User reviews

Magic Mike is one of those many films that I could guess the plot exactly before I saw it. I don't know if its because its super predictable or if I've seen too many movies. Anyways, here is how I predicted how the film would go down before I saw it: Popular guy with pretty good life turns into a Disney princess because he wants "something more" in his life than what he's use to. He meets girl, falls in love with girl but is torn between his life and girl. He (shockingly) picks girl with limited personality instead of pretty good life and they all live happily ever after. That was my prediction BEFORE I saw the movie.

I won't spoiler the actual film but here's what its about: Magic Mike (Channing Tatum) is a construction worker by day and male stripper by night. He meets pretty boy Adam (Alex Pettyfer) who lives with his sister, Brooke (Cody Horn) at work and gets Adam a stripping job at the strip joint owned by Dallas ("I see a lot of law breakers"...must a say HIS name?). Romantic fireworks explode between characters and Adam gets into trouble along the way.

Here's how I'm going to analyze:

Story: All I can about the story is that it is your typical romantic 21st century Hollywood film. You can predict the whole movie and ending very easily.

Characters: These characters were walking cardboards. Mike, Adam, Brooke, Joanna, Norah, even Tarzan, etc HAD NO PERSONALITY! The character that was somewhat interesting was Dallas and he stripped the least (sorry ladies). I could've cared less what happened to these characters because there was no depth to them and I didn't feel attached to them at all. We've seen these clichéd characters a million times.

Acting: I hated to judge this part because there isn't much to judge. The acting is...mediocre at best. Channing Tatum plays the role he plays in every film of his: the good guy with little personality. I feel Tatum CAN really act but he needs to expand his range like Johnny Depp does or Heath Ledger use to. Adam Pettyfer has tried to expand his range (like in "Beastly")but the kid, as good looking as he is, just can't act. Cody Horn was the weakest link. She'll probably be the next Julia Stiles, meaning she'll be cast in the same role in every film (good films probably) next to good looking guys even though she can't act.

These are the only things to critique on. The directing, music, editing, etc are not focused on at all. The only song in the film I could remember was "Its Raining Men". The directing had some shaky camera. I remember that. The visuals were...okay. If you like naked men.

Overall, the film was..."eh". I was bored through most of it and I left the theater with no intentions to ever see it again. I gave the film three stars out of ten. The film needed more "magic" in storytelling and originality then "Mike" just being your typical Hollywood dream guy that doesn't really exist.

Unless you are a teen girl who's sexually frustrated and curious then avoid this movie. Tatum, McC, and cast lose their man card and make mankind seem a little less desirable. Why they would want to exploit themselves is a mystery to me. Most of the cast is married and has no business becoming objects of lust to lonely drunk women. McC is trying to have a decent movie but once again fails miserable. He seems like an arrogant prick that no one wants to be around. Go back to Dazed and Confused. Tatums poor acting will be overlooked because he is blessed with attractiveness.

It's no surprise that this is the first, and probably last, movie of its kind. Outside of trashy women this movie will appeal to almost no one. Save your money for The Dark Knight.

No doubt there are fans of this exercise in the male and semi-naked male body but I am not one of them. After the agony of trying to come to terms with the fragmentary structure I had a revelation. This film directed by Steven Soderbergh seemed to me to be a re-working of that great film ' All About Eve. ' Channing Tatum plays Margo Channing, here a male stripper, and he befriends a young man called Adam ( Alex Pettyfer ), and in the wink of an eye the young man becomes a success. Doom for Margo; sorry, Channing Tatum comes when his thirty year old buttocks have to retire and give place to a nineteen year old ( at least amid all the mumbling I thought I heard nineteen ) with buttocks fresher and new for an audience of besotted females. This film is not good on women, and only the nineteen year old's sister played well by Cody Horne ( best in the cast ) tries to be mature and also seems to be attracted to Tatum. As I watched this I wondered who the film was made for ? Women like those on the screen hungry for the fleeting and not so fleeting sight of a naked man, or was Soderbergh also interested in the gay audience ? This film is worth seeing if you are starved for a male bottom, or who admire Channing Tatum. Bette Davis did better in ' All About Eve. ' A camp reference. Maybe, but the scenario is in its way camp; straight camp of course otherwise no success. And there are sequels!!!

The ONLY reason to see this movie is to supplement the obvious girls night out this skin-flick requires.

Positives: aside from the shiny 6-packs money shots, Steven Soderbergh paints an accurate Florida backdrop (lighting/film) and Matthew McConaughey delivers a perfect performance. Also, Cody Horn reminds me of Maxine Bahns in Ed Burn's The Brothers McMullen, a likable/normal person.

Negatives: I'd hoped more from Channing Tatum after seeing The Vow, maybe it was the screenplay or lack there of but his lines were flat. Again, don't go for the dialog, there's plenty to see that carries the movie.

I feel so sorry for any (straight) husband/boyfriend/co-worker made to see this.

Seeing this advertised it looked very much like "Boogie nights" meets "Full Monty" which is an accolade in itself, what you actually get is tedious meets pointless.

My wife was really looking forward to this too she's a Rom-Com fan as most women are, I'm sick of having to watch them to keep her happy TBH,and seeing that the above named films are in my personal top 50 of all time it seemed like one I could actually enjoy but still have credit for my choice of films next ;).(bonus)

Neither of us were entertained in a any way shape or form its a slow drive-less sequence of events that never lead anywhere. After an hour of sitting in silence I turned to the wife and said "Whats this about then? Its going nowhere" her reply was "I know its RUBBISH" which sums it up in a nutshell. There is literally is NO STORY, no events, the characters had promise had there have been a point to why they came together. It is neither action, comedy, thriller, romance or adventure. it's two hours of the boring bits in a good film that you forget as soon as the good stuff starts just to pad it out.

If you read the positive reviews they all surround the stripping, so basically lonely women doing the bias thing that they criticise men for doing, "ogling and objectifying", which I don't have a problem with in its self, but using IMDb to skew ratings which can affect whether people waste (lets face it A LOT OF MONEY on at current cinema prices) is damn out of order when they just rate something on its "hot man" concept rather than film quality.

As for spoilers there is no chance of anyone writing a spoiler on this movie, because nothing happens (does the fact telling you nothing happens count as a spoiler?).

So they thought it was a good ideal to create a male strip flick without adding at least 1 Black male hunk in it? LOL!

And I thought my tv had broke based on the piss yellow all over my screen when trying to watch this, where I need to look it up on YouTube to make sure what I'm actually seeing here.

Anyway, this flick was a yawner even more when I saw Mathew's T-Rex body on screen again.

It was pants! Did the movie have any point, or plot, or relevance? Dreadful

I really didn't like this movie (if you can't already tell) -- to me it was a movie that you want to watch because it has a lot of sex & hot bodies, etc. etc. etc., but you also want to end up feeling clean when it's over. Like doing something wrong, but that's OK because you'll go to confession this week.

On the plus side: -- I did get a kick out of some of the stripping -- I mean dancing. Add 5 points. -- I did like Matthew McConaughey's depiction of his character (he was scummy AND fun to watch) Add 5 points.

On the negative side: -- The story was weak way weak. Deduct 10 points. -- Either Cody Horn or Cody Horn's character was flat. Either way, deduct 10 points.

Final score: Not much redeeming value overall. Don't bother.

While watching this strange, strange film I kept racking my brain to see if I could recall any news items about Steven Soderbergh having been saved from near-certain death by any screenwriters. I could not and Google searches also failed to turn anything up. Which is weird, because why else would one of our great film directors choose to turn this absurd script into a feature film? I cannot for the life of me understand what other reason there could have been to make this movie, other than somebody owing an absolutely massive favour to somebody else. First of all, the initial premise is unworkable and thus the film dies and loses all credibility within the first 15 minutes. Why? Because children, listen closely to your wise ole granny when she tells you this pearl of unchanging wisdom: aging strippers are not in the business of recruiting their own replacements! Whether male or female, getting old is the biggest fear in the adult industries and thus the young and new are the enemy of the old and experienced. When a new stripper joins the team, they would be perceived as a huge threat to earnings. This is a tip-based business don't forget, and there would be absolutely no perceived advantage to any of the old-timers to bring in a hot new guy. No way. They don't share the tips, they are competing for them. Also, the dancers pay for stage time and not the other way around! Why was the owner giving the dancers $50 each after their shift. This is not how it works.

All back-slapping and bear-hugging each other back stage, eh? Wrong! That is not how it works either. Why in hell would Mike suddenly decide to take this guy under his wing? Makes no sense. All it would do is cut into his own earnings. So this totally unreal presentation of a bunch of guy strippers being totally welcoming and developing a new one because "he got something" is 100% unbelievable. If Channing Tatum really did work in the adult industry then he should know that! In that environment, your co-workers are not your friends, they are your competition. And as for the club itself. Well we all know that there isn't a place on earth remotely like XQuisite. Though it was interesting to note that women at a male strip show apparently just giggle and shriek at the outlandish fun of it all. The vibe at a female strip club is decidedly darker and less comedic.

Finally, maybe the "writer" of the script thought he was making a point by gender-role reversing and having the big sister disapprove of her little brother's stripper job and not want to fall for his stripper friend, but personally I never liked the "quit your adult job to prove you love me" plot arc when the genders were the other way around. One half of the couple still had to change themselves to please the other, who did no transforming at all, which is a terrible message to transmit.

It testifies to Soderbergh's amazing skills as a director that despite the howler dialogue he managed to eke out some naturalistic performances from the cast (with the exception of Matthew McConnaughy whose portrayal is an OTT parody of a satire of a spoof) and that although it didn't take long to realize the film was ridiculous, I still watched it to the end with mild interest. 1 of the 3 points I give this film is just for the lighting.

Whoever said Magic Mike was a good movie is a liar. As a gay man, I would jump at the chance to see half naked, actors dancing on stage but this movie I wasn't to keen on seeing, mostly because they were no men of color in the cast but that's a topic for another type of review. Overall, the movie was kind of all over the place.

It took the movie about one hundred years to even start some action. I felt like I was watching a documentary or a found footage film with the cheesy dialogue and the weird shots. And is it me or was Channing Tatum the only who had rhythm. The director should have hired actors who could actually dance and look like believable exotic dancers. Especially the character named "Tarzan". Did they really think he could give a half ass performance and we not notice on huge cinema screen?!

I was became intrigued when they started showing "Mike's" story and struggle to follow his dream and make something of himself but I wanted more. More for his story and journey. "The Kidd" character could have had less air time because he really didn't learn anything. It seemed like this movie was just made to have women of all ages see there favorite True Blood and The Notebook men do a belly roll while their abs are oiled up. I do not knock the marketing tool but at least surprise the entire audience with a good story.

Could have been way better.

You see trailers, you see teasers, you see all that damn fine eyecandy... And you expect something, you know! But there's nothing! I'm a sucker for Channing Tatum, love to see that guy dancing. But the story is just sad and weak. I'm so darn happy that I didn't go see this in the theaters, 'cause now I at least had the opportunity to fast forward a bunch of meaningless and extremely slow dialogues!

It's like this; you've got chick flicks, rom com's... those movies you watch like a sappy little girl just al warm and fuzzy inside because all turns out good and even though you know it from the start, you love to watch the story as all falls into place... And you've got theme movies like dancemovies (step up and all that), musicmovies (upcoming pitch perfect is a nice example), cheerleadingmovies (bring it on), etc. This could have been like, say, a strippermovie! But it wasn't!

There's too little stripping and stuff to be a stripper-thememovie, and too little happening in the story to be about that! So nothing glued me to the screen... except for the eyecandy... Thank god for all that eyecandy :)

I'm sorry but I just couldn't sit through the whole thing. The acting was wooden, they were saying the lines but not feeling it, it was like the actors didn't even believe in what they were doing, it was also really slow going. I finally gave up 70 minutes into it. Even if you're a Matthew McConaughey fan there was nothing he could do to save this film and even seeing Channing Tatum's half naked body got old real fast. The only people who had any emotion or depth were the woman watching the strippers, they should have been given top billing. All in all Acting (Rubbish) Dialogue (Rubbish) Stripping (Mediocre) Dancing (Good But Repetitive).