New York, New York, it’s a helluva town. So why leave it? The problem with Sex and the City 2 is that it’s a venture too far – some might say in many regards.
The film’s plot follows the ladies who wax on a trip to the Middle East, and spends far too much time in the heart of Abu Dhabi. The effects of this journey shoehorn the characters out of their niches. Charlotte becomes the neurotic one, Miranda becomes Charlotte and Carrie becomes Big. Samantha, whose character was ruined in the last film by her relationship with bland-but-hunky Smith, is back on form in SATC2, and all the better for it.
The film has been criticised for being shallow, demeaning to women and even borderline racist. Yet, at the heart of it, something that many a fan wanted from the first installment lies somewhat unnoticed: something that resembles an actual episode from the series. SATC2 would have done marvellously as a two-part season (but not series) finale when the franchise was just a humble television show on a premium cable network in the States. With plenty of set-pieces, guest stars and one-liners (the best of which belong to Samantha), the second film is much more in line with the HBO series than the first, and in that sense, it really delivers to the fans – it’s just not suited to the world of cinema.
And on that note, seeing the girls ‘larger than life’ reveals a number of truly cringeworthy Lady Gaga-esque fashion choices that would have gone less noticed were the screen not so big. How Carrie got through customs with some of her hats is just ludicrous.
SATC is often materialistic and horrendously upper-class – but it knows it. When asked how a woman could raise her child without the help of a nanny, Miranda admits “I have no fucking idea!” Still, the franchise is outrageously addictive for the fans, and that’s what this film is really about. Keeping Carrie’s old apartment doesn’t really make sense, given that she’s married and moved in with Big, but seeing her at that familiar window, typing at her Mac and looking out as Big comes to pick her up is just the sort of stuff the fans clamour for, and if your average cinema-goer doesn’t like it, well, I’m not surprised.
The film’s message is pretty simple, and uttered by Carrie quite close to the start – tradition “sneaks in.” You can’t expect SATC to change for the cinema, and there will always be TV fans who want more of the same, regardless of screen size. And those people are probably reading this in the voice of Sarah Jessica Parker. Come on. We all do it. Knock two stars off if you don’t like the show.
Reviews are generally a matter of opinion, but this one seems *objectively wrong* – this film is NOTHING like the series, and as Hadley Freeman argues in The Guardian (
http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2010/may/23/sex-and-the-city-film-terrible) pretty much kills everything SATC held dear– indeed it’s pretty much “NO sex and NO city.”
There is ONE good joke in the film, the rest is plain racist and an insult to most viewers’ intelligence.
Seriously. I may only have watched since I was old enough to have a TV in my room and stay up past my bed-time, but I’ve still seen every episode of the series and I stand by my opinion.
Let’s take the season 5 finale, for example – we spend the entire episode outside of Manhatten in the Hamptons, and each of the girls are pushed beyond their niches – Charlotte falls for a less-than-charming suitor, Carrie becomes a neurotic mess and Miranda has confusing feelings about Steve and the baby; it’s the same one-shot concept that drives SATC2.
As for this ‘no sex and no city’ business, well, arguably there’s two cities and plenty of sex. Which was the one funny joke to you? I found a dozen. At no point did I personally find the film racist – it’s a surprisingly unfiltered portrayal of uptight socialites from NY in a foreign land. Just be glad New Line Cinema didn’t send Paris Hilton to the Middle East. As with the series, the film doesn’t intentionally discriminate against anyone but the girls, who once again find themselves embarrassed or at a loss for their behaviour. Just as they were ejected from the playboy mansion in the show, they’re kicked out of the hotel in the film (in both cases, courtesy of Samantha).
I think there’s a number of reasons I don’t review for the Guardian – I’m happy for this to be one of them, though.