MANILA, Philippines?The first ?Sex and the City? rom-com heated up, not just viewers? libidos, but theater tills all over the movie-going world as well. Now comes its sequel, ?Sex and the City 2,? so the big-deal question is, does it measure up to the original?s impact in terms of entertainment value, zing and clout at the box office?
At first blush, the answer appears to be in the affirmative, with the film?s four female soul sisters invited to a gleefully over-the-top gay wedding that has all of the bitches (of various genders) in riotous stitches.
After things subside, however, we realize that the ?crazy? opening caper has little to do with this movie?s main story, which actually is about lead protagonist Carrie Bradshaw?s fear that her hugely luscious mate, Mr. Big, has lost his zest for thrills and adventures in and out of the bedroom.
Yes, the sex is still good, but to at least one member of the household, the TV treats are even better.
Since Carrie sees herself as a sexual and gender astronaut for all ages and rages, she?s crushed to see that her once amazing spouse has become so predictably domesticated ? and is loving it.
For his part, Big doesn?t see what the problem is. They?re both happy, right? Uh, not: She isn?t happy, because he?s too happy. (That sound you hear is the collective yelp and roar of husbands all over the world confoundedly protesting against the abstract meaninglessness of her protestations.)
Basically, that?s what undermines the success of ?Sex and the City, 2?: Its central problem is as spurious as its signature fashionista fluff. Diverting fluff, we can take ? but not the abstraction of a ?problem? where there is none.
Our attention having been both diverted and diminished, we?re left with little productive to do, other than listening to Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker) going on and on about her marriage being ?doomed? to eternal domesticity, as though there were no worse fates.
Diversionary tactic
That?s why we perk up considerably when, perhaps realizing the boring hole it had dug for itself with its central character?s pseudo-philosophical plaints and complaints, the movie goes off on a storytelling tangent and has our fabulous four zooming off to a seven-star, all-expenses-paid vacation in Abu Dhabi, courtesy of a lavishly extravagant billionaire.
Even better, the diversionary tactic introduces a more substantial thematic thrust in the girls? shocked realization that some women in the Middle East have become such secondary citizens that they?ve practically ?disappeared.?
Since Carrie and her soul sisters are the most liberated women in the universe, the discovery depresses them ? especially when some men razz them and send them packing due to their ?shocking? conduct.
The sub-theme enlivens the latter part of the film, but is promptly dropped after the girls fly back home, to confront their own problematic lives anew.
They?ve learned some lessons, but not enough to make sense.
So, how do we take ?Sex, 2?? For what it is: A fun but messy mix of idiosyncratic couture, ?topical? issues and exotic locales ? like a rom-com, liberated version of ?Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous? and ?Meerkat Mansions? combined.
