For movie lovers

Sunday, June 6, 2010

Sex and the City 2

Let me make a couple claims before I begin this review. Yes, I watched Sex and the City the show, although not for many years later on DVD. Yes, I saw the first Sex and the City movie. However, I am not now, nor have I ever been the die-hard fan that many people are. With that said, I appreciate that there will be people who disagree with this review (not movie critics though).

Sex and the City 2 was just not a great movie. It was barely even a good movie. Come on, girls, lets be honest. The show had original and relate-able stories and characters; stories about love, friendship, adversity, and hope. I loved the way the show portrayed the difficulty of being a working woman, learning to balance men, friends, work, play, fashion, heck even cancer. It was a GREAT show. They never should have even made them into movies to begin with (although, I did like the first movie just fine). But, point remains, the show should have been allowed to stand on its own feet, to be the innovative series that it was.

The movies have turned the series into exactly what people criticized the show for without seeing any episodes; vapid and empty. Sure, its got pretty colors and lots of nice clothes (although, seriously, what was with that stupid headband at the wedding that Carrie was wearing??) but it had nothing else, it didn't even have a good story. At least the first movie had a decent story line. The second movie was just a sparkly advertisement for Abu Dhabi, !hello! I want New York!! Sex and the City 2 follows Miranda as she quits her job (totally out of character for Miranda, the hardworking, committed lawyer); Charlotte as she deals with the difficulty of raising children (always her dream in the show, always the optimist now the reluctant realist); Samantha as she attempts to subdue menopause and still find the hottest man in the room (too bad she can't just embrace her age at this point like she did with cancer); and as always Carrie in her self-complicated relationship with Big (which she, after all these years, still can't be satisfied with).

Sex and the City 2 just totally missed the boat for me. There was a glimmering moment when Miranda and Charlotte are discussing the trials and hardships of motherhood that had me hearkening back to the Sex and the City days of old; days of depth and warmth and the struggles that made these four characters so loved by those who watched them. Aside from this and a few other scenes (NOT the entire wedding part, NOT Liza Minnelli, NOT the totally unbelievable part with Carrie and Aiden, NOT the Aladdin version of the Middle East) there was little that remains from the show; little that was worth watching.

If you are a Sex and the City fan, then I'm sure if you haven't already seen it, you will regardless of what anyone says about it. But for anyone else, don't feel like you've missed much, just rewatch the show instead. I just hope they don't make another movie.

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-Emily