Sequel a lesser film, but fans won't mind

There's less sex, less of the city, and it's long at a self-indulgent 2 hours and 26 minutes.

But “Sex and the City 2” is so full of eye candy of every kind — bodies, clothes, scenery, apartments, hotels — and steady flashes of wit from director-screenwriter Michael Patrick King that fans of the HBO series and the 2008 movie aren't likely to mind.

Best friends Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker), Samantha (Kim Cattrall), Miranda (Cynthia Nixon) and Charlotte (Kristin Davis) are as loyal to each other as ever, navigating the shoals of post-fortysomething life.

Career-loving Miranda, now a law partner, has a new, abusive boss who's ruining her home life with hubby Steve and son Brady. But what would life be for her without work?

Samantha, as sexually liberated as ever, struggles to hold off menopause with pills, yams and hormones.

Traditionalist Charlotte, finally the mother of two perfect kids, finds she's not the perfect mother. And she's worried her Irish nanny (nickname: Erin Go Braless) is causing husband Harry's eyes to wander.

Carrie, having spent two years carefully decorating her and Big's apartment, now feels trapped in it. The original Miss Out-on-the-Town fears that she and Big will become bores addicted to takeout and the flat screen.

King is too smart to weigh the movie down by focusing too intently on those problems. Entertaining distractions never stop as the girls work it all out.

That includes an over-the-top gay wedding for Anthony and Stanford; guest cameos by Liza Minnelli, Penelope Cruz, Miley Cyrus and fashion guru Tim Gunn; Carrie's release of a new book about marriage (“I Do, Do I?”); and Smith Jerrod's film premiere.

A sheik at the premiere asks publicist Samantha to do for his Abu Dhabi luxury hotel what she did for Jerrod's film career. Sure, if her friends can help her check the place out.

So it's off to the Middle East for a little break from life, complete with every decadence a sheik can provide: four handsome Arabian butlers, camel rides in the desert and shopping in the souk, where Carrie (surprise) finds tempting ex-flame Aidan (John Corbett).

King pulls maximum comedy from the contrast of these liberated American females in the land of burqas and veils. And when things get too over-the-top, he throws in a dose of reality: Carrie and Big face a marital crisis, Miranda and Charlotte deconstruct motherhood, Samantha learns about the limits of legal tolerance in Abu Dhabi.

Things feel a bit sluggish in the middle of the film, and escapism through somebody else's self-indulgence has its limits, but the pace picks up toward the end. This isn't as good as the first movie, but it's not a huge step down, either.

What always made “Sex and the City” work is still there: the glitz, the fabulous/ridiculous clothes, the hunky guys, the clever writing and the friendships that won't quit. Staying true to the characters keeps it real enough to counterbalance all that fantasy living.

Contact the writer:

444-1269, bob.fischbach@owh.com

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