“Sex and the City 2” has some of the worst reviews ever in recent memory–especially for what’s billed as a romantic comedy.
Currently, it’s rating a 3.7 out of 10 on rottentomatoes.com. Most critics just hated it. But will that matter when it opens today?
I sat through it on Monday night, and will say this: it is just way too long. All I kept thinking was: If only Harvey Weinstein had been in charge, 30 minutes of this nonsense would be gone.
The girls’ trip to Abu Dhabi is excruciating, and something out of era when “Road to Morocco” could milk all kinds of burka jokes. You would think four sophisticated women from New York City, who used to seeing multi-culturalism, would be more savvy when arriving in a foreign country. They act like rubes and hicks.
The other problem is the gay wedding at the beginning of the film. It’s ridiculous, over the top (that’s an understatement) and irrelevant. Plus, the characters who are marrying have always hated each other. Liza Minnelli is, well, Liza Minnelli.
What works: I liked the individual stories more than most, especially Charlotte’s. For once Kristin Davis is given something a little meaty, and she’s good. And Kim Cattrall‘s Samantha is always fun. She’s a caricature, and Cattrall plays it for all it’s worth.
But here are the larger questions: why not bring in some younger acolytes for this gang to train and mentor? Make the movie more timely.Where is the young new struggling columnist who challenges Carrie, or a publicist who wants Samantha’s clients? That’s the real New York.
Also, how is it possible that there are still no people of color or another background in their lives? Aside from an Asian American shopgirl in the beginning, I can’t think of anyone. It’s absurd, especially since Jennifer Hudson (who was in the first movie) and Leona Lewis sing the original song over the titles.
Isn’t it possible that in 2010 Carrie, et al would make friends with Kerry Washington or Sanaa Lathan or Gabrielle Union, Joy Bryant? You know what have been funny: running into an alternate universe black “Sex and the City” quadrangle led by Queen Latifah and discovering how much they had in common.
In Radio City Music Hall, the audience went wild. Standing ovations, screaming, the whole thing. This was all the way up through th e balconies. The unendurable trip to the Middle East didn’t seem to bother them, either.
So now what? We’ll watch the “SATC 2” box office tonight and tomorrow to see what happens. My guess: the audience will not care one way or another. The brand is bigger than the boos. The original film did $26 mil on its opening Friday, which was right after Memorial Day weekend. The three day total was $57 million. The good betting says SATC2 bests those numbers. And it’s not even in 3D.
