Sex & the City 2 Movie Review: 2 out of 4 Jimmy Choo’s

Movie sequels are great when the first installment has left you wanting or needing more - when everything in the first movie hasn’t been tied up in a nice bow, and there are questions left unanswered. So why a Sex and the City 2, when everything about the first movie was tying up all the loose ends?

I was skeptical about the need for a second installment of Sex and the City, but I went to see it today on Opening Day anyway. Why? Because even though all the answers were given in the first one, I love the characters. I couldn’t imagine not knowing what Carrie, Samantha, Charlotte and Miranda were up to and where else they had to go. It would be like dropping my best friend right in the middle of our friendship for no other reason than because everything was good just how it was and I felt we’d experienced everything there was to experience in our friendship. Oh - and I didn’t want to miss the outrageous clothing and shoes. 

What I liked:

1. The characters stay true to themselves and they don’t mess with perfection.
2. Samantha’s character embraces her age without depressing me. ( I thought her plotline in the first movie wasn’t great. They took a fun character and made you want to slap her around by the third scene.)
3. The ladies get out of New York and show us another world we haven’t seen before. (One of the things I always loved about the series was that they showed me a side of New York I never got to see. They do the same for us with the Middle East.)
4. Carrie and Big do not try to climb out of their self-perceived marriage rut by having children.
5. Sarah Jessica lost the trademark chin mole, making her look more like Glenda the Good Witch than the wicked one.

What I didn’t like:

1. Not as much emotion. There isn’t the same sentimentality of the first one, although I concede that if they’d carried that into the sequel, it might have been a little one-trick pony. Carrie has another trauma, but not on the scale of the first one. Big leaving Carrie at the altar gave me a lump in my throat and everything about it was believable. Without spoiling the plot, Carrie’s trauma in this one doesn’t measure up and feels contrived.
2. The Charlotte plot-line. I know they had to give her one, but I had a hard time feeling sorry for her and her family problems when she has such a blessed life – like a full-time nanny and a full-time husband.
3. Not quite as funny as the first one. There were many chuckle moments, but no belly laughs for me.
4. The gay wedding – I was promised a gown bigger and better than the Vivian Westwood Carrie wore in the first movie for her failed wedding. All I got was a white suit. And Carrie’s “hat” in the wedding scene was laughable.  Just saying.
5. Not as many “sexy” shockers – In the first movie, we saw actual penis (shower scene), a humping dog, someone pooing in her pants, an unkempt bikini line, and almost full front nudity from Miranda.

Sexiest Moment:

The four ladies coming over the sand dune with the Sex and the City theme song playing Middle Eastern style. Don’t know why, just a good moment. Like their friendship transcending culture, space and time. Or maybe it was just that I like that tune and the clothes rocked. One of those.

Least Sexy Moment:

Samantha in the market at the end, with all the condoms. (Don’t want to say more and spoil.) Why was this my least favorite moment? It scared me!  I wanted to be right there, pulling her away and throwing some clothes on her.  It gave me flashbacks to girls-night-outs when I had to keep my girlfriends from doing something monumentally stupid.

So, that’s my first ever movie review.  I give it 2 out of 4 Jimmy Choos. (Note: Any Jimmy Choo shoes are great in my ranking system, unless there are no Jimmy Choo’s at all.) Not quite as good as the first, but holds its own. I predict regular fans will not really like it, hardcore fans will like it but not as much as the first, and the box office will still love it because it's got more potential than most other things out right now (besides Iron Man 2, which I should review, too, because I saw that one last week).

I would write more, but seeing Sex & the City 2 on opening day was my birthday gift to self – and my birthday still has some life left in it!