The Sisterhood has lost its mojo

Based on a book of the same name by Ann Brashares, The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants was a modest success when it was released a couple of years ago. I enjoyed the movie and proceeded to read the series, which ultimately consisted of four books. When I learned that there would be a sequel to the movie, based on the fourth book, it seemed like a good idea. The fourth book, Forever in Blue, tells the stories of the four girls in the summer following their freshman year of college. The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 also shows the events of the summer, with a plot line from one of the earlier books weaved in.

Background
Lena (Alexis Bledel), Tibby (Amber Tamblyn), Carmen (America Ferrera) and Bridget (Blake Lively) have been best friends their entire lives, since their mothers were pregnant with them. In the first movie, they find a pair of jeans on the eve of their first summer apart that magically seem to fit all of their body types perfectly. The girls decide to take turns sending the pants to each other all summer, telling the tales of what magic happens to them while in the pants.

This story this time
When they have their annual sisterhood night at the beginning of their first collegiate summer, Carmen is disturbed to find out all of her friends are going to be away for the summer. Not only that, but their usual rituals involving the order of the pants rotation and their little sisterhood chant are skipped over because "we all know that already." Is this the end of the sisterhood? Carmen kind of feels that way, and after factoring in the fact that her newly remarried and pregnant mother is moving out of the home that has always belonged to her and Carmen, she decides to hit the road for the summer as well.

So, where do they all go? Carmen works on the stage crew and tries her hand at acting at a summer play in Vermont. Tibby stays at NYU to make up an incomplete, where she also experiences a pregnancy scare, after losing her virginity to her boyfriend of ten months. Lena takes an art class at RISD, trying to get over the love of her life, Kostas, who is now married and expecting a baby. Bridget starts off on an archaeological dig in Turkey, only to leave early and rediscover herself and her deceased mother with maternal grandmother in the south.

Eventually, all four girls end up at Lena's grandmother's house in Greece, where everything becomes right in the world of the sisterhood.

Thoughts
There are some important themes dealt with in The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2, but I felt that a lot of the stories were rushed, a problem I found in the first movie as well. Told in little five minute snippets here and there, I didn't feel much depth in each girl's dilemma. I also felt that when the girls go to Greece, the chemistry between Tibby and the rest was a little forced. I also didn't feel the magic of the 'bond' between Lena and Kostas.

An exception to these gripes is with the story of Carmen. I probably liked Carmen's story least in the book, but America Ferrera is fantastic at showing Carmen's pain and insecurities. While Tibby is a character that tends to irritate me with her negativity and woe-is-me stories (in all four books!), the best scene is when she and Carmen get in a fight. Amber Tamblyn is a talented actress, and she and Ferrera have always played well off of each other. Otherwise, Tibby is a poor showcase for Tamblyn.

I found it interesting that the four lead actresses seem to have switched places with each other career-wise since the first movie. Back then, Bledel and Tamblyn were the "well-known" actresses, due to their starring roles on the television shows "Gilmore Girls" and "Joan of Arcadia," respectively. Now, both of those shows have been canceled, and Lively and Ferrera star on the more popular shows "Gossip Girl" and "Ugly Betty." Fittingly, both gave performances in this movie that stood out over their costars'.

Final Thoughts
If you liked the first movie of The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, you will enjoy the sequel, just not as much as the first one. Fans of the book series will notice inconsistencies but should overall feel satisfied. For me, it was just okay. Add to that some pretty dull extras (a couple of deleted scenes and a "Behind the Scenes" in Greece), and it gets 3.5 stars, rounded down to three.