Review By: Windy
Windy reviews “Sex And The City 2". Take a swing by her website and check out what she’s been up to lately.
Sex and the City 2 (SATC), directed my Michael Patrick King and starring Sarah Jessica Parker, Kim Cattrall, Kristin Davis and Cynthia Nixon, opens with aerial views of New York City skyscrapers and “Empire State of Mind” by Alicia Keys and Jay-Z playing in the background.
The opening scene features Carrie Bradshaw/Preston leaving her apartment in a casual white dress, reflective gold oversized sunglasses and a pair of gold sequin stilettos to match. Per the usual SATC style, Carrie narrates most of the story, starting with how she met Charlotte (Davis), Miranda (Nixon) and Samantha (Cattrall) in the 80’s and 90’s. Each character is shown in a brief flashback to illustrate how they looked back then.
Carrie had two looks – the first with Converse (which have made a comeback) and a spiral perm, and the second as a Madonna doppelganger. Charlotte looked the exact same – like a brunette Martha Stewart with a sweater tied around her shoulders. Miranda was a typical late 80’s/early 90’s business woman in a suit with oversized shoulder pads, nylons, and gym shoes walking briskly down the street. Samantha was a foul-mouthed punk rocker.
Everything about this film is over the top. It starts out with a same-sex marriage with a Broadway choir singing as people enter and is officiated by Liza Minelli. For the reception, Minelli dons a sparkling shirt and sings Beyonce’s “All the Single Ladies”. Kudos to Minelli, though. She has some legs and some moves.
Because of Samantha’s public relations connections, she is invited on a trip to Abu Dhabi. Of course she can’t go without the girls, so the adventures begin while Carrie and John (“Big”) are reaching a troubled spot in their marriage, Samantha is hitting and fighting menopause, Miranda has quit her job and Charlotte is struggling with exhaustion and worries of infidelity.
The one bright spot in these troubles is that without a job, Miranda seems to come to life with vibrancy. Nixon is given the chance for her character to be the glue in the group, trying to bring happiness to everyone. Usually she’s the downer, struggling with work and family. This is a welcome change.
The film is filled with clichés, from ultra-conservative Middle Easterners and hard-bodied World Cup players to flea market (souk) scoundrels trying to sell knock-off Rolexes and Birkin bags.
Additionally, unlike the first film, which followed a central plot, this film has several different plots playing out at once, making it hard to concentrate on one of them at any given time. The girls get into a lot of high jinx throughout the film, which comes across as a desperate attempt to get a laugh. These implausible scenes take away from the core of the movie – the relationship between the women and with their men.
Ultimately, there is too much of everything in this film (as the billboard would say – they got “Carried” away) making the audience unsympathetic to the characters.
Sex and the City is a great series. However, the film needs to stay just there – in the city – to keep the audience in love with the characters.
5 out of 10 sandwiches. Hold the pickle.
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