Sex and the City 2 (2010) by Michael Patrick King
starring Sarah Jessica Parker, etc.
In a nutshell: Pretty much the same as the last one (Yes, that's right, I've seen them both). I don't get the discrepancy in critical consensus...
Quick synopsis: The brunette is naive, the redhead is all-business, Samantha lets her sex drive get the best of her and the ugly one has relationship issues...what else is new?
Content: Despite my sarcastic synopsis, I would rather watch this than 90% of the romantic comedies out there. Why? For the same reason I gave when I reviewed the first Sex and the City movie - because these are real characters that have been developed over however many seasons of the tv show there were. I can connect to them far more than I can to the latest Katharine Heigl rush-job.
I saw this with the gf and her bff and I couldn't believe how much they were laughing. Although I did find myself chuckling more than I thought I would, it was at different things than the girls. But I guess that's a good sign - there are some things in there for both sexes.
One of the big knocks on this sequel was its cultural insensitivity to our friends in the UAE. Is it insensitive? Absolutely, but I can't say that I hold comdies like this to some high standard. I think reviewers liked to harp on this fact because it makes them feel very PC. The cultural jokes didn't offend me, but I didn't find them to be remotely funny.
The film gets off to a quick start, taking advantage of the fact that the characters are already well-developed to get the laughs started early at a gay wedding. The movie hums along at a fine pace until it switches locales from its traditional home, NYC, to Abu Dhabi. At this point, the % of intended jokes that land drops dramatically. The movie continues along at its still-decent level until the climax at which point it runs into a brick wall head first. -SPOILERS AHEAD, BUT NOTHING THAT WILL SURPRISE YOU EVEN REMOTELY-
Other than Samantha's freak-out as she tries to gather up her belongings after her purse spills everywhere in a crowded market, I could not have thought the climax was any dumber. Not because it was culturally offensive, but because it was just dumb. The women get saved from an angry crowd by a group of oppressed arab women who pull them into their hidden club only to take off their burkas and reveal that - GASP - they love fashion too! OMG! FASHION PARTY!!! It's not offensive because it's not smart enough to be. It's that superficial.
But you know what? It's a comedy. The climax isn't important enough for this lapse to ruin the film. If you enjoyed the series, there is plenty of character stuff here for you. Just let the climax go because it's not worth fighting over. Just take in the parts you enjoy (there will be plenty) and pretend the stupid parts didn't happen.
Rolling rankings:
1. (500) Days of Summer (#185)
2. Up in the Air (#182)
3. Sherlock Holmes (#178)
4. Big Fan (#180)
5. The Cove (#177)
6. The September Issue (#183)
7. Kids (#179)
8. Sex and the City 2 (#186)
9. Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs (#184)
10. Extract (#181)
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