All Post-Coital Smoke

I’ve always been a fan of Sex And The City for its sharp observations about sex and relationship trends today. But as I sat in the cinema watching the sequel to its first highly successful movie (grossing over US$400 mil worldwide), I wondered if it was not in actual fact, Desperate Housewives on celluloid?

SATC 2 demonstrated the importance of knowing when to quit. The first SATC movie was an orgasm, this sequel was the morning-after-post-sex-bedside-smoke. It’s a slow long drag with a lot of nothing (but good for fashion retailers during this Great Singapore Sale season). It is not wrong to dwell into what happens after juicing the sugarcane, but this is about sex and the city, not raising a family in the city. Pulp should be thrown out, not soaked in water and pretend it’s fresh juice. Perhaps it takes being married to appreciate the themes in the movie better.

Without fail, SATC 2 continued to push the buttons on controversial topics such as gay marriage, open relationships, taking time-off from love, and what degree of flirting will hurt a relationship. And the latter topic was the climax du jour here. Carrie French-kissed Aiden (her ex-boyfriend) while married to Big, a major crisis that called for a dramatic emotional meltdown. Maybe I’ve been taught too well through all 6 seasons of the SATC series, I don’t see what the big drama here is. This whole segment of the movie just looked over-reacted and over-acted. SATC 2 is the equivalent of an emotional castration.

I think the producers knew that diaper woes (Charlotte and Miranda) won’t sustain the movie and no amount of hormone-popping (Samantha) can freshen up the show’s appeal, so they went ballistic on the fashion. Unfortunately, the fashion exaggeration is too much and instead of distracting from the tranquilizing storyline, it sank in the troves of suitcases the girls packed for Abu Dhabi.

But, despite all my grouses with SATC 2, I still loved it. Just like loving someone doesn’t mean seeing all the good and pretend there’re no flaws. In any relationship, we love the general good of that person and let love be our strength to accommodate the flaws. I’m in love with these 4 women and what they represent.

Yet, no amount of love can have me turn a blind eye to the greatest mistake in this movie… Liza Minnelli performing Beyonce’s Single Ladies. It sounded like Liza had the wedding ring on her neck instead of finger. She seemed out of breath throughout the routine and her vocal was intermittent. Put a ring on it? I don’t think so. Liza’s rendition made me want to put a wreath on it!