Review: Sex and the City 2 (2010)

"Sex and the City" is one of HBO's most popular shows, and it ran on the network from 1998-2004. I caught it every week, without fail. It is one of my all-time favourite shows, and I was delighted when they decided to make a movie about it back in 2008. Sex and the City was released the day I graduated from high school, and despite my best efforts to see it, they never materialized. I had to wait until it was released on DVD several months later, and I'm ever so glad I did. I watched it with my best friend, who until that point had been somewhat put off by the show's subject matter. By the end of the film, however, she'd completely changed her opinion about the show. In fact, I think she liked/likes the movie more than me. When we found out that they were making a sequel, we were ecstatic. Unfortunately, by the time Sex and the City 2 was released, we were living in different countries. This won't stop us from enjoying the film, though. And I can guarantee that we'll be having a long talk about it in the near future. 

It's been two years since we last visited Carrie, Samantha, Miranda, Charlotte, and the big city, and not a whole lot has changed.

"Me and you, just us two."

Carrie is finding it difficult adjusting to the routine that goes along with married life. She's worried that her and Big are becoming a boring couple, as Big no longer feels the need to go out all the time, and perfers to stay in, watch the tv, and eat takeways. Carrie, on the other hand, is desperate to remain a hip couple, which leads to Big suggesting that they spend two days a week apart. After hearing this, Carrie is more than happy to travel to Abu Dhabi with the girls.

Samanatha hasn't changed a bit, and is still trying to keep her youth and avoid menopause. After attending a film premiere with former lover Smith Jared, Samantha is invited to spend a week in Abu Dhabi, which she accepts on the condition that the girls can go with her.

Miranda has been experiencing a few problems with her new boss, and decides to quit her job, leaving her free to travel to Abu Dhabi with the rest of the girls.

Charlotte is having a hard time with her youngest daughter, Rose, who is going through her terrible twos. She's also experiencing problems with her children's nanny, Erin, who never wears a bra. This didn't cause Charlotte concern until Samantha chimed in, as a joke, that Harry may cheat with the nanny. Charlotte has since become obsessed with the idea of Harry cheating, and is initially hesitant to go with the girls to Abu Dhabi.

"You have to take the tradition, and decorate it your way."

One thing I loved about Sex and the City 2 was that, for the first time, we learned just how and when Carrie arrived in New York City and met the other girls. I had always assumed that Carrie was born in New York, and though we are not given her actual place of birth, we do learn that New York was first introduced to Carrie Bradshaw in 1986. Carrie then met Charlotte in 1987, Miranda in 1989, and Samantha some time after that. Interesting stuff.

I also loved seeing the clip of It Happened One Night, though its use later is the film was terribly tacky. I wish that that had been left out.

Most of Sex and the City 2 takes place after the girls arrive in Abu Dhabi, which I think is a shame, as "Sex and The City" IS New York. Not Abu Dhabi. This disappointed me a bit... Quite a bit, actually, and this is not my only annoyance with the film. My biggest complaint comes from the fact that a large amount of its plot is unrealistic, and, sometimes, just downright ridiculous. Again, most of this can be found in the Abu Dhabi portions of the film. There's one scene in particular involving a bookclub that is quite possibly the most ridiculous thing I have ever seen in a movie. However, despite all of this, I still really liked Sex and the City 2.

The cast. I won't mention names here as everybody did a great job in their roles, as they should. After all, they have been playing their respective characters for more than a decade.

I think that one of the main reasons I love the Sex and the City films so much is that I already know and love these characters, and have done for years. They feel like my friends, not just characters on a screen, which brings me to another reason why these films mean so much to me: They are about friendship. These girls know that, no matter what happens, they will always have each other. I'm lucky to have this type of friendship with my best friend. We're an ocean apart, yet, in a funny way, we're still together, and, like Carrie, Samantha, Charlotte and Miranda, we always will be.

"We made a deal ages ago. Men, babies, doesn't matter. We're soulmates."

Love the girls. Love the city. Love the sex. Love the movie. 8/10

Trivia: During one of the scenes in Sex and the City 2, Big picks up Carrie to take her to dinner. In this scene, Carrie is wearing the same dress she wore when she apologized to Big's former wife Natasha in season 3 of the show.