Sisterhood Remains Tried and True in Pants Sequel

All of this and more were experienced in the Ann Brashares' book series, which were designed to illustrate the power of friendship and one pair of blue jeans that seemed to fit everyone. The pants connected all four girls even when they were miles apart. Would the pants be enough to keep them together when nothing else was left?

In The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2, that pair of pants got passed around again from girl to girl for each additional adult life experience. The original movie had the four lifelong girlfriends experience some growing pains in their first summer apart. For the sequel, the girls took the next step to womanhood through college, heartache and romantic mistrust. Aspiring filmmaker Tibby (Amber Tamblyn) experienced first love and first panic with her overly supportive boyfriend, while overly cautious Lena (Alexis Bledel) learned how to mend her broken heart. Meanwhile, Bridget (Blake Lively) dug for artifacts and long buried family secrets with her grandmother (Blythe Danner). The biggest transformation in the story was the struggle for perpetual background player Carmen (America Ferrera) stepped into her first acting role in a play and a potential love affair.

Despite the separate stories, the main one was the girls' crumbling friendship and their willingness to either repair it or move on with their lives. The movie showcased how every relationship or friendship needed to be tested in order for it to survive. The movie's plot stuck to the original's formula of routine, trouble and self discovery. For the second time around, the story improved upon the format by allowing for a more grown up transformation in at least two of the girls. The movie belonged to Tamblyn and Ferrera based on the fact that their stories were better developed than Lively and Bledel's. Despite a nearly two hour running time, the movie never fully expanded upon Lively and Bledel's storylines. Those plot points were only background fodder wrapped up in shiny window dressing.

In terms of the four leads, the four girls tried their best with the material they were given. Ferrera's character development allowed Carmen to become a frontrunner for leading lady without the need of a drastic makeover. She allowed her confidence to flow through her smile and ability to talk about her interests freely. Tamblyn grounded her story in humor and showed how Tibby's fear to love her boyfriend was realistic. She showed how Tibby's armor slowly came off with each look of sadness and loneliness as she realized her fear was the only thing holding she back. Even though her material was weak, Lively made an effort to enjoy herself. Lively used her body to show Bridget's energy for adventure and fear of reality. Her story doesn't come together until she visited her grandmother, which appeared to be way too short to resolve all of Bridget's family secrets. The story could've allowed at least a few more minutes to properly wrap it up.

The film's weakest link was Bledel's Lena because she showed little character growth due to her plotline. The character went through tremendous heartbreak with her first love, but little was explained as to why it happened. Another issue with Lena's story was the rapid resolution to a complicated situation. It was left open to chance when the story should've been a lot more concrete.

Pants 2 showed how friendship withstood the test of time, differing interests and a pair of pants. The girls shared some tense moments in their bond over the pants, but realized that the jeans weren't the only thing they shared. The film's tagline "some friends just fit together" explained it all. No matter how much time the girls spent apart, their friendship always brought them back together.