The Verdict

I liked it.

While I cringed a number of times - mainly due to Carrie being a cantankerous, spoilt brat for most of the film, and Miranda being the most annoying tourist imaginable and the opulent wealth being a little hard to handle given New York's GFC troubles - I still felt the film was true to its origins. More so than the first, which seriously had me quaking in my boots that the second film would be anything like the first. While it was quite long, SATC2 bounced along jauntily enough, with enough clever one-liners and individual storylines to maintain interest (I noticed that Miranda barely got a guernsey in terms of her character's life-dramas).

I loved:
* Carrie's crown at Stanford and Anthony's wedding. Actually, I pretty much loved the whole wedding, even if I did feel pangs of sadness for Liza. I thought it was great, and fun and a fabulous entree to the rest of the film. The characters were instantly located in our psyche: we knew where they were at instantly. Especially loved the "the baby will tire" line. Gold!
* The retrospective of the girls first becoming friends in NYC. I loved the various outfits - both on the girls (esp Carrie's Madonna outfit) and in the background.


* Seeing Aidan again - and Carrie's statement of how much he had meant to her in terms of her emotional development.
* Samantha. I honestly believe she saved this film from itself. She was so on form, so well-dressed, so funny and so proudly defiant. Some people have criticised her character for not "acting her age" which is bizarre, given I think the reasons for not acting her age are pretty explicitly dealt with in the movie. I was a tad annoyed by the presence of Miley Cyrus, but if it had been any other teen star, I would have enjoyed that scene of age vs youth. I also loved her at the end of the karaoke scene. - this woman is tireless and insatiable. Not as bad a role model as some would suggest.


* The outfits. Obviously.
* The character flaws and the wrinkles. Charlotte looked particularly old, I thought and SJP was a bit of an advertisement for sun damage on your decolletage. But they didn't try to hide any of this. I thought that was great. The film was not selling us a lie from that perspective. Sure, these women look ridiculously perfect in their outfits but they are undeniably older. But with this age has come wisdom, grace and a knowledge of what works for them. I remember thinking at one point in the film that Carrie was really flashing the boobs. But then I remembered that in the TV series, it was pretty much all about her abs. She dresses to suit her best asset as that changes over time - a great message to anyone to take away from the film.
* Carrie's hair. Actually, all of them had great hair. But Carrie's hair was gorgeous - I loved the colour, and how the curls were bouncier the more fun she was having, and straighter when she was in trouble or upset.
* The writing. Still good, even after all these years. The Jude Law. haha!

There are probably more things I loved, but I've forgotten already - it's just that kind of film.

I had a few gripes with the film of course, and I did find Carrie a little annoying with her self-created dramas with Big. But if I'm honest, half of those types of things I occasionally do myself in a relationship when I feel myself getting bored or restless. I liked how everyone's different issues were teased out - Samantha's menopause, Miranda's career, Charlotte's motherhood and Carrie's career/relationship etc. I also liked how they didn't see the need to overexplain the decision not to have children - that type of thing is very personal, and I would have found it unrealistic if Carrie and Big had felt the need to explain to complete strangers their decision.

The thing I really liked the most however, was the friendship message that still ran strong through the film - very true to the TV series. They had ups and downs in their friendships, careers and relationships and yet these women were still always there for each other. They didn't ditch their friend at the spice market when she wandered off or got into trouble with authorities, they knew when one of them needed space, they got each other boozed when it was clear that was exactly what she needed, and they celebrated each other's strengths. Most of all, they knew each characters inside and out. They were still each other's soul mate, and it was clear from the film and the writing that that was what really mattered in this film. There were no alliances or ganging up on one, or excluding another. This foursome's friendship is inclusive, generous, accepting and caring. I believe that is the message that should be taken from the film. The outfits, the wealth, the men: they are all just the backdrop to this sweet story of unlikely friendship between four very different people.

I spoke to a few people after the film, and they all liked it too! It was fun - we cooed over the outfits, laughed about Samantha, and smiled at the thought of having rich people's problems for a while. It was pleasant escapism, and I wouldn't be surprised if I see it again to absorb the outfits.

3.5 stars (just like Margaret).