Opening Day: 26 May 2010

Synopsis:

The fun, the fashion, the friendship: “Sex and the City 2” brings it all back and more as Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker), Samantha (Kim Cattrall), Charlotte (Kristin Davis) and Miranda (Cynthia Nixon) take another bite out of The Big Apple—and beyond—carrying on with their busy lives and loves in a sequel that truly sparkles.

What happens after you say “I do”? Life is everything the ladies ever wished it to be, but it wouldn’t be “Sex and the City” if life didn’t hold a few more surprises…this time in the form of a glamorous, sun-drenched adventure that whisks the women away from New York to one of the most luxurious, exotic and vivid places on earth, where the party never ends and there’s something mysterious around every corner. It’s an escape that comes exactly at the right moment for the four friends, who are finding themselves in—and fighting against—the traditional roles of marriage, motherhood and more.

After all, sometimes you just have to get away with the girls.


Movie Review:

In New York, concrete jungle where dreams are made of,
There's nothing you can't do.
Now you're in New York,
These streets will make you feel brand new,
The lights will inspire you,
Let's hear it for New York, New York, New York.

Once upon a time, there were four women living in the City of Dreams- the New York Star columnist Carrie Bradshaw known for her unique sense of fashion; the independent public relations businesswoman Samantha Jones strong, outspoken and sexually confident; the true-romantic Charlotte York from Connecticut running her own art gallery; and the career-minded Miranda Hobbs a Harvard Law School graduate from Philadelphia. They were the best of friends, and over tea or after-function parties, would talk about romance, relationships, marriage and not forgetting of course, sex.

Over the late 1990s and the early 2000s, women from around the world began to fall in love with the quartet from "Sex and the City", embracing the frank and witty conversations they had about women's rights and their life options. So by the time SATC ended its run on television, it had already become a symbol of female empowerment. Like how much you'd miss a best friend, the fans clamoured and the producers heard, sparking off the first movie, (which incidentally did way better than any analyst could have predicted) and paved the way for this- the sequel and the second feature film of the franchise.

Returning to write and direct SATC 2 is Michael Patrick King, who has written all the season premieres and finales of SATC since season two- so you can trust him to know what the fans want to see. SATC 2 doesn't bother to recap the events of the first film- it probably assumes fans already know- so for those who need a refresher or who are going in cold, you might just want to remember one small detail. After keeping everyone guessing 'will they or won't they', Carrie and her major love interest, Mr Big, finally got married at the end of the last film. Oh, one more thing, the girls also celebrated Samantha's fiftieth birthday, despite her obvious initial reluctance to recognise that milestone.

SATC 2 is set two years after that. Carrie and Mr Big, or John Preston to be precise, are still deeply in love with each other, but both still need a little more time getting used to what it means to be married. Samantha is bent on fighting the onset of menopause with a bountiful diet of hormones, while her public relations career takes an upswing when she is invited by the Sheikh of Abu Dhabi to visit the country. Charlotte's two-year old daughter is giving her a terrible time every day, and her bra-less nanny whom she cannot do without is making her worried about her husband's possible infidelity. And last but not least, Miranda has finally made the difficult decision to quit her demanding job to give more time to her family, though the transition isn't that easy.

But despite these complications, you know Carrie, Samantha, Charlotte and Miranda will always have one another- the comfort of their friendships and their time together a temporary but certainly much-needed and effective reprieve. To get away from their worries and humdrum of their lives, they will also follow Samantha to the glorious land of Abu Dhabi for a week, though that experience will be memorable for both the right and the wrong reasons.

It's easy to fault SATC 2 for not having much of a plot (in spite of its 146 min runtime), but perhaps to demand as much is really missing the point. SATC 2 has but two purposes- first, to give fans one more chance to join in the lives of four friends whom they have grown up with; and two, to have some sexy, glamorous, and sometimes uninhibited fun. In those two regards, this reviewer must say that it succeeds immeasurably.

The chemistry between the four lead stars- Sarah Jessica Parker, Kristin Davis, Cynthia Nixon and Kim Cattrall- is just as fresh and irresistible. Though it has been two years, the stars seem so familiar with their roles that they fit right in from the get-go (like the perfect shoe that fits- in a metaphorical sense). The script by King is still as witty, clever and a whole lot of naughty. Besides the copious sexual innuendoes (Charlotte: How are you going to swallow all those pills? Samantha: Have we met?) and the many hilarious one-liners, there's also the LOL situations- like Samantha and Miley Cyrus turning up at a premiere in exactly the same dress. And most of all, fans who have followed SATC faithfully will be rewarded with nods to some of the highlights of the TV series- like Carrie's dress when she first went on a date with Big, or the cameo appearance by Aidan Shaw (John Corbett).

But what would SATC 2 be without the glamour and the fashion? Besides the glitzy lights of New York City, there's also the shimmering mirages of Abu Dhabi to lend more glitter and sparkle. Costume designer Patricia Field is back, and once again while certain choices may be questionable, there's no doubt that there's something fresh, daring and inventive about the fashion on display. SATC 2 also banks on the exotic for a little colourful fun- camel-riding, street market shopping and even karaoke- all part of the experience of transporting the gals from the Big Apple to the Big Desert.

This change of location however is not without its imperfections- King takes advantage of the cultural differences between America and the Middle East to mull over female liberties in these Muslim countries (or the lack thereof) and to portray how its society is gradually but surely trying to free itself from the strict confines of its religion. One of the last few scenes in Abu Dhabi has the gals meeting a group of burqa-clad women wearing this summer's branded fashion underneath their traditional clothing is less heartening than disrespectful- especially as this overt reference seems to be self-referential in extolling what SATC stands for.

Besides this little misstep, SATC 2 is otherwise everything that fans have been waiting for. The gals may be older, their talk may be a little more down-to-earth, and their day to day life more mundane- but so are their fans who have watched them grow from season to season, feature film to feature film. Many probably share the same challenges, or will be, and will find something in Carrie, Samantha, Charlotte or Miranda's life to identify with. Of course, just because they are older doesn't mean that they should be less fun, glamorous or elegant. And it is precisely this reason why SATC 2 is so irresistible and irresistibly enjoyable- it is quite simply this summer's must-see chick flick.

Movie Rating:

(Different City, just as Sex-y- SATC 2 is full of fun, full of glamour and this summer’s must-see chick flick)

Review by Gabriel Chong