Magic Mike XXL
Starring: Channing Tatum, Joe Manganiello, Matt Bomer
Directed By: Gregory Jacobs
Reviewed by Brendan Dousi

[Rating: 3/5]

When the first Magic Mike film came out in 2012 I doubt a lot of people had very high expectations for it. It was simply that ‘male stripper movie’ starring dancing muscle guy Channing Tatum. The movie ended up surprising critics and audiences by containing a unique style and emotional depth to it that no one anticipated. It shouldn’t have been surprising considering the film was directed by the renowned Steven Soderbergh. Well, it’s 2015 now and the successful film’s inevitable sequel is here. With Soderbergh replaced by relatively unproven director Gregory Jacobs can we expect another surprisingly deep and dark journey into the world of Male Entertainers or are they going to give that up to pander to their target audience, horny middle aged women who really just want to see Channing get his abs out again?
Mike (Channing Tatum) has found success in his new custom furniture business. He is kept busy with new orders every week and is even talking about expanding into a retail space. But when a blast from his past calls up with some tragic news something stirs in him. Reunited again with his male entertainer bretheren, from Big Dick Richie (Joe Manganiello) to pretty boy Ken (Matt Bomer), Mike is invited to spend one last ride with his former best friends to a stripper convention in Tampa before they all move onto the next chapter in their lives. Mike decides to leave his booming business and personal problems behind and try and recapture that thrill and comradery he has been longing for, all while digging up some past connections and new friends along the way.
Magic Mike XXL is exactly the film that everyone expected the first film to be. Retconning loose ends from the first one and writing out troubled boy Adam and somewhat-sinister MC Dallas, MMXXL decides to get rid of next to any conflict this film could have had. At the beginning things do seem potentially salty between Mike and the others. Ken in particular has beef with Mike and the character work put into the last movie that positioned Ken as morally corrupt makes it seem like he might be the main antagonist. But any real character work put into the first film is kind of thrown out of the window here. The characters are the same, don’t get me wrong, but any true development or failings and flaws they exhibited in the first film are completely inconsequential here. Any dramatic weight this film could have possibly had has been completely exorcised and what we’re left with is just a mass of muscle-bound fluff. Hell, even the ‘show-case’ they’re going to isn’t even a competition or anything. It’s just a place where hordes of women can throw dollar bills at men while they gyrate.
As disappointing as the lack of emotional depth is here, it doesn’t leave the film at a complete loss. Fluff works for this kind of film. In releasing itself of any dramatic pretence Magic Mike XXL is free to be as silly, camp and sexy as it wants and that makes for a hell of a fun time. Sure, the film is reduced to an extremely basic ‘road trip’ story with a bunch of stripping pit-stops and next to no conflict, but it knows that this is exactly what it’s audience wants. The majority of people going to see this film probably aren’t going for the drug-abuse sub-plots. They’re there to see muscle-men with god-like physiques get their kit off. It’s very safe to say that Magic Mike XXL delivers on this front. There’s even a delightful sense of humour here that elevates the fun levels even further with certain set-pieces getting a whole lot of laughs and whooping from the audience, the biggest cheers being reserved for Joe Manganiello’s Big Dick Richie who truly steals the show.
Magic Mike XXL is in no way the spiritual successor of the first film. In fact, it is quite removed in tone and pacing from its predecessor. Instead we get a shallow, yet fun, romp across Florida as a bunch of hot men rake up the laughs and get rid of their clothes. It’s light, entertaining and sexy, the perfect post-champagne ‘girls-night-out’ film sure to please almost anyone hankering a good piece of man-candy.