, and full of missed potential and bad ideas. Removed from the City of the title and placed into a world of extreme opulence the film also pushes the fantasy so far that it prevents any meaningful connection for the casual viewer (which the show used to be able to do). I doubt that even fans of the show will be happy with this film.

WARNING: a few *small* spoilers.

The previous review says it all - but I still feel it necessary to add my two cents.

I, too, was a huge fan of the series...if only because the characters were interesting, and it was so refreshing to listen to realistic female characters discuss taboo topics such as sex.

I forced myself to watch the first movie. That was bad. This one...even worse. The characters have become utterly superficial, materialistic (in a way that's practically nauseating given the current state of the economy) - and completely 2 dimensional. The writing - cartoony and juvenile. Honestly, Carrie's the worst - the way the character acted in the film, I would personally have recommended that Mr. Big file for divorce. (Complaining because he wants to stay home and watch movies together, then forcing him to leave a party--that she dragged him to--early because he had a conversation with another woman?) Jeez.

As for Samantha - that character's gone completely over the top - sex crazed in a way that went way past racy and into plain vulgar.

Combine that with the incongruity of throwing the characters into a completely unrealistic situation (heading to Abu Dahbi?), and then disrespect that they show to Arab culture....well, this movie COULD NOT have been worse. Thank goodness that there's no way they'll make STC3. At least, I really, really hope not. How this ever could have been green lighted for production is totally beyond my comprehension.

This movie was unnecessary once again. I get it. These characters are fun characters and people like watching them interact but i just once again feel like there was nothing to be said once again.

The glaring issue is this movie is also too long. 2 and a half hours! That is 5 times the run time of a single episode of the original series. That is a big jump and i don't think it works especially when then story isn't there to support the long run time.

I actually found this movie slightly funnier than the previous but only by a slight margin. But i just couldn't get past the blah-ness.

Kim Cattrall is great as always but why she is also great is she's the only thing stopping them making a third movie, so good on her. They would keep making them because like i said people love these characters, i do too but i don't want to see them just like flounder around the screen not growing or developing. I said it in the last review that these characters have plateaued. They have reached their end and big surprise they ended once again where we started with them.

I do want to mention the start of this movie because it was the strangest thing id seen all week, Liza Minelli singing Single Ladies. That maybe even be enough to make the film watchable.

I AM female. I love to watch a good chic-flick. However, I was so disappointed. This movie has little to offer except constantly changing 'bizarre' costuming presented as high fashion and thoroughly embarrassing 'ugly American' scenes of over-indulged, entitled and rudely written characters. I went to the theater to enjoy a fun movie. I came away shaking my head. The movie was disrespectful to me as an American woman. Who acts like Samantha when in a foreign country, the Middle East or otherwise? As I watched the characters make total asses of themselves I was embarrassed for them simply sitting in the theater. It's no wonder other countries believe Americans lack respect for everyone and everything. Hollywood apparently does and wants everyone to know it. Unfortunately, the general public is judged by Hollywood--the American delivery system. It's not worth the money to see it. If you can get it on DVD for a buck, then judge for yourself.

After seeing the first Sex and the City movie, and finding it OKAY, I decided to take a stab at the second film. I am a huge fan of the HBO series, so i was naturally excited...

THE GOOD: Yes, there were some funny moments, and some nice things to look at (clothes, design, men). I liked most of the music choices, and I did enjoy the first 20 minutes or so of the film because it seemed as though it would be building up to something interesting, but just these few things alone could not have made a good enough movie for one of the best shows to ever air on television.

THE BAD: This movie had a lot of downfalls. Lets start with the plot (or lack there of). The audience was treated to four women that constantly complained about their "problems". I am not saying that their issues were not legitimate to regular women, but they did not present these issues in a way that would create an interesting plot..they were just seemingly simple problems that were over dramatized and annoying to listen to (lackluster marriage, boring job, declining hormones, having children...) In the middle of these "problems" we get to see how rich they are with their maids/nannys, change of expensive clothes every 4 minutes and fancy homes. All these things made it hard to sympathize with them. Yes, in the show we saw their lavish lifestyle, but this film was rubbing it in the audience's face, and it was a main part of the "storyline" when it really shouldn't have been. (plus, a lot of the clothing choices were NOT good)

It seemed as though they threw in the idea of going to Abu Dhabi just to make things interesting, but it just made things worse. I felt as though there was a mocking/ undermining quality to the way they portrayed middle eastern customs... But more importantly (to me) is the fact that when i think of the show and its title "Sex in the CITY" I think of that city as NYC, NOT Abu Dhabi (really, what were they thinking?)

Overall, i felt like this was a poorly executed film that had little resemblance to the show... I feel cheated.