After a 2 year hiatus, the ever-fashionable Carrie Bradshaw and Co. have yet again returned to grace the big screen for the second installment of the much hyped Sex And The City 2 movie.
On a bitterly cold thursday evening ( it's supposed to be summer for crying out loud! thank you british weather) in London's Leicester Square, the fashionable four-some stepped onto the red carpet amidst a frenzy of photographers,press, publicists, the obligatory Z-listers from reality T.V. shows, pop stars and tabloid favourites that will show up to any event as long as there's a camera and a chance to end up in the news. And of course not forgetting sreaming fans most of whom were teenage girls who I thought, "hang on,these aren't the real fans." Fact is the real fans were the 18-35 age bracket when the T.V. series first aired in 1998, ran until 2004. Fast forward 12 years later, these guys are now 30-42 years old with alot of responsibilities and Leicester square on a cold thursday evening is the last place you'll find them.
It opened nationwide on our shores yesterday and I was among the first people at the cinema where I looked out of place because I really should have been at the office but I couldn't wait till day's-end to do the options-exploration on all the companies whose products appeared in the movie so I could check the share price movement after opening weekend in U.S. and Europe. Anyway, while in the line, I noticed there's 3 types of males who will watch this movie; 1. those who are of 'the other persuasion,' 2. the critic/analyst, 3. those that have been dragged screaming and kicking to the thing by their girlfriends.
Forgive me for trailing off. but that's just me. I tend to notice all the details that are usually ignored. Back to the verdict.
I’ve always been a huge admirer of the franchise, but not for the reasons you’d think. I’m a fan because I think it empowers single men, not single women. The message is: "No need to worry about falling in love, ladies. Having sex with a bloke you’ve just met in a bar is perfectly okay."
I remember when the television series came out in the late-90s and watching it drinking in the behaviour of Carrie Bradshaw and her friends. As a single man, I thought all my Christmases had come at once.
I thanked God for Michael Patrick King, Darren Star and HBO because they made a TV show that persuades attractive women in their 20s and 30s that it’s fashionable to have sex with men like us without demanding any sort of emotional commitment in return. Not only that, but we’ll do our best to convince them that they actually have to go out of their way to induce us to have this no-strings attached sex by spending several hours a day on incredibly painful personal grooming procedures and then squeezing themselves into these fantastically uncomfortable shoes. The beauty part is we’ll persuade them that doing all this stuff for our benefit – spending their lives beautifying themselves and then submitting to our every sexual demand without asking for anything in return – is a ‘post-feminist’ choice.
An entire generation of women fell for it hook, line and sinker. Far from being seen as sluts, women like Samantha Jones were regarded as ‘role models’. Suddenly, it become cool for women to allow themselves to be picked up in bars by selfish, predatory males who are only interested in one-night stands. Who cares if the men never bothered calling them afterwards? It was ‘liberated’ behaviour.
Sex and the City is like a version of The Female Eunuch rewritten by Hugh Hefner.
Then 4 years after the last episode aired in 2004, Michael Patrick King decided to reward us with the movie version which was a huge commercial success and thus this second installment.
In this movie, it goes on to say, "if you like it then you should put a ring on it." sang non other than by 'The Liza Minelli' at a gay wedding in Connecticut ( that scene is so funny, you'll be in stitches).One recurring theme of Sex and the City I particularly enjoy is the idea that modern single women should have two completely different sets of standards when it comes to who they should sleep with and who they should marry. Apparently, it’s okay to share your bed with any Tom, Dick or Harry, but the only men you should marry are chief executives who look like male models and earn over ten million dollars a year. Great! That means they’re never, ever going to get married and will continue to sleep with less-than-perfect men without ever expecting us to put rings on their fingers.
This sequel has no plot whatsoever. It's a mess. It should have been called "four older women get lost in the middle east and a whole lot of product placement.
Where do I begin. Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Dior, Louboutin, Bergdom Goodman, Rolex, Mercedes, Land Rover, The Arab Emirate of Abu Dhabi (even though the actual shooting was in Morrocco coz the authorities in Abu Dhabi refused to grant a filming licence). The list goes on and on till one gets tired of counting.
It includes a gay wedding, a film premier of Samantha's ex where she finds herself in a bit of a 'wadrope situation' on the red carpet (funny scene), then the middle east trip, and in between we get 'fillers' like Charlote's the bra-less nanny that turns out to be lesbian-what a ridiculous plot!, a gay middle-eastern butler which is as close to blasphemy as can be, and then the coup de grace is when Carrie stops a cab to take them to the airport by flashing her thighs while wearing the traditional arab dressing (no wonder the licence was denied but I gotta say the build up to that scene was so funny that I was in stitches). This is so offensive to their culture to suggest such a thing.
Anyway, I could rant on about this movie from sunrise to sunset but you have to see it for yourself to see how ridiculous it is.
Michael Patrick King and the excecutives at HBO will be laughing all the way to the bank forever coz there will be no end to the supply of the gullible and simple minded.
Verdict: 4/10.
This particular one was at the Bond Street store next to Selfridges.
