Why So Blu?

I Made It Through Sex and the City 2 Unscathed!

Every once in awhile, being a reviewer means you have to see and sit through movies that you really have no interest in (to put it politely).  I accept that.  It comes with the territory and the job title.  Sure I may moan and groan about the film beforehand, but sometimes, just sometimes, you are pleasantly surprised by a movie that just rocks your world unexpectedly, much like my screening of How To Train Your Dragon did earlier this year. And now, with that being said, we move onto today’s topic of discussion… Sex and the City 2.  Since the majority of my readers here are of the male population, I promise I’ll make this one short and sweet.

Can you believe that I have never seen a single episode of the television show?  I never even caught the first feature film.  And I still went!  Am I a trooper or what?  Don’t worry ladies.  I was a nice guy.  I took my wife to the screening as my guest.  I figured this was payback for all the stupid movies I make her sit through.  Aw!  Am I not sweet and thoughtful?  Anyway, for the majority of the population out there (guys included), the cast of Sex and the City needs no formal introduction.  In no particular order, the movie revolves around the show’s main character Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker) and her 3 NYC friends Charlotte (Kristin Davis), Miranda (Cynthia Nixon) and the very funny and sexually promiscuous 52-year old, Samantha (Kim Cattrall).

From what I saw and understand, Sex and the City 2 picks up exactly two years later after the events of the first feature film in 2008.  The four friends now have more stressful lives than before.  Carrie seems to be getting bored and worried about her marriage to Mr. Big (Chris Noth).  They seem like an everyday normal couple, but they have some major differences to work through.  It doesn’t help either that people always plant the thought in Carrie’s head that there is something wrong with them since they don’t want to have kids.  Miranda, on the other hand, is stressed to the max with her very demanding law job.  She constantly debates quitting her hectic lifestyle to stay home with her kid.  But can she do that?  Speaking of kids… Then there’s Charlotte.  Her life seems almost perfect, but guess what?  She has kid problems.  She is borderline crazy because her one daughter never stops crying.  The girl cried enough even to make me want to go insane.  Oh yeah, there’s also this pretty “bouncy” nanny she hired.  You’ll get the reason why I called her bouncy when you watch it (and you will watch it).   Anyway, Samantha may have planted an evil thought in her head that her husband might be tempted to cheat with the nanny.  Nasty Samantha!  Always thinking with her…  And what would this film have been without the crazy sexual promiscuous antics of Samantha?  She’s constantly trying to keep her sex drive alive while dealing with the unpleasantness of menopause, or so I heard it’s unpleasant.  What do I know?  I’m just a guy.

Hmm.  What do you think?  It sounds like the four girls all need a vacation, huh?  Well that’s exactly what they get thanks to Samantha’s prestigious job.  She was asked to develop a PR campaign for a rich Arab sheik and she just happened to be able to negotiate an all-expense paid first class trip for her and her girls to the luxurious kingdom of Abu Dhabi.  Sounds perfect, doesn’t it?  Everything there is paradise-like.  But you didn’t expect the whole movie to be trouble free, did you?  I don’t even know that much about these four characters, but it seems like whenever Samantha’s around, there’s bound to be some kind of mayhem happening.  Kim Cattrall, in my opinion, is the secret ingredient in this franchise.  She’s the catalyst spark that’s necessary to push the boundaries within the film.  See, I pick up fast on these things.  Honestly, I think she was the only one of the friends who was able to crack a smile on this stern face throughout the feature.  The only other jokes I laughed at were the ones they kindly inserted for the reluctant men sitting through the film.  Well okay, I did chuckle at the opening gay wedding that was totally legal by the way.  The male orchestra was hysterical.  And oh yeah, expect a pretty funny cameo from the legendary Liza Minelli as she delivers a hilarious rendition of Beyonce’s “Single Ladies.”  Other guest stars include Penelope Cruz as Carmen (I REALLY wish we could have seen more of her), Miley Cyrus as herself (no comment) and a guy by the name of John Corbett as Aidan.  Hmm, I wonder what he was doing in this movie?  Ha ha, I guess you have to watch to find out.  I’m not giving away any spoilers.

Well, look at the time.  It’s the fifth paragraph.  Already!  I guess I really did have a lot to say about this film that I reluctantly attended the premiere of Tuesday night.  Well, what do you know?  I still have it.  Anyway, let’s be serious for a moment.  You know women across the nation are going to go ape shit for this movie, so who are we really kidding here?  No one.  Women, why are you still reading this?  It’s 12:01 AM now and you should all be out attending the midnight premiere of this flick!  It’s going to be an interesting box office weekend this Memorial Holiday.  It’s Sex and the City 2 versus Disney’s Prince of Persia.  I’m a little biased towards the latter because of Gemma Arterton, but I have no doubt, the two competing studios will be very happy with their take home cash this holiday weekend.  Ladies, maybe let your men quietly sneak into a showing of Prince of Persia while you all enjoy Sex and the City 2 in the adjacent theater room.  It’s a win-win!  You will all have a good time.  My wife said to me she thought the first film was a little stronger, but for what it’s worth, I did not fall asleep at all.  So it looks like we have a winner on our hands this weekend.  Enjoy!