Why I Liked Sex and the City 2 (even though it wasn't that good)

What you've read is true. Sex and the City 2 is NOT a brilliant piece of film.  The story is lackluster.  Many of the one liner/"wisecracks" came across forced and far from funny.  The big karaoke scene is contrived, absurd and embarrassing.  And most importantly, I was disappointed that the girls left the 5th lady (NYC) behind to go on another madcap adventure.  Abu Dhabi?  Really?

But, even after all that I didn't leave the theatre totally disappointed. The film does manage to deliver the important stuff, friendship & fashion. 

The parts of the sequel that really work reminded me just why I've loved Sex and the City for so many years.  What writer and director Michael Patrick King manages to do successfully, as usual, are the quiet conversations between the girls.  (The motherhood conversation between Miranda and Charlotte is undoubtedly the best few minutes of the film.) It's the love story between these ladies that drives this franchise, and the film doesn't completely forget that.  The girls continue to love one another well by refusing to blindly support each other's missteps like a bunch of spineless "yes" women.  Yet even when they disagree, there's not catty back biting among the four.  They listen patiently to one another, challenge one another, ask for forgiveness and wipe away tears.  There's safety to be vulnerable and real in a friendship like that.  And that friendship is what makes silly plot lines, like trips to Abu Dhabi, tolerable to fans of Sex and the City.

Well, that and the drool worthy fashion.