Sex: 1, City: 1, Two: 0
[The title of this post has been unabashedly picked up from Roger Ebert's tweet.]
One line review. Sex and the City 2 is about utter escapism. Read on if you still care to know more.
Seriously if there had to be a more preposterous show of glamour, fashion and mindlessness then it could not have been better than this. Oh wait! Did I just use the word 'better'? Ughhh..
The TV show was amazing. The girls and their characters were not mere caricatures but real beings. It was not the usual fluff and drama that one expects from chick-flick stuff. As in it had brains and was sensible. They ended it well when the last single girl on the planet called Manhattan gets hooked up. Now that was intelligent.
Oh and it was an ode to NYC. And one of the most fabulous ones. It had a heart, one which would definitely connect with you.
But then they decided to show us extravagant chic weddings, PMS (pre marital syndrome) for men, some emotional drama and more girl bonding. So they made a movie out of the whole enterprise. Groan. The candid affair which the show had with its audiences got stretched a bit further. But at least it was an earnest attempt. One would not exactly cry with Carrie for Big's betrayal, but sit back and see all the bollywood style emotional atyaachaar. (And I seriously want to thank Bollywood for improving my tolerance levels when it comes to non sense).
But you know what happened next ? This time the girls (who are old women disguised in the most gaudy fashion ever) have some really REAL issues on hands and mind. So they thought they had a real storyline for another movie. Again wait, did I just use the word 'real' for the third time ?
Check this:
1. A 50 something woman undergoing Menopause
2. Being a full time mother of 2
3. Balance between work and home and did I say a draconian boss and right to be heard at work place
4. Wanting to lead a childless life/marriage, in a society where marriage binds you to a child's existence
But remember when in lala land, you just dress up in weirdest wardrobes and raise your cocktails to these issues and say cheers 'to women who manage all this without any help'. Set on a phony setting of these issues and women's liberation in the middle east, the movie tries to be intelligent, funny, sexy and stylish. It ends up getting on your nerves for being shallow, materialistic, whiny and horny (read Samantha Jones). SATC is known and adored for its wit and fun quotient. But the jokes here dont even make one laugh. Not even Samantha's wearing her sex drive on her sleeve ones.
I have had this issue with Hindi movies for a long time now, that the directors/script writers touch a really sensitive chord and then totally ignore it or make a standing joke out of it. Guess the bug is spreading. BIG DISAPPOINTMENT.
Now talking about the characters. Samantha Jones is the biggest letdown. This is the most outrageous character in the entire run of the show. They cross all the thin lines between cheap and sensible, vulgar and sexy and leave us to abhor this one, in the movie. (But I still admire Kim Catrall for being so open and outspoken about everything). Carrie's independence and indecisiveness gets converted to senseless rants and stupidity. Somehow the director spares Miranda and Charlotte. Oh wait, they do crib about having help and still not being able to be good mothers. Kudos to them!
I just have an earnest request for all the people involved in making this, please dont come up with a third movie. I adore the show and I can live with its re-runs. Please dont mutilate some really heartfelt characters which I have come to admire.
And girls out there, watch the movie at your own risk.
~nightflier
P.S. there are some better reviews which thrash the movie in a hilarious way. Do check them out, for these will certainly provide you with wicked laughs.
http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/burkas-and-birkins/Content?oid=4132715