Sometimes it’s just not necessary to make a movie.  Unfortunately, when a movie can bring in a lot of money with little story or effort, it seems like a scam.  Sex and the City 2 capitalized on its previous success, but forgot to tell a worthwhile story as well.

The last time viewers saw the four best friends from NYC, Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker) had finally married Big (Chris Noth), Miranda (Cynthia Nixon) had patched up her marriage, Charlotte (Kristen Davis) had given birth and Samantha (Kim Catrall) had, well…returned to her single roots.  The first movie picked up right where fans of the HBO series had hoped they would. 

The second film deals with Carrie’s frustration with being a boring married couple.  After Samantha is given a free vacation in order to publicize a middle eastern resort, the girls pack up and leave for Abu Dhabi.  Samantha is going through menopause and is trying everything she can think of to postpone the inevitable.  Charlotte is struggling as a mother of two young children and is embarrassed to talk about it with her friends.  Miranda is at a career crossroads as she quits her job in search of a place where she will both feel fulfilled and appreciated.

While on vacation in the desert, Carrie runs into ex-fiance Aiden.  Surprised by the run-in, Carrie agrees to go to dinner with him and must toe the line if she wants to get back to Mr. Big in NYC.  Samantha is having a hard time with her lack of sexual desires and is worried that she’ll never be the same again.  Charlotte and Miranda bond over cocktails and they come to terms with what they really want from life.

I was so disappointed with this film.  I was a huge fan of the series and really enjoyed the first film, but this sequel just missed the mark.  Taking the girls out of NYC to vacation in the middle east for 80% of this movie was not good planning.  All four of the main actresses have said time and time again that NYC is the fifth character.  So basically, director Michael Patrick King decided to lose the fifth character in exchange for a boring location shoot.

The set up for this film was all wrong in my opinion.  A wedding opens the film and lasts entirely too long and then in the blink of an eye, the girls are half way around the world.  I didn’t find much humor in this film either.  Of course there are a couple good lines scattered throughout, but overall the funny has been left back in NYC.

I did enjoy that the majority of the film was more about the four girls this time, but I think that more storyline could have been created if they weren’t in the middle of the desert.  I loved the return of John Corbett as Aiden, but after seeing his scenes, I felt sort of jipped.  It was definitely a ploy to forward the plot, but he was such a likable character and fan favorite, that I wish he would have been used in a better capacity.

I missed seeing more of Steve (David Eigenberg), Harry (Evan Handler) and Smith (Jason Lewis).  Big definitely had the biggest male role, but again, it was just boring.  Much has been made out of the fact that the ladies are aging, which trust me – they are, so it would make sense to tackle that while in the place they came of age in.  There is so much entertaining material that could be brought out of that.

Sadly, I can’t recommend this film.  This is just another example of making a movie to make a movie.  Sure, making money is what Hollywood is all about, but when all the pieces are there to have an entertaining movie and it doesn’t materialize, it’s a major let down.