If Sex and the City was Star Wars for girls, then Sex and the City 2 is The Empire Strikes Back. They don't care if you like it. The devoted are heading to the Cineplex and they are ready to celebrate. Luckily, they have a good reason to smile.
It's two years later, and Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker) and the gang are back, but each one is dealing with new troubles.
Charlotte (Kristin Davis) is struggling to raise her two kids, and worries her hubby might develop eyes for her super sexy, amazing, beautiful, angelic, sweet and kind nanny (Alice Eve).
Samantha (Kim Cattrall) is using every cream, pill and exercise possible to fight off the onset of menopause.
Miranda (Cynthia Nixon) is fed up at work and can't stand her new boss (Ron White! Wow, after trying to appeal to every possible demographic with cameos by Penelope Cruz, Miley Cyrus, Liza Minnelli and more, the makers of this movie are willing to cast a member of the Blue Collar Comedy Tour to sell a few more tickets?!?! I guess they need every single possible penny. Maybe Larry The Cable Guy can show up in Sex and the City 3 as Big's driver to Git 'R Done in Gucci).
And, of course, Carrie and Big (Christopher Noth), are celebrating two years of wedded bliss and the release of her new book, but neither the new tome nor the marriage seems to be setting the world on fire as they start to worry their relationship is growing stale.
When Samantha gets an all expenses paid trip to Abu Dhabi to meet with a potential new client, and, of course, brings all of her pals, will each lady find the truth and answers they are seeking?
Is Abu Dhabi ready for them?
Writer/director Michael Patrick King is doing everything he can to make Sex and the City 2 a wish fulfillment movie for women everywhere, but he brings the right dialogue and story, while the ladies bring the right chemistry to make the movie a worthy successor to the first one, even if it is too long and drawn out.
Sex and the City 2 is a movie that delivers exactly what you expect, and that's what makes it entertaining. The opulence is on full display to make anyone who appreciates first class luxury to drool all over your popcorn and Milk Duds. The back and forth conversations and one-liners when the ladies get together are there to make you laugh, guffaw and gasp at the most outrageous statements (Samantha still is Samantha). The good looking dudes with six pack abs, no shirts and tight pants are there to raise the temperature in the theater to levels that make the desert feel chilly.
Most of all, the audience can sense King's attempts to make magical moments, hitting and missing in equal amounts. Moments that come from the heart, like Miranda and Charlotte having a discussion about the stresses and challenges of motherhood, make you laugh and tear up a bit as does the obvious camaraderie among the ladies and the supporting team.
However, other moments like a forced sing along or that appearance by Liza, scream for attention, feel manufactured, and lack any subtlety whatsoever. They are show stoppers in the wrong way.
Almost everyone who buys a ticket to Sex and the City 2 already feels it is the movie event of the summer, and you know many of those in the crowd are wearing their Sex and the City best while gossiping with their pals, so no need to force special moments. The moments are happening in that theater and the movie is not enhanced by the scenes you can see coming from a million miles away, or ones that overstay their welcome.
King's biggest weakness is taking a perfectly good 2 hour movie and stretching out too long into a 2 hour and 20 minute movie. Sex and the City 2 is dragging at times, and some sections need more tightening than ... no, I won't go there!
For example, the ladies have a Three Stooges-style exit from Abu Dhabi that could have been one scene instead of three or four, and it gets sillier and sillier until the audience is about to give up hope, only to have King rescue the sequence with the most appropriate saviors. He should have brought those saviors out earlier.
Recession? What recession? The ladies of Sex and the City still are sexy, sassy and living large as they fulfill every female fantasy and fairy tale.
3 Waffles (Out of 4)
Sex and the City 2 is rated R for some strong sexual content and language.
Charlotte (Kristin Davis) is struggling to raise her two kids, and worries her hubby might develop eyes for her super sexy, amazing, beautiful, angelic, sweet and kind nanny (Alice Eve).
Samantha (Kim Cattrall) is using every cream, pill and exercise possible to fight off the onset of menopause.
Miranda (Cynthia Nixon) is fed up at work and can't stand her new boss (Ron White! Wow, after trying to appeal to every possible demographic with cameos by Penelope Cruz, Miley Cyrus, Liza Minnelli and more, the makers of this movie are willing to cast a member of the Blue Collar Comedy Tour to sell a few more tickets?!?! I guess they need every single possible penny. Maybe Larry The Cable Guy can show up in Sex and the City 3 as Big's driver to Git 'R Done in Gucci).
And, of course, Carrie and Big (Christopher Noth), are celebrating two years of wedded bliss and the release of her new book, but neither the new tome nor the marriage seems to be setting the world on fire as they start to worry their relationship is growing stale.
When Samantha gets an all expenses paid trip to Abu Dhabi to meet with a potential new client, and, of course, brings all of her pals, will each lady find the truth and answers they are seeking?
Is Abu Dhabi ready for them?
Writer/director Michael Patrick King is doing everything he can to make Sex and the City 2 a wish fulfillment movie for women everywhere, but he brings the right dialogue and story, while the ladies bring the right chemistry to make the movie a worthy successor to the first one, even if it is too long and drawn out.
Sex and the City 2 is a movie that delivers exactly what you expect, and that's what makes it entertaining. The opulence is on full display to make anyone who appreciates first class luxury to drool all over your popcorn and Milk Duds. The back and forth conversations and one-liners when the ladies get together are there to make you laugh, guffaw and gasp at the most outrageous statements (Samantha still is Samantha). The good looking dudes with six pack abs, no shirts and tight pants are there to raise the temperature in the theater to levels that make the desert feel chilly.
Most of all, the audience can sense King's attempts to make magical moments, hitting and missing in equal amounts. Moments that come from the heart, like Miranda and Charlotte having a discussion about the stresses and challenges of motherhood, make you laugh and tear up a bit as does the obvious camaraderie among the ladies and the supporting team.
However, other moments like a forced sing along or that appearance by Liza, scream for attention, feel manufactured, and lack any subtlety whatsoever. They are show stoppers in the wrong way.
Almost everyone who buys a ticket to Sex and the City 2 already feels it is the movie event of the summer, and you know many of those in the crowd are wearing their Sex and the City best while gossiping with their pals, so no need to force special moments. The moments are happening in that theater and the movie is not enhanced by the scenes you can see coming from a million miles away, or ones that overstay their welcome.
King's biggest weakness is taking a perfectly good 2 hour movie and stretching out too long into a 2 hour and 20 minute movie. Sex and the City 2 is dragging at times, and some sections need more tightening than ... no, I won't go there!
For example, the ladies have a Three Stooges-style exit from Abu Dhabi that could have been one scene instead of three or four, and it gets sillier and sillier until the audience is about to give up hope, only to have King rescue the sequence with the most appropriate saviors. He should have brought those saviors out earlier.
Recession? What recession? The ladies of Sex and the City still are sexy, sassy and living large as they fulfill every female fantasy and fairy tale.
3 Waffles (Out of 4)
Sex and the City 2 is rated R for some strong sexual content and language.
