What happens when you make one of the most famous tv series ever? Make a movie of course. What happens when said movie makes tonnes at the box office. Why, then it's sequel time! Ok, it's no secret that this second movie has come about because the first made a lot of money, but it's a winning formula and so understandably much hype has surrounded this, the second big screen adventure of the fab four in 'Sex & The City 2'.
 
What happens after the wedding bells have chimed? That's the question the movie asked as the newly married Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica Parker)- or should it now be 'Mrs Big'?- finds herself two years in to her marriage to the great Mr. Big (Chris Noth). However, she begins to feel suffocated by her new life, but luckily the girls are on hand. Miranda (Cynthia Nixon), Charlotte (Kristin Davis) and Samantha (Kim Cattrall)-as if you needed reminding- all head off to Abu Dhabi for some R&R. However, things become complicated when she meets a face from the past in the desert heat...



The first movie distinguished itself by turning the format on it's head- putting Carrie in the anti-happy ending, Miranda in a marriage crisis and Samantha struggling for self worth. This time, the problems feel a lot less immediate, and that is the movie's biggest failing. The characters' issues are not ones that alter the equilibrium of the show, more they feel like mild dramas that provide an excuse for a jape in the Middle East. Abu Dhabi as a setting plays a big role, however the emirate and it's cultures come under severe scrutiny, with some barbs missing the mark to toe-curling effect. That said, the script has a lot of humour and works to the leads' strengths, making this a likeable if somewhat directionless adventure. 

In Carrie Bradshaw created a TV icon.

Here she portrays a different side to the character- not plunging head-first into commitment like in the previous film, but now two years in and worrying about losing her old self. Nixon and Davis are given softer portrayals this time round- Miranda is not so harsh a character, and we see the cracks in the perfect veneer of Charlotte. As for Cattrall's Samantha, it's business as usual, providing a lot of the comic relief and practically all the riskier scenes.



Overall it feels like the writers have rushed through a 'Sex & The City Does The Desert' storyline in response to it's success, rather than truly put the characters in any sort of Earth shaking peril. But as we said at the top of this review, the masses have spoken- it is a lot more of all four, and for many fans of the show that will be more than enough.


Sex and the City 2 is released today and you can get your hands on the movie's soundtrack here!