Sex and the City 2
Year: 2010
Directed by: Michael Patrick King
Starring: Kim Cattrall, Kristin Davis, Cynthia Nixon & Sarah Jessica Parker
Runtime: 147 mins
BBFC: 15
Published: 21/08/20
Directed by: Michael Patrick King
Starring: Kim Cattrall, Kristin Davis, Cynthia Nixon & Sarah Jessica Parker
Runtime: 147 mins
BBFC: 15
Published: 21/08/20
A lot has happened to me in three years, lots and lots of very exciting things (and some not-so exciting things), but now I can add watching the entirety of Sex and the City to that long list of things. I had an on and off relationship with the TV series, much like the on and off relationship main character Carrie Bradshaw has with Mr. Big. But overall, I felt the TV series was fun and certainly had some great moments in it. The first film I quite enjoyed. It felt very much cut from the cloth of the show, as though it had always been there, like the season 7 that never came to be. But now comes the time for Sex and the City 2, the 2010 sequel to the 2008 film that I had extremely low expectations for considering what the critics had said about the film. But forget those guys, what did I think?
It’s been 2 years since the events of the first film. Carrie & Big have been happily married for some time, but Carrie fears they are falling into a boring routine and losing their spark. Where she would like to go out to restaurants and social events with her husband in tow, Big would rather sit at home watching TV on the sofa and order takeaway. Carrie fears that they have become too settled in too short a time. Charlotte meanwhile is struggling to look after her two daughters, having enlisted the help of a nanny in order to give her and Harry a little help raising the children. However, the nanny’s breasts seem to be a sore subject for her when she realises Harry has a habit of staring at them. Charlotte, naturally, as the level-headed woman she is, immediately thinks Harry is going to cheat on her and so her relationship is put in jeopardy. Miranda is happy at home with Steve and her son, but her work life always seems to be getting the better of her (as usual), but rather than play the victim this time she quits and decides to take some time off. Finally, Samantha is, well, Samantha. A new man between her legs at every given opportunity, and not letting her fifties or menopause get the better of her.
Thanks to business connection of Samantha’s the girls take a trip to Abu Dhabi where they can each take the time they need to recharge. But for Carrie, it leaves her questioning her commitments to the vows she made to Big when long lost lover Aidan resurfaces in the unlikeliest of places.
It’s been 2 years since the events of the first film. Carrie & Big have been happily married for some time, but Carrie fears they are falling into a boring routine and losing their spark. Where she would like to go out to restaurants and social events with her husband in tow, Big would rather sit at home watching TV on the sofa and order takeaway. Carrie fears that they have become too settled in too short a time. Charlotte meanwhile is struggling to look after her two daughters, having enlisted the help of a nanny in order to give her and Harry a little help raising the children. However, the nanny’s breasts seem to be a sore subject for her when she realises Harry has a habit of staring at them. Charlotte, naturally, as the level-headed woman she is, immediately thinks Harry is going to cheat on her and so her relationship is put in jeopardy. Miranda is happy at home with Steve and her son, but her work life always seems to be getting the better of her (as usual), but rather than play the victim this time she quits and decides to take some time off. Finally, Samantha is, well, Samantha. A new man between her legs at every given opportunity, and not letting her fifties or menopause get the better of her.
Thanks to business connection of Samantha’s the girls take a trip to Abu Dhabi where they can each take the time they need to recharge. But for Carrie, it leaves her questioning her commitments to the vows she made to Big when long lost lover Aidan resurfaces in the unlikeliest of places.
I think it’s fair to say Sex and the City 2 is among the weakest Sex and the City stories across all mediums. The plot is full of so many contrivances and conveniences that you can tell the only reason why this exists is money, and probably so the cast and crew could live it large in the UAE for a few days. The characters make so many baffling choices that don’t match their usual moral standpoints, and the drama is all so artificial. Now whilst some of you may say that the drama was always artificial, I mean we are talking about a group of rich New York socialites here, and you aren’t wrong necessarily. But the last film and the series presented actual everyday dilemmas in convincing ways, Sex and the City 2 doesn’t. Carrie’s problem is that she doesn’t want her marriage to be a stay at home marriage, so when Big buys a TV for the bedroom she flies off the handle and their marriage is put in jeopardy. Charlotte’s problem is that she allows gossip magazines and Samantha’s snide comments about her nanny’s breasts get the better of her.
There’s even a great series of events set up where Carrie loses her passport in a market, but rather than actually pursue this for some interesting shenanigans it’s not even mentioned until near the end of the film, so she just walks back to the market and asks a guy at a stall if he’s seen it and he hands it to her! Why was this even set up if not to just inflate the runtime by a minute or two?
The performances are pretty sub-par across the board. Even Cynthia Nixon who plays Miranda, who has been my favourite actress across the first film and the series, is not great in this film. It fails to be funny, the few times I did laugh was not because it was clever or witty, but just pathetic. It’s also extremely racist at times. Now I don’t know what they were trying to go for with the jokes they pull, but there are several made about female face coverings, countless jokes made about sexual misconduct in public places (this includes a really big one near the end of the film which pretty much serves to say look at the Arab’s and how easily offended they are by public affection, as well as multiple small jabs throughout about Samantha going through menopause so feeling the need to be as naked as humanly possible especially when it’s inappropriate). Finally, they really jump the shark by dressing the four leads up in Niquab’s and having them sneak like ninja’s through a group of angry Arab men. It’s incredible this shit made it in the film, or that someone even thought this was entertainment.
Sex and the City 2 is far too concerned with being glamourous and stylish that it completely forgets that whilst the story of Carrie Bradshaw and her friends have always been about the glamour, they have never forgotten about the humanity. That is exactly what Sex and the City 2 is, an over the top, garishly ‘glamourous’ film that completely side-lines any sense of reality or humanity just to have these characters (or some semblance of them anyway) return to audiences for the sole purpose of emptying their wallets and wasting their time. It really is a shame it had to end this way, but I also don't want to see Sex and the City return as at this point I feel like too much time has passed for that kind of story to be really relevant anymore.
There’s even a great series of events set up where Carrie loses her passport in a market, but rather than actually pursue this for some interesting shenanigans it’s not even mentioned until near the end of the film, so she just walks back to the market and asks a guy at a stall if he’s seen it and he hands it to her! Why was this even set up if not to just inflate the runtime by a minute or two?
The performances are pretty sub-par across the board. Even Cynthia Nixon who plays Miranda, who has been my favourite actress across the first film and the series, is not great in this film. It fails to be funny, the few times I did laugh was not because it was clever or witty, but just pathetic. It’s also extremely racist at times. Now I don’t know what they were trying to go for with the jokes they pull, but there are several made about female face coverings, countless jokes made about sexual misconduct in public places (this includes a really big one near the end of the film which pretty much serves to say look at the Arab’s and how easily offended they are by public affection, as well as multiple small jabs throughout about Samantha going through menopause so feeling the need to be as naked as humanly possible especially when it’s inappropriate). Finally, they really jump the shark by dressing the four leads up in Niquab’s and having them sneak like ninja’s through a group of angry Arab men. It’s incredible this shit made it in the film, or that someone even thought this was entertainment.
Sex and the City 2 is far too concerned with being glamourous and stylish that it completely forgets that whilst the story of Carrie Bradshaw and her friends have always been about the glamour, they have never forgotten about the humanity. That is exactly what Sex and the City 2 is, an over the top, garishly ‘glamourous’ film that completely side-lines any sense of reality or humanity just to have these characters (or some semblance of them anyway) return to audiences for the sole purpose of emptying their wallets and wasting their time. It really is a shame it had to end this way, but I also don't want to see Sex and the City return as at this point I feel like too much time has passed for that kind of story to be really relevant anymore.