Me, in front of Buddakan, during the SATC tour.

Sitting in a coffee shop in Gramercy Park after a weekend full of sex (kidding)… and the city. Before I had even moved to the city, I had pre-ordered tickets to see Sex and the City 2. As an avid Carrie Bradshaw and Sex and the City fan (I’ve seen every episode at least twice), I figured there would be nothing better than seeing the sequel in the Big Apple. And, I was right.

As if that wasn’t enough, my sister and I spent our Sunday afternoon touring all of the Sex and the City hotspots through an HBO bus tour. Despite the obnoxious Bachelorette parties, it was an amazing opportunity to see first-hand some of the famous Sex and the City spots. We drove past Big and Carrie’s penthouse, Miranda’s gym, Charlotte’s art gallery, Buddakan (the restaurant where Carrie and Big had their engagement party pre-wedding-day-debacle- see photo!), Samantha’s Meatpacking District loft, and much more. But, let’s cut to the chase. Although the four girls looked hot, Sex and the City 2 didn’t get such hot reviews.

Before I saw the film, I looked to no other than Roger Ebert, my favorite movie critic, for his review. I was not so pleased with his opening paragraph:

The characters of Sex and the City 2 are flyweight bubbleheads living in a world which rarely requires three sentences in a row. Their defining quality is consuming things. They gobble food, fashion, houses, husbands, children, vitamins and freebies. They must plan their wardrobes on the phone, so often do they appear in different basic colors, like the plugs you pound into a Playskool workbench.

GULP.

So here are my thoughts. The movie will be loved by all Sex and the City fans. But, that’s just it. You have to be a fan of the show to really enjoy the movie. Costume designer and so-called “inventor of Carrie Bradshaw,” Patricia Field, did a phenomenal job selecting the clothing for the sequel. The majority of the movie takes place in Abu Dhabi (the “new” Middle East) known for its luxury. And the costumes for the movie reflect just that. But, then again, what else would you expect with a costume budget estimated at ten million dollars? I may be biased, but NYMag’s The Cut says it best when it comes to the film’s costumes:

In the karaoke scene pictured, Carrie wears $4,000 embellished jeans by the Blonds under a $47,190 silver-and-gold Chanel lamé dress and overskirt. The spiky shoulders Samantha wears in Abu Dhabi are also by the Blonds and cost $5,000. The matching outfits Samantha and Miley Cyrus wear include $3,500 Matthews Williamson dresses and $300 Dolce Vita boots. Charlotte makes cupcakes in a vintage Valentino blouse under an Anthropologie apron. Miranda wears a $1,400 Roland Mouret dress and in another scene a five-figure 24-karat gold cuff.

The karaoke scene from Sex and the City 2 (photo credit: nymag.com)

Wow. So, the costumes are elaborate. But, is the plot? A main concern I had with the film is that for being called Sex and the City, there wasn’t much sex… and there wasn’t much city. Perhaps Prude in Abu Dhabi would have been a better title.

Although Jay-Z and Alicia Keys’ Empire States of Mind kickoff the film (let’s hear it for New York), there weren’t many visuals of the city. The movie, which was mainly filmed in Morocco, was hoping to highlight style and luxury in another part of the world. And, while doing so, attempted to show how the native females in the Middle East, despite their garbs, still crave the fashion that the four girls are used to in New York City. The film was trying to show how women around the globe can bond over a similar love of shoes, Louis Vuitton pantsuits, and Manolo flats… er something.

The plot line itself is nothing to write home about. Without spoiling too much, Sarah Jessica Parker (Carrie Bradshaw), Kristin Davis (Charlotte York), Cynthia Nixon (Miranda Hobbes), and Kim Cattrall (Samantha Jones) are clearly the main characters. Mr. Big, Steve, Harry, Stanford,  and Smith [why are you so hot?] have little to no parts in the movie. Carrie Bradshaw runs the show (as usual). She escapes to Abu Dhabi because she’s sick of her “bored” life with Mr. Big, though takeout with Chris Noth in a penthouse apartment in Manhattan doesn’t sound all that boring to me. Charlotte York enjoys time away from her two daughters, who have caused her a few mental breakdowns that avid Sex and the City fans are not used to seeing from refined Charlotte. Miranda is sick of her woman-hater boss and quits her job when husband Steve (gag) encourages her to do so. And, Samantha Jones experiences the side-effects of menopause, while still managing to hook up with the hottest men in the Middle East. Bottom line: all four women manage to escape to Abu Dhabi for their own various reasons.

Nearly every movie critic hated the movie. I’ve read everything from “Sucks in the City” to “thin gruel.” Truthfully, I didn’t half mind the sequel. Given, my opinion of the film could have been skewed by Bradshaw’s gold-glittered Christian Louboutins. If you accept the fact that Sex and the City never really intended to have an Academy Award winning plot line, you can sit back and enjoy Patricia Field’s costumes, the fabulous four’s always-present chemistry, and a few scenes that will have you laughing out loud. But, beware, the movie is lengthy (I was an hour late to my dinner reservation at Buddakan)!

To end on a high note. Here’s a fun fact I learned on the SATC tour this weekend. Remember the opening scene from each Sex and the City episode where Carrie Bradshaw gets splashed on while wearing the pink tutu? The given link will give you a helpful reminder. Well, you’ll notice a bus full of people (0:35 seconds). When the bus turns around the corner, however, the people are no longer in the bus (0:40 seconds). The blooper went unnoticed for six seasons.

Carrie on!