Really Bad Movies: 'Sex and the City 2'

Sequels are never known for being great, but there are still a few franchises that rally anticipation for that next release. Unfortunately, when the entire audience in a packed theater lets out a collective sigh of disappointment (and relief) when the long-awaited flick is over, you know that it qualifies as another case of "should've stopped while they were ahead."

Sex and the City 2. Do I really need to say more about how atrocious this movie was? Following the long-running hit HBO "Sex and the City" series, and generally well-liked first feature film, the gals got back together for one more (and, hopefully, last) fling. Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker), Charlotte (Kristen Davis), Miranda (Cynthia Nixon), and the oversexed Samantha (Kim Cattrall) show us that while fashion is still their forte, life after marriage, kids, and menopause isn't quite as fascinating as the glam of Manhattan single life.

In an outrageous, predictable, and contrived plotline, each of the characters is facing some sort of life crisis when a fully funded, lavish trip to Abu Dhabi falls into their laps. Really? How often does that happen? So, because they can, off they traipse, leaving spouses, jobs, and kids to indulge in a week of over-the-top luxury and pointlessness.

Even though Samantha is supposedly the PR powerhouse who landed the trip in a feeble storyline of "experiencing" the resort as a guest of the sheik in order to promote it later, she still manages to bungle the trip up and get arrested for lewd behavior in public: something most moderately intelligent people know is not tolerated in the Middle East. Again...really? Is she that much of a sex addict that she can't control herself even with the constant reminders from her more level-headed pals? Too much. Way, way too much.

Among the two-plus hours of offensive cultural references, unbelievable coincidences, like Aidan (John Corbett) showing up in the marketplace, and miraculously tidy endings, such as Charlotte's hot, braless nanny (Alice Eve) turning out to be a lesbian (what a clean way to wrap up the threat of a philandering husband), perhaps the very worst moment in the entire debacle of a film was when Carrie had to utter a line so painful, I'm sure Sarah Jessica Parker even cringed when reading the script. This moment came when the girls went on a camel-riding expedition, and Charlotte, who just happened to be wearing tight pants, fell off her camel. Carrie then points and jokes about her "camel toe" while the camera zooms in on an embarrassed Charlotte's crotch. Pah-leeze! The line was so setup that you have to wonder if that was the entire reason for the camel-riding scene. Can I call 'Uncle' and be let out of the theater now?

Saving graces:

It was fun seeing glimpses of how the ladies first met.

Aidan is as sexy as ever.

We all still want Carrie's closet-either of them.

Liza rocked a mean rendition of Beyoncé's "Single Ladies."

The four made it back home to their beloved city, and hopefully, for the sake of the rest of civilization, they will stay there.

Watch the trailer:

Sex and the City: The Movie Part 2 Trailer

Sources:

www.hbo.com

www.imdb.com

www.Beyonceonline.com