A meaty, cinematic snack!
Picking up three years after Mike cuts loose from the game, “Magic Mike XXL” finds the remaining crew considering the same move. However, they seek to do it their way: tearing it up one last time in Myrtle Beach, and doing it with their retired ringleader, Magic Mike! On the road to their final strip-down, passionate pit-stops rekindle old acquaintances and spark up new ones, followed by Mike and Team Meat learning some new moves and shaking off the past in a surprising way.
Minus charismatic, emcee Matthew McConaughey and loony-tune Alex Pettyfer, “XXL†isn’t that bad.
Less serious, character-driven and dramatic than Soderbergh’s first (now serving as cinematographer and editor), “XXL†taps more into an open, bumpy road of goofy, individual challenges by keeping the idea of being a male entertainer alive and fun. Where the first exposed a story about stripping as a job, this one is about stripping as a passion.
Adding vibe this time around with a couple of new faces, Jada Pinkett Smith seems to be the film’s peripheral charm that not only ignites the group’s testosterone, but allows viewers, especially the girls, to have their beefcake and eat it, too.
Moving to many tunes and beats, including a hard touch of Nine Inch Nails, this glorified piece of rump-shakin’ flick is what makes Magic (money-making-machine) Mike what it is!
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Grade: B / Genre: Dramaedy / Rated: R / Run Time: 1 Hr. 55 Min.
Starring: Channing Tatum, Joe Manganiello, Matt Bomer, Adam Rodriguez, Kevin Nash, Gabriel Iglesias, Jada Pinkett Smith
Directed by: Gregory Jacobs
