Sex and the City 2

Genre: Comedy, Drama

Directed by: Michael Patrick King

Cast: Sarah Jessica Parker (Carrie Bradshaw), Kim Cattrall (Samantha Jones), Cynthia Nixon (Miranda Hobbes), Kristin Davis (Charlotte York-Goldenblatt), Chris Noth (John James Preston/Mr. Big), John Corbett (Aidan Shaw)

Anyone who knows me will know that I can never give too poor a rating for one of my favourite shows. Sex and The City:The Movie thrilled us with the angst and pains of couplehood and friendship. Dealing with betrayal, finding support in your dearest gal pals, falling out with your best friends and moving on to the next phase with “The One”, it had the right mixture of real life issues versus the reel stuff like vacations to exotic locales and fantasy clothes, accessories and a dream home.
However, Michael Patrick King’s Sex and The City 2 did not manage to engage the audience, including huge fans like myself on a deeper level. Sure the outrageous and to-die-for outfits, super uber cool shooting location in Morocco and the characters’ strong friendship and relationship were all there. But beyond the glitz and gloss of their dazzling clothes and all-expenses paid trip to sand dunes, there was very little to savour after coming out of the cinemas. The heart that made the Sex and The City drama series so popular was sorely missing.

This is where the second movie failed me. Having been a keen follower of its drama series, I was over the moon when the first movie came out. Who cares if the characters had aged so much that they had to be digitally enhanced in each frame, adding to the total cost of the movie? Sure, the girls are over-dressed most of the time. Who dresses like that all the time in Singapore will surely be a laughing stock among their peers. But beneath the beautiful clothes, there were many things that held the first movie together.
The unforgiving and perfectionist nature of Miranda made it even more difficult for her to forgive her husband who has strayed. It’s every girl’s nightmare for their groom to run away on their wedding day. The delicate balance between best friends, Miranda and Carrie, was tested when Carrie realized that her groom ran away because of what her best friend said to him. Samantha realized that she could only be herself and be happy by leaving a perfectly blissful real relationship which made her feel trapped and unable to express her sexual freedom. Kudos to her for not letting her libido take charge when she’s still part of a couple.

The scene when Miranda and Steve reconciled on the bridge, meeting each other halfway, signifies both characters willingness to meet each other halfway and that all relationships involve compromises, sacrifices and forgiveness from both parties. Being jilted at the massive wedding that the groom wanted no part of, Carrie realized that being married is very much a private matter between the couple rather than the idea of getting married.

To be fair, there are gems in the second movie as well. It was there when Charlotte broke down with the pressure of coping with two children; one who wanted attention all the time and another who would not stop crying. We truly feared for Carrie when she played with fire by insisting in meeting her old love Aidan but was unreciprocated by Carrie. And when Samantha bravely defied the crowd of men who were unhappy with her bag of condoms, the women in the audience could not help but cheer her on.

What marred the movie for me was the very little presence the men played in the movie aren’t they important in these women’s lives? Why isn’t it portrayed? The only character who had a little bit of screen time was Big but Michael Patrick King decided to downplay his natural charisma and screen presence by making him addicted to the television this time round. And the other men only appeared as an afterthought which was a real pity because we know these men can deliver, given the right script and lines.

Most importantly, I was very uncomfortable when the characters took a dig at the cultural differences in Abu Dhabi. It made sense that the movie was filmed in Morocco instead of Abu Dhabi because the kind of clothes and topic this movie was dealing with are totally inappropriate within that cultural context. The jokes the characters cracked were very very inappropriate and not funny at all. And what was the purpose of the gay wedding apart from a lame bid to draw more gays to the cinema theatres?

What were you thinking Michael Patrick King? Despite my grouses, I have no regrets watching SATC2. I just know that I would not be watching it at the theatres a second or a third time like I did the first one. Please, if ever there is to be a SATC3, a stronger storyline please Michael.