Cinema Reviewers can be a funny lot. No sooner had SATC2 premiered on our fair shores than the internet was awash with articles so chock full of indignation, disgust and outrage you’d be forgiven for thinking the journalists passed out after writing them.
Apparently, SATC2 is woefully reductive in it’s portrayal of middle aged women, thin on substance and a little bit racist. There is a degree of justification behind all of these accusations, however, as I repeatedly told the former air hostess and international jet setter I went to see the film with “love, this aint a documentary”.
What SATC2 DOES offer, is 146 minutes of frothy, flirty, silly, sexy, outrageous, orgasmic escapism. Perhaps we remember the much beloved TV series with rose-tinted specs, but I don’t recall Carrie et al offering much in the way of weighty social commentary in the first instance. The SATC franchise is all about fashion, cocktails and…well….sex.
In this latest offering, disillusioned by married life, Carrie jumps at the opportunity of an all-expenses paid trip to Abu Dhabi, courtesy of one of Samantha’s professional admirers. Amongst the glamour of their £22,000 per night suite, our four girls find it difficult to reconcile the strict Middle Eastern codes of conduct with their hedonistic Manhatten lifestyle back home.
Samantha refuses to conform to the oppression of her sexuality the country’s laws impose and mayhem ensures, be it in a distinctly ‘Carry-on caper’ type fashion. Predictably, by the film’s conclusion, Carrie, Samantha, Charlotte and Mirander are newly enamored of their ordinary lives and realise that they have blessings in abundance.
It’s not going to win any Oscars, but that doesn’t stop this from being a highly enjoyable way to spend a girly evening with your mates. So grab your Jimmy Choos (or Primark rip-offs) and leave your inner-critic at the door. I promise you’ll have a blast.
Reviewed by Natasha Devon
