It was hard to escape the publicity surrounding the movie in the weeks leading up to the movies release and therefore hard to resist getting excited about it. I was originally sceptical about the movie when the story first broke of the movie getting made but as more and more publicity was released about it, like any Sex fan who owns all the DVDâs ( One gripe on that, theyâve inevitably re-released all the DVDâs in new shiny packaging which is way nicer than the sets Iâve got- Iâm very annoyed!) I started to get excited about the movie.
So with my reservations and excited anticipation for the movie did I like it? Well I guess the answer would overall be yes. There was a lot to like about this movie. All major characters had returned to my delight (and by that I include the girls and the boys) and they all felt oh so familiar. The girls are all older and as much as it pains me to say it- look it, but apart from that these were the characters we had left in 2004. Of course their lives had moved on, but at the start of the movie, all their life changes made sense.
Other strong points about this movie include the brilliant and fitting soundtrack (the only song Iâm not really sure about is Fergieâs âLabels and Loveâ which like most of her songs is a bit hit and miss) the gorgeous fashion, and the long lasting and thriving friendship between the 4 women.
So with all this to like why arenât I like most SATC fans screaming âOMG this is the best film ever!!!â well the reason is because there is a lot to dislike about this movie also. Firstly the movie is 2 and half hours long- way to long in my opinion, at least 30 minutes could have been trimmed without out too much regret. Saying that there is so much that the movie lacks on, for instance Charlotteâs storyline is shrunk down so she barely features and her storyline probably takes up just a few minutes in the film which is a real shame. I had misgivings about Charlotteâs storyline in the first place ( a womanâs fertility level does not tend to increase with age but Iâll let that go to give Charlotte her fairytale ending) but most of her feelings and experiences with the pregnancy are ignored and we get what is basically the amount of time sheâs get in a normal episode which in the long movie is not enough. Other things the movie lacks is a odd absence of interaction between Stanford and Carrie- even one scene between the lead and her gay best friend wouldâve sufficed, and a real lack of dating which considering 2 of them women are single for a large proportion of the movie seems a little weird for a show which is centred a lot on dating. Lacking all these elements the film chooses instead to focus on Carrieâs depression over Big. One word- yawn. This depression lasts at least an hour of the movie and just takes up way to much time. Yes I know sheâs upset and this is a massive blow for her but do we have to see over 6 months of mourning. When she broke up- numerous times- with Big on the show her mourning took place either off screen or was gotten over a lot more quickly and itâs a real shame that this couldnât have happened in the movie. her depression really dragged the movie down and made the film *gasp* almost a little boring the middle.
The ending was closely guarded in the weeks leading up to the release with the ending either not shown or kept closely under wraps by journalists- who didnât want to spoil the ending. Now I was a little spoiled as to what happened in the movie, but did anyone really expect her not to end up with Big? Or that the other girls wouldnât end up happy? The only real surprise in my eyes was that Samantha ended up alone, but at least it was quite a fitting end for the character (although what was with the dog- Sam has never striked me as a pet person) I also found it a little odd that Carrie and Big after the past year ended up getting married at all, their last conversation was based around the fact that the idea of marriage ruined their relationship; therefore it would seem more fitting had they just agreed not to marry. But I guess the âhappyâ ending had to come, movie-goers and fans would not be satisfied otherwise. For me though I think the original TV ending was much stronger and less perfect for most of the characters and will be the one I want to remember for these women.
The Sex and the City movie for me is a little like the recently released Buffy and Angel comics; its so good to have the characters back after so long, they sound and act the same so its almost like having them back properly. However in the new non-TV medium, itâs just not quite the same. Overall the movie was decent and very watchable. Would it have been better had they never done it?? No, as it was brilliant to have the characters back even though its not as good and does not quite live up to the far superior TV series.
