Sex and The City 2: Not All Bad

Sex and the City 2 was never going to go down well with the critics was it? The series has for whatever reason raised the ire of many a writer since it made the jump to big screen. Those lambasting the films for being eye roll inducing cliché fests seem to be missing the point. As much as I loved the TV show I rarely made my way through an episode without wanting to shake Carrie or roll my eyes. The hard part about adapting a TV series to the big screen is that while the good stuff is undoubtedly there and ten times bigger the flaws work in the same way.

The main bug-bear is the hysterical lack of a plot and the bloated running time. Much has been made as this film was being developed that it was a romp, a joyful celebration of the humour and fun of Sex and the City as opposed to the rather over serious world of the first film which had a worthy feel that was hard to enjoy at times.

That is evident in the carefree nature of the film and it’s plotting (or lack thereof). But it’s not in the sense that it’s a good hour too long. If this really wanted to be a romp it would have clocked in at 90 minutes or under.

Also glimmers of decent ideas are thrown away in order to service the much-vaunted Abu Dhabai adventure mid way through. The 80s flashback sequences which had paprazzi abuzz last year are in fact painfully brief. There’s a neat moment where Carrie discusses how she meets each of the girls that is touched on far too briefly. How much more fun would it have been to play with some of the original roles the girls had in the big city in the 80s?

The film tries to take on the idea of marriage and domesticity with varying results. Carrie is as petulant as ever but the kernel of her problem with Big, that they’ll become mundane, is certainly an interesting idea. Charlotte finally gets to do something other than crap her pants and although it’s briefs her few serious moments are beautifully played. In particular her brilliant scene with Miranda where they laugh, cry and have a cosmo over the travails of motherhood is one of the highlights of the movie.

Speaking of, Miranda is on some kind of endorphins rush the whole film that makes her act completely out of character, she’s joyous, happy without a care in the world. She’s not Miranda basically. Samantha meanwhile is free of anything ridiculous like character development or depth instead happy to throw out ridiculous puns and be oversexed to the point of delusion.

Still, I could sit here all day and moan about the huge flaws but the film made me smile, it swept me up onto planet Sex and the City and that made it worth my time. I’m assuming the rather poor reception and box office for this film means the number 3 is unlikely but if you’re happy to check in with the girls again (despite how in or out of character they may be) then it is worth a look. Just keep your expectations low. And get ready for puns. Lots of puns.

With that mind I can’t help but feel that Sex and the City 2 is nowhere near as bad as you’re being lead to believe. In fact it’s quite good fun. There are plenty of funny moments, the easy chemistry of the four leads who really are a bit of a dream to watch and some interesting ideas to chew on however briefly.