I saw The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants years ago. Once again, this is another movie that took a long time for me to finally get around to seeing. This is a common thing for me. There are tons of movies, shows, books, I have an interest in and it takes forever until I finally get around to them.

I liked The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2. I thought it was a good movie. It was the right length. It wasn’t too short, but it wasn’t too long either. I think what makes this successful is the cast. Blake Lively, Amber Tamblyn, Alexis Bledel, and America Ferrera star in as the four main leads. They all reprise their roles from the first movie. There are rumors of a third movie happening at some point which I hope it does happen. More on that later. I also liked the other characters in this one. For a film like this, it relies on the success of the four leads. Sometimes seeing other characters can be annoying when you as the audience want the focus solely on the four friends in this scenario. I liked the storyline for each of the characters. I think the movie had a good plot for each character. One thing I think may have helped make this movie enjoyable was the rating change. The first movie was rated PG whereas this one is PG-13. That was a bold move to make especially when this came out in 2008. I think it makes sense given in the first movie the characters were in high school and here they are in college. They are adults now so making things a little more mature seems natural. At this point in time the actors were all well established. Blake Lively was starring on Gossip Girl which was a racy show for the CW at that time. Alexis Bledel was already best known as Rory Gilmore in Gilmore Girls which had ended a year before this movie came out. Amber Tamblyn starred on the show Joan of Arcadia which lasted two seasons. America Ferrera was starring on Ugly Betty. The cast has great chemistry together, but they also stand well on their own. That can be tricky to do when splitting up the friends. Desperate Housewives had gotten complaints in later seasons when the wives weren’t always together as well as complaints on their individual storylines. It has been years since I saw the first movie, so I don’t remember how they balanced the storylines especially since they all were living in the same town at the time.

I think the movie does a good job balancing between comedy and drama. It has good heartfelt moments and I think it has a great realistic depiction of friendships. They care deeply about each other, but they also fight and disagree with each other. I think one thing that helps with the actors’ chemistry with each other is the fact they all are friends in real life. I don’t know for sure, but I think they became friends when they did the first movie. I know since making these films, they have stated they are still friends.

Another thing that worked for the film was making it a little more mature. The storylines are a bit more grown up. One of the girls has a pregnancy scare while another one learns the truth behind her mother’s passing. If they make a third one, I think they should keep it PG-13. This works for this series. It was also nice to see some other actors I know in this. Jesse Williams plays a love interest for Alexis Bledel. I know Jesse Williams mostly as Jackson Avery on Grey’s Anatomy. This movie was a few years before he joined the show. Kyle MacLachlan plays a Drama Director of a play that America Ferrera is involved with. This was while he was starring on Desperate Housewives. I am confused why he was not credited for the role in this movie. I knew it was him while watching it and got confirmation when I went on IMDB. I thought it was nice to see Lucy Hale in this as well. She is best known for Pretty Little Liars. She plays Alexis Bledel’s sister. This was two years before Pretty Little Liars launched. She had a small role in this, but I thought it was cool to see her in something else. I did find her character a bit annoying which may have been the point since she was the younger sister and younger siblings can be annoying at times.

The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 is highly enjoyable. It has a good cast, and everybody does a good job. The four leads have great chemistry together.  After watching it, I want to rewatch the first one again to refresh my memory on what happened before. I also hope they make a third one which has been talked about since this one came out. Last I heard, all four of them would be willing to return. I think it would be cool to see where the characters are now especially since it has been a while since this one came out. I think they need to keep it similar in tone to this one. The next one could go a little more mature, but I think what was done in this was fine. This does not need to be R rated. I would probably see this again at some point especially if I rewatch the first one. The main key to the success of this movie is Blake Lively, Amber Tamblyn, Alexis Bledel, and America Ferrera. They make a great quartet and that should be the one thing that is not messed with in future installments. If a third one happens and is successful, I would not be surprised if the studio would want to keep it going.