Magic Mike (Channing Tatum) and his team of exotic dancers, reform after a three year absence and hit the road for Myrtle Beach.
We say, “There’s very little ‘why’ in Magic Mike XXL.”
TAYLOR: I was surprised by Magic Mike XXL (now there’s a title!), not because I liked it, I didn’t, but because it wasn’t mind-numbingly stupid. Instead, it was just boring. Channing Tatum is a good dancer, from what I can tell. All of the men had muscled bods to ogle. I enjoyed some of the music to which these handsome devils gyrated. However, even if these men were replaced with women of similar aesthetics and talents, I think I would still find this film boring.
HOWE: Well, I would say that would depend on which women were in it. I felt we were lucky to have missed the first movie, but this time our luck ran out. Yet, saying that feels a little cruel as it wasn’t that bad. The acting was fine, the storyline moved along at a steady pace and some of the choreography in the dance scenes was pretty good.
TAYLOR: Here is the entire movie, summed up with no spoilers: “Hey, let’s go back to that big stripper convention and tear up the stage!” “OK.”
They embark on a road trip, stopping to entertain crowds, public and private. Along the way they work out the details of their routines and personal lives, of which no tales are particularly enthralling. When they arrive and show off their new stuff the film ends.
Now, I don’t particularly mind that there were no tacked on B-stories to sum up, or that the film doesn’t really have a beginning, middle, end nor tell an actual story, quite the opposite. There are plenty of decent slices of life to be had, perhaps just not this slice.
HOWE: There are some funny moments in it. I can’t remember any, but they are there. There are also a few cameo roles for Jada Pinkett Smith, Andie MacDowell and Elizabeth Banks, whose role is similar to her’s from Pitch Perfect, but not as funny. As for the stripping crew, they didn’t seem to do much. Most of their routines looked like they came from a cheesy 1980s’ Chippendale dance recital. One of them even looked like he was still stuck in the ‘80s.
TAYLOR: I didn’t find it funny, just noisy. The marketing for this film promised it was much funnier than the first. Magic Mike XXL is not funny. The stripping, while energetic, is like the film itself, lacking any real conclusion, so we are left with only a road trip to a stripper convention.
– Taylor gives Magic Mike XXL 1.5 pushups out of 5.
– Howe gives it 2.5 empty bottles of wine out of 5.
– Brian Taylor and Peter Howe are film critics based in Vernon. Their column, Reel Reviews, appears in The Morning Star every Friday and Sunday.
