I'm aware that the statement I'm about to make may well be met with muchos disagreement and general disdain, but then, what's the point in having a blog if you can't set yourself up for a bit of abuse?

I'm not going to beat around the bush here, I'm just going to come right out and say it... deep breath...

I liked Sex and the City 2 (for the most part)

Ok kids, now play nice.

After reading reviews and talking to other people who've seen the movie, the general consensus seems to be that the majority of people thought it was too long, had very little in the way of actual storyline and, generally, they just hated it.

Well... yes, it was too long. I don't think anyone can deny that this movie is long and really doesn't need to be. Maybe they forgot to edit it, maybe they just really wanted to squeeze in a few more puns and a few more pairs of shoes, who knows, but it was VERY long. To be honest though, I feel that any movie that surpasses the two hour mark is too long. I've actually sat through SATC 2 twice now, (once in Liverpool, once in London) maybe this makes me crazy, but despite the numb-bum syndrome we all get in those horrible cinema seats, I've enjoyed it both times and was quite happy to go the second time, despite the fact I knew it was super-long.

With regards to the storyline, let's be honest here, it's the sequel to a movie-adaptation of a TV show that focuses solely on sex and fashion - how much storyline could there really be? The first movie pretty much exhausted all the standard 'dramatic' storylines that were relevant to the show- infidelity, pregnancy, marriage, dying your hair brown - what more could they have done? It was a choice between sending them off on holiday or going in a completely different direction, setting the movie in a women's prison and having the storyline be a violent-but-moving prison drama; a cross between Bridget Jones 2 and The Green Mile (Sex and the City 2: Behind Bars)... actually... that sounds quite good...

Anyway, regardless of length and storyline (or lack of...), I still enjoyed the film. I didn't LOVE it; I'm not going to go around quoting it, it hasn't changed my life, but then, I wasn't expecting it to. Sex and the City 2 was hardly going to be the next Boys Don't Cry, was it? It had its flaws, but it made me laugh, the styling was (mostly) marvellous and that Danish guy was seriously hot. Maybe this makes me sound like a shallow, soulless monstrosity, but sometimes, after a long week at work, I don't want to watch some kind of emotionally-charged drama that leaves me feeling drained and exhausted at the end, I want to watch something light and silly. I make no apologies for that. Films don't always have to be enriching or intelligent; they're just films. If you really want to do something intelligent, read a book; you'll get a lot more out of it.
Anyway, rant over. Let's get to the good stuff.

Bits I loved (there may be spoilers)

Very brief 80s flashback. Brilliant. It was worth watching for Miranda's haircut alone. I don't know why, but I love this image of Charlotte walking down the street brushing her hair.

The Brady-Hobbes clan. Gotta love them. Yes, Miranda quits her job at the beginning of the movie, which is a bit unexpected and random, but she does find another one by the end, with what seems to be some kind of roof-top hippie law firm. Ah, why not?

AIDAN! There will always be a place in my heart for lovely tall Aidan. Look at him, working that man-bag. So manly.

KARAOKE! I'll be honest, I'd never heard the song before, but it was still wonderful. Favourite bit possibly in the whole film, Samantha drunkenly singing on her own at the end "I am a woma-a-an, I'm at that ta-a-able!"

Every scene with baby Rose. Not because she's cute, just because her facial expressions were hilarious. Did you ever see a more stressed-out looking baby in your life? Either she has a deadly cupcake allergy or it's just suddenly dawned on her that Charlotte is going to be dressing her and Lily in matching outfits until they're both well into their teens.

LIZA-MI-FRIKKIN-NELLI! I don't need to say anything else.

Other bits I loved;

• "Abdul. Like Paula"
• Samantha dancing to Single Ladies during Liza's bit.
• The super fancy plane - how amazing were those cubicle things?!
• Brief, unnecessary shot of Jason Lewis shirtless - no reason for it, but I'm not complaining :)
• Alice Eve's ridiculously crap Irish accent. I don't know if it was meant to be crap, or it just was crap, but either way, HILARIOUS! (I don't think we really need to talk about her boobs, but seriously, did you ever see anything like them? Are they real?!)

Bits I didn't love

Pretty much everyone's outfit in this scene. Especially Charlotte's. Why, oh why did they put her in those horrendous shiny red legging things!? Actually though, they all look completely ridiculous here. Samantha is wearing some kind of Pharoah headdress. Apparently that's necessary in the desert...

Other bits I didn't love;

• the fact that Charlotte seems to have become some kind of bizarre, comedy character who's always getting into hilarious scrapes. She poos herself in the first movie and seems to spend the second film falling over and generally being embarassing. What's going on there?
• The whole scene in the marketplace which starts with Samantha going completely mental, thrusting at holy men and screeching "YES, CONDOMS! I HAVE SEX!" like some kind of furious, sweaty sex-banshee and ends with all four of the women disguising themselves in burqas to escape the angered holy men. It was like some kind of weird scene from a Carry On movie, or a Benny Hill sketch. A lot of people have said that this scene in particular was really offensive, and I agree that it is to some extent, but more than anything I think it just makes Carrie et al look really bloody stupid.

So there you have it; my thoughts on SATC 2 - silly in parts but still enjoyable and lots of fun - where's the harm in that? I'd love to know what you guys thought of it - a bit of a laugh or a load of rubbish? Tell me!

images from imdb.com