Magic Mike XXL

Mike (Channing Tatum) is working his dream of making furniture but he's barely scrapping by. Dallas has left the Kings of Tampa behind and the guys are looking for one last blow-out. Big Dick Richie (Joe Manganiello), Tarzan (Kevin Nash), Ken (Matt Bomer), Tito (Adam Rodriguez), and MC Tobias (Gabriel Iglesias) are going on a road trip to a convention in Myrtle Beach run by Paris (Elizabeth Banks). When Tobias gets hurt in a crash, Mike recruits Rome (Jada Pinkett Smith) who brings along Andre (Donald Glover). Mike falls for Zoe (Amber Heard) but the guys are joined by her mother Nancy Davidson (Andie MacDowell) and her friends.

I like the first thirty minutes or so. It kept some of the Soderbergh style. I like Manganiello who is very charming and a little funny. I love him in the convenient store. It's the most innocent fun and I wish the movie stays with that feel. The movie should stay with the six guys having misadventures on the road on their way to the big gig. Then it tries to replace Matthew McConaughey with Jada Pinkett Smith. Matthew stole the first movie. Jada seems to be trying to repeat the feat but it's not the same. Then it tries to inject Glover in with the group which only jumbles up the chemistry once again. The Andie MacDowell section is interesting and it would be great as a companion scene to other more humorous scenes. The last thirty minutes is a long series of stripper performances. I'm sure it's orgasmic for middle aged girlfriends drinking their wines but it gets pretty boring for me. I like the first act but the movie loses a little bit of chemistry when it sets aside Iglesias.

(Rating: ☆ ½ out of 4)

This film is not recommended.

In brief: The filmmakers can adjust their junk the best they can, but junk is still junk, no matter the size.

GRADE: C-

Life is filled with irony. While driving home after seeing the stud dud, Magic Mike XXL, the radio station began playing You Gotta Have a Gimmick from Gypsy, that classic show- tune about strippers. Fate? Coincidence? Bad luck? Whatever, it struck me as a sign of the times. The gimmick was there: The bodies are toned and well oiled. Their moves well choreographed and fluid. Sex is for sale once again in this sequel. Only this time around, the sleaze is on slow-boil and the meat has been tenderized for consumption. The sordidness of male strippers is on the back burner as this film version celebrates the legitimacy of male dancers as a serious art form. Really? This is pure (or impure) fantasy, totally devoid of any reality. With all of its come-ons and dirty dancing (and no frontal nudity), the film never satisfies its intended audience.

Magic Mike XXL is not a serious expose about the sex business as its predecessor purported to be. The first installment tried to show the dirty side of the sex-for-sale business, with its sleazy show biz world on display. Not so here. This sequel is a simple dance movie with lots of sex thrown in. It's more interested in all the right moves, but there's very little reality, plot, or logic. This version has become a road movie as Mike (Channing Tatum) and his buddies, known as the Kings of Tampa, deciding to relive their glory days by putting on one last show, an encore performance to go out in style at a stripper convention in Myrtle Beach.

Dare I say, directed (and I am using the term very loosely) by Gregory Jacobs and written (even more loosely) by Reid Carolin, Magic Mike XXL is silly and naughty fun, especially made for repressed gays or horny females looking for the cheapest of thrills. The film just may be perfect for bachelorette parties too, but as a movie-going experience, it's limp.

The non-direction is the main reason for this erectile dysfunction of a movie. The film lacks any subtlety or good taste with its groping and in-your-crotch shots. The film's salaciousness overpowers any fun. But the film does treat both sexes with equal disdain: men are sexual objects and women are sex crazed nymphs. What a piece of work is man!

The screenplay is an absolute mess. The dialog has an improvisational vibe that is incomprehensible most of the times and stilted the rest of the times. It wants to impress with hip rap, gangster swagger, and non-stop f-bombs, as if to say, "I'm cool", but it all comes across as just plain silly and labored. The story spends too much time meeting various characters that never amount to much. Scenes need judicious cutting and go on endlessly (a visit to a black private club, a meeting with some older repressed Southern ladies, a drug- filled night on the beach).

Most of the choreography (by Alison Faulk) is sexual gyrations and simulated sexual posing, although it is hard to tell what action is being done on stage due to the lousy editing that is too close for comfort and rarely shows off the dance moves and some of the worst photography to be seen in a major studio film: ugly, grainy, out of focus and usually shot in a dinghy yellow-brown hue. Surprisingly, Steven Soderbergh mishandled both duties.

The cast is uneven. Except for Mr. Tatum, who really can dance, Matt Bomer who tries to develop his ill-gotten pretty boy role, and the charismatic Joe Manganiello who truly looks the part, the others boy toys just mill around bonding and getting high or drunk. The most uncomfortable of the lot seems to be Kevin Nash as Tarzan who plays his role more Neanderthal than human. Also adding little to the film except for a winning smile and nice set of abs are Adam Rodriguez as Tito and comedian Gabriel Iglesias in the role as an unfunny stooge named Tobias. However the strangest part of the film is a tawdry cameo by Michael Strahan (of sports and talk show fame). His contribution, a graphic lap dance with an obese woman, is an embarrassment of bad taste that sets back women rights and questions the real motives of the filmmakers and this television personality's dubious career choices. Adding to this debacle are the wasted talents of Addie MacDowell, Elizabeth Banks, Amber Heard, and Jada Pinkett Smith.

The dance showdown at the stripper convention peters out really fast (pardon the pun) with no real climax (again, my apologies) as the film follows its predictable conclusion. But there are some dance sequences that do work quite effectively: Channing's all too short scene in his "body" shop, an amusing segment with Mr. Manganiello in a convenience store, and the final dance-off involving mirror images of Channing and Stephen "tWitch" Boss (underused) that become an R-rated version of a So You Think You Can Dance routine. (It makes sense since the choreographer and dancer worked on that television show.)

As that clever song from Gypsy so aptly states: "If you wanna grind it, Wait till you refine it." Magic Mike XXL hits more than its share of bumps than grinds, with no refinement in sight.

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Is this Shakespeare? No. Is this some boring Oscar winning movie? No. It's just a hot, sexy, hilarious blast. I saw this movie in the theater when it came out, and the whole audience was having a great time. Sometimes, you need something light and sweet! I will say, tho, if you are straight guy, you probably won't like it, because it definitely was not made for you. Enjoy!

I'll be honest: as a female I just wanted to see beautiful male bodies dancing- that's what I came for, not the plot, not the story line, not even the acting really. Loved seeing Channing work his amazing body!!! A very talented, watchable dancer. Loved the convenience store routine with Joe. Loved the finale scene with Channing and tWitch. There were some good moments and some funny moments here and there. Could it have been better, sure. And by that I mean more dance time- with less clothes on- for Channing, Joe and and Matt. This is why I liked the first one better- at least their pants came off more often! The fact that both movies did well at the box office speaks to the market for more (even better done) movies that showcase male entertainers for the viewing pleasure of women (and men) who appreciate it.

2012's Magic Mike wasn't exactly about the stripping. Sure, it features a lot of it, but the real center of the movie was the lifestyle of its main character, Mike. This latest installment showcases more of the crew and how they put up the show. It's more choreography driven than some commentary, which actually made it more appropriate to this material. It still has the stunning style of the first one, though it mostly feels quite forced, but if the movie tries to be itself, then there it actually shines. Magic Mike XXL indeed brings much of what you expect from it.

While the first movie basically shows the art of its aesthetics, this sequel rather shows the art of stripping. The story isn't quite remarkable; it's so simple that it's nothing more than an excuse to show more of these acts, which is both a good thing and otherwise. But really, that's what the target audience really came here for. Just like the first one, it's all atmosphere than following a plot. We just see these characters trying to get along, hint some commentary, and do some stripping. The difference however is the stripping is the real showcase, as in the direction and choreography improves within that aspect which makes these performances speak what this movie is truly about. People would immediately think that this would only appeal female viewers, but even as a straight man as I am, I would actually be impressed by the choreography displayed on those scenes.

The direction does try to keep Soderbergh's style going in this sequel, though only eschewing the intense sepia and welcoming other colors on the daylight. The new style is sometimes indefinite, specifically the vague lighting in some scenes, but then, the movie eventually breaks the pretense once the characters start dancing on screen, having more focus on their moves, and of course, bodies. Star, Channing Tatum, still has the charm as he always has. The other performers also get their characters expanded, staying natural whenever they bond and fight off on screen, treating them beyond than typical eye candy compared to the first one.

Many may call Magic Mike XXL a totally needless sequel or a cash grab for those who seek for more endless dose of shirtless men, but I believe this movie actually exists to make up for its own value. The story may not be as meaty as its predecessor's, but it shows everything what its audiences actually wanted for it. And it is done elegantly, proving that stripping apparently has more to offer than just lust for flesh. It sounds incredibly weird if you say it that way, but looking at these performances seems like this is an art that we didn't see coming. Again, there's nothing remarkable about the story, though if you're curious about the appeal of this career, then it gives a room for fascination.