Review: Magic Mike XXL
It's been three years since Magic Mike and the Kings of Tampa gyrated into public consciousness. The gang's not quite all here. Gone is director Steven Sodebergh, who has handed the directorial reins over to longtime collaborator Gregory Jacobs in favour of serving as cinematographer and editor under the pseudonyms Peter Andrews and Mary Ann Bernard, respectively. Gone is Matthew McConaughey's emcee Dallas, who took Alex Pettyfer's Adam, the first film's Cinderalla, to Europe and left the rest of the troupe behind. Gone too is Magic Mike himself, retired from the business of being a stripper - ahem, male entertainer. Of course, all it takes is hearing his anthem, Ginuwine's "Pony," on Spotify before Mike trots out the bumps and grinds to join his beefcake brothers for one last ride at a strippers convention in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.
Appending XXL to the title promises something bigger and better, whilst returning screenwriter Reid Carolin ironically sheds all but the slightest semblance to structure and plot. The results are arguable but when Magic Mike XXL hits its groove, which it does here and there, it is difficult to scold the film for its more dullish stretches. Mostly it's because Mike and his crew are good-hearted men who have but one simple aim: let us entertain you. One could even make a valid claim that Magic Mike XXL is a goodwill mission masquerading as a combination road trip and dance recital.
Goodwill is certainly ejaculated from Tampa to Savannah to Myrtle Beach and on all ladies short and tall, big and small, young and old. A glum convenience store clerk responds with a smile after Big Dick Richie (Joe Manganiello, hysterical in his expanded role) puts on an impromptu dance that includes tearing open a bag of chips, dry-humping a vending machine, and hosing himself down with bottled water. The women that frequent Domino's, a subscription-based pleasure palace overseen by Rome (Jada Pinkett Smith), a woman from Mike's old dancing days, are there to be showered with attention, serenaded with admiration, and made to feel like the queens Rome tells them they are.
Mike and the gang stumble upon a wine-fueled ladies night hosted by Nancy Davidson (Andie MacDowell), a Southern belle celebrating her recent divorce from the only man she's ever slept with. This interlude, easily the best part of the film, finds Magic Mike XXL at its most relaxed and appealing as the women of a certain age lament their unsatisfying lives and find their confidence boosted by encouraging words from the boys. There is even the briefest of regrets voiced by Tarzan (Kevin Nash), the elder statesman of the group, who admits he would have traded in his life on the stage "to come home to a wife and kid, people that loved me." Perhaps an extended version of this episode is the sequel Magic Mike might have had in an alternate universe.
Tatum, however, knows his audience and his audience cares not for "I am not my job" and what could have been ruminations. His audience wants flesh and plenty of it, and don't forget the thrusting hips and grinding crotches and giving it to them long and hard and just exactly how they like it. And the throbbing, definitely don't forget the throbbing. Herein lies the true magic of Mike and his merry band of thong-wearing writhers. They've got it and they flaunt it, but it's all in good fun and about making the ladies feel special, giving them a good time, and distracting them from the doldrums of their everyday lives.
Speaking of the ladies, they come bearing the strongest swagger. Amber Heard, as Mike's love interest, is an improvement over the original's Cody Horn, who was an ineffectual presence. Pinkett Smith serves sultry steel whilst MacDowell is an unhinged delight as the divorcée who's ready to get down and dirty. Best of all may be Elizabeth Banks, who packs quite the punch in her cameo appearance as the convention's ringleader. Magic Mike XXL may not necessarily leave you wanting more, but Banks definitely does.
Magic Mike XXL
Directed by: Gregory Jacobs
Written by: Reid Carolin
Starring: Channing Tatum, Matt Bomer, Joe Manganiello, Kevin Nash, Adam Rodriguez, Gabriel Iglesias, Amber Heard, Jada Pinkett Smith, Andie MacDowell, Donald Glover, Michael Strahan, Stephen 'tWitch Boss
