An ad for Proactiv has more plot than the Carrie Bradshaw sequel “Sex and the City 2,” which plods along with tedious dialogue and the skimpiest of story lines.
And the product placement saturation - how many “Sex” characters does it take to make Christian Dior happy? - will disappoint many style-savvy fans.
There’s the Cuisinart logo on Carrie’s coffee maker (did Nespresso not pony up?) that gets a nice close-up from the cameras, and - no big surprise - a Rolex is Carrie’s anniversary gift to John. Meanwhile, the design house Halston, Sarah Jessica Parker’s new real-life employer, is the star of costume changes.
But the clothes don’t have nearly the impact they did on the original HBO television series - or even the first film. Carrie and crew look best early on in their New York play clothes, but the scene shift to Abu Dhabi works against the (reported $10 million) wardrobes.
Though they shop Christian Louboutin at the hotel gift shop, the opulence in the Middle East comes off as dated. In one particularly dreary karaoke scene, the girls take to the stage in ’80s styles (Carrie in crystal acid-wash jeans) that should never again see the light of day. Samantha’s red dress with shoulder spikes? Tacky, tacky, tacky.
Equally appalling is Mercedes-Benz’s heavy hand. It was apparently not enough to be the go-to car in Manhattan, but each of the four women gets her own Maybach (Mercedes’ luxury line) in Abu Dhabi. The caravan of four cars get two shoutouts, and more camera time than Aidan.
Watching this endless parade of labels, it’s easy to figure out who paid the most for exposure. The House of Dior appears as Stanford’s wedding tux, and Carrie wears its logo newsprint dress and its J’adore T-shirt. But by tale’s end, Carrie’s gone from fashionista to fashionista victim.