'Sex and the City 2' not as good as the first time
You.
Yeah, you!
If you already have plans for a girls' night out to see the new movie "Sex and the City 2," don't read this review. It's not for you.
The sheer joy of seeing Carrie, Charlotte, Miranda and Samantha together again, talking about their problems with men, kids and jobs, salivating over shoes, wearing high-fashion dresses and copping condescending attitudes toward non-American cultures should be reward enough.
But for the men and women who loved the original HBO cable series, "SATC2" lacks many essentials, such as charm and goodwill. And, the biggest blow of all, the fifth leading character has been unceremoniously dumped: New York City.
Yes. The sex is there.
The city isn't.
Carrie, Charlotte, Miranda and Samantha (Sarah Jessica Parker, Kristin Davis, Cynthia Nixon and Kim Cattrall) take up an offer from a Middle Eastern businessman and head to an exotic Abu Dhabi hotel to be pampered and pleasured beyond their wildest dreams. How wild? No charge!
This doesn't happen until almost an hour into Michael Patrick King's two-hour, 40-minute meandering movie loaded with narrative fat.
Before that, the Manhattan quartet witness the same-sex marriage of good friends Stanford and Tony (Willie Garson and Mario Cantone). Just when you think the all-in-white chorus singing Broadway tunes can't get any more stereotypically gay, Liza Minnelli pops up in all black, belting out tunes with the gusto of a 25-year-old.
Once the best pals settle into their Abu Dhabi gilded rooms, each has her own problems to deal with. Charlotte worries her hubby (Evan Handler) might be seduced by their new, extremely hot and braless Irish nanny (Alice Eve). Miranda is about to lose her mind with her incessantly needy children.
Carrie has her wedding vows to the now-boring Mr. Big (Chris Noth) tested when she runs into ultra-hunky former lover Aidan (John Corbett) and he invites her out. Samantha, in the midst of a midlife hormonal hissy fit, can't find medicinal relief or men willing to disrupt social norms by doing the dance of the wild bunnies with her.
"SATC2" is a shallow and materialistic story in which the pizazzy sets and lavish costumes overpower both the characters and plot. King, who also directed the first "SATC," falls victim to the multi-tasking filmmaker curse.
As the director, writer and producer of "SATC2," King has no one to tap him on the shoulder and say, "Your movie is too long and bloated." Or "You need to cut back on stupid puns, like 'Erin go braless.'" Or "Your ending with the Abu Dhabi women is a haughty and brazen insult to them and their culture."
And even though she's pulled back on the cutesy overacting smirks, Davis is still the most mannered and least convincing actress working in Hollywood today.
<p class="factboxtext12col"><b>'Sex and the City 2'</b></p>
<p class="factboxtext12col">★½</p>
<p class="factboxtext12col"><b>Starring:</b> Sarah Jessica Parker, Kim Cattrall, Cynthia Nixon, Kristin Davis, Chris Noth, David Eigenberg.</p>
<p class="factboxtext12col"><b>Directed by:</b> Michael Patrick King.</p>
<p class="factboxtext12col"><b>Other:</b> A Warner Brothers release.</p>
<p class="factboxtext12col">Rate R for language, nudity, sexual situations. 113 minutes</p>