‘Magic Mike XXL’ Review: Channing Tatum, Matt Bomer and Cast Grind Their Way Through Bumpy Sequel
If the first movie was a serious drama disguised as a ladies’ night out, this follow-up is a bachelorette party you have to wait almost two hours to get to
Alonso Duralde | June 29, 2015 @ 6:00 AM
Last Updated: June 29, 2015 @ 11:34 AM
In an early scene of “Magic Mike XXL,” our stripping “male entertainer” protagonists stop off at a raucous Jacksonville drag bar and enter an amateur voguing contest. It’s a notable sequence for two reasons: first, it’s as close as the movie ever gets to acknowledging that there’s a male audience for our heroes’ brand of bumping and grinding. (Not for nothing did stars Channing Tatum and Matt Bomer recently ride a float in the Los Angeles gay pride parade.)
It also draws a parallel between the performance of femininity that drag queens deliver and the performance of masculinity of male ecdysiasts. “Your muscles are as gay as my drag,” a female impersonator once allegedly told author John Rechy, and while these characters are presented as nothing if not rip-snorting heterosexuals, there are moments when the jacked and chiseled torsos of Magic Mike (Tatum) and his pals look as exaggerated and artificial as the sky-high wig and 44DD falsies of the bar’s mistress of ceremonies.
Mind you, “Magic Mike XXL” doesn’t have much to say about these connections, or about anything else, for that matter. If the first movie strip-teased audiences who thought they were getting a sexy celebration of man-flesh into watching a movie about desperate characters coping with the post-2008 economy, this sequel, for better or worse, delivers what its audience expects, and nothing more. To put this in terms of Steven Soderbergh — who’s not directing this time, but still serving as cinematographer (under his Peter Arnold pseudonym) and executive producer — “Magic Mike XXL” is less “The Girlfriend Experience” and more Girls’ Night Out.
I wish it were a more fun night out; revisiting this material to make a “let’s put on a show” musical is all well and good, but that musical would benefit from more energy and tighter editing. Too often this movie feels like an overlong finale episode of a long-running TV series, one that assumes that we’re really invested in these characters and their desire to hang up their thongs after putting on one last great showcase.
(It also resembles the end of a series run in the absence of some of its stars — neither Matthew McConaughey nor Alex Pettyfer returns to shake their groove things. The latter’s character is barely even referenced in dialogue.)
Three years have passed since the events of “Magic Mike,” and our titular hero has left the burlesque biz behind to finally start that custom furniture business. It’s still a small concern (he’s got one employee for whom he can’t yet afford to provide healthcare), so when the former Kings of Tampa — Richie (Joe Manganiello), Ken (Bomer), Tarzan (Kevin Nash), and Tito (Adam Rodriguez) — blow through town on their way to an annual male-stripper convention in Myrtle Beach, Mike can’t resist joining them for a farewell frolic.
Along the way, Mike meets up with a former flame (Jada Pinkett Smith as Rome, who runs a members-only strip club for ladies) and a potential new one (an unusually dour Amber Heard as Zoe, a grumpy photographer), while the group suffers the usual road-trip maladies (infighting, a collision with a road sign) on their way to the promised land.
This isn’t enough to fill up nearly two hours of waiting for the big finale, which includes Donald Glover laying down some sweet slow jams, and Tatum doing a mirror routine with Stephen “tWitch” Boss that the Marx Bros. certainly never had in mind with they invented that bit in “Duck Soup.” There are moments of pleasure to be found along the journey, from Bomer’s New Age-isms to Andie MacDowell getting to flip her “Sex, Lies and Videotape” character around in the role of a horny divorcee, but “Magic Mike XXL” offers too much build-up and not enough payoff.
The payoff itself, of course, relies upon how much you believe director Gregory Jacobs (a longtime Soderbergh collaborator) and returning screenwriter Reid Carolin when they tell you that the Myrtle Beach show will be bigger and better than any “male entertainer” act you’ve ever seen. Sure, it’s not the usual cops-and-firemen-and-gladiators stuff, but neither does it redefine thrusting and humping.
Nor does “Magic Mike XXL” redefine the male-stripper movie, although at least it pays homage to its roots by having Bomer sing “Heaven,” the theme from the silly 1983 film “A Night in Heaven.” Sexual politics have changed significantly since Christopher Atkins took it all off thirty-plus years ago, but the sight of lusty women making it rain on lithe naked dudes remains pretty much the same.
42 Summer Movies on Our Radar: From 'Avengers,' 'Jurassic World' to 'Magic Mike XXL' (Photos)
"Avengers: Age of Ultron" - May 1 The elite superhero team -- including Scarlett Johansson, Robert Downey Jr., Chris Hemsworth and Chris Evans -- assembles again in this follow up to the 2012 blockbuster.
Marvel/Disney
"Welcome to Me" - May 1 Kristen Wiig stars in this indie drama about a woman with borderline personality disorder who buys herself a cable access talk show after winning the lottery. Will Ferrell and Adam McKay produced.
Alchemy
"The D-Train" - May 8 Jack Black plays the head of his high school reunion committee who must convince the most popular guy in his class (James Marsden) to attend the reunion in this Sundance pic.
IFC
"Maggie" - May 8 Arnold Schwarzenegger stars in this indie as a father who stays with his daughter (Abigail Breslin) as she transforms into a zombie.
Roadside Attractions
"Hot Pursuit" - May 8 Reese Witherspoon and Sofia Vergara star in this buddy comedy about a straight-laced cop (Witherspoon) tasked with escorting a witness (Vergara) to her trial
Warner Bros
"The Connection" - May 15 Oscar-winner Jean Dujardin stars in this French crime thriller as a real-life policeman who dedicates his career to taking down a drug lord (Gilles Lellouche)
Relativity
"Mad Max: Fury Road" - May 15 Tom Hardy takes over the role that made Mel Gibson an international star in this reboot from the madcap mind of George Miller
Warner Bros.
"Pitch Perfect 2" - May 15 Anna Kendrick returns for the song-filled sequel to the 2012 musical smash hit.
Universal
"Poltergeist" - May 22 Sam Rockwell leads a remake of the 1982 horror classic that was originally written by Steven Spielberg.
Twentieth Century Fox
"Tomorrowland" - May 22 George Clooney and Britt Robertson star in a sci-fi fantasy about a man and woman who must discover the secrets of a strange land lost in time and space.
Disney
"Aloha" - May 29 Cameron Crowe directs Bradley Cooper and Emma Stone in a romantic comedy about a military contractor overseeing a satellite launch in Hawaii.
Columbia Pictures/Twentieth Century Fox
"San Andreas" - May 29
Dwayne Johnson stars in a disaster movie about a chopper pilot who must rescue his daughter (Alexandra Daddario) after a massive earthquake strikes California.
Warner Bros.
"Entourage" - June 5 Vince (Adrian Grenier) drives Ari (Jeremy Piven) up the wall when he decides to direct and star in his own movie in the big screen version of the HBO show.
HBO/Warner Bros.
"Spy" - June 5 Melissa McCarthy co-wrote and stars in a comedy about a CIA analyst who gets her chance to work in the field when an arms dealer (Rose Byrne) threatens to destabilize the world.
Twentieth Century Fox
"Insidious Chapter 3" - June 5 In this horror prequel, psychic Elise Rainier (Lin Shaye) agrees to help teenager (Stefanie Scott) who is being targeted by a supernatural force.
Blumhouse
"Jurassic World" - June 12 Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas-Howard lead the latest installment in the Michael Crichton-inspired series. This time around, the park is terrorized by a genetically-engineered dinosaur that escapes its enclosure.
Legendary Pictures
"Me and Earl and The Dying Girl" - June 12 This 2015 Sundance Grand Jury winner follows an anti-social teen (Thomas Mann) who falls in love with a classmate (Olivia Cooke) who has leukemia.
Fox Searchlight
"Dope" - June 19 This Sundance breakout centers on a teen (Shameik Moore) trying to make his Ivy League dreams come true in his tough LA neighborhood.
Open Road Films
"Inside Out" - June 19 Pixar takes us inside the mind of a little girl as her emotions vie for control. Amy Poehler, Mindy Kaling and Bill Hader all lend their voices.
Disney/Pixar
"Ted 2" - June 26 Seth MacFarlane's foul-mouthed teddy bear returns in the sequel that finds Ted (voiced by MacFarlane) and John (Mark Wahlberg) fighting in court to prove that Ted is human.
Universal Pictures
"Batkid Begins" June 26 This feel-good documentary tells the story of a five-year-old leukemia patient who inspired people from all over the world to help him live out his dream of being Batman for a day.
Warner Bros
"Max" - June 26 A Marine-trained German shepherd is sent to live with the family of his former handler (Robbie Amell), who was killed in Afghanistan
Warner Bros
"Big Game" - June 26 A teenage-boy (Onni Tommila) rescues the President of the United States (Samuel L. Jackson) when Air Force One crash lands near his campsite.
EuropaCorp
"Magic Mike XXL" - July 1 Channing Tatum gyrates his way into this sequel as stripper "Magic" Mike who decides to attend an annual stripper conference in Myrtle Beach.
Warner Bros.
"Terminator: Genisys" - July 1 Arnold Schwarzenegger is back as the unstoppable android as he fights to protect Sarah Connor (Emilia Clarke) with the help of Kyle Reese (Jai Courtney).
Paramount
"Minions" - July 2 The Minions are back in this "Despicable Me" spinoff. This time, they are recruited by a super-villainess (Sandra Bullock) in her plot to take over the world.
Universal Pictures
"The Bronze" - July 10 "Big Bang Theory" star Melissa Rauch co-wrote and stars in this comedy about a former Olympic athlete clinging to her last shreds of fame.
Relativity
"Self/Less" - July 10 Ryan Reynolds stars in this thriller about a wealthy, dying man who pays to have his consciousness transferred into a younger body. When he begins to investigate where the body came from, he discovers a terrifying mystery
Focus Features
"Ant-Man" - July 17 Paul Rudd leads this Marvel comic adaptation about a con man who is given a device that can shrink him in scale by Dr. Hank Pym (Michael Douglas).
Marvel/Disney
"Trainwreck" - July 17 Amy Schumer and Bill Hader star in a Judd Apatow comedy about a magazine writer (Schumer) who refuses to commit, until her relationship with a doctor (Hader) challenges her notions of monogamy.
Universal Pictures
"Stanford Prison Experiment" - July 17 Based on the infamous 1971 psychological experiment, 24 male students volunteer to play prisoners or guards in a mock-prison, only for things to spiral completely out of control.
IFC
"Paper Towns" - July 24 Based on the novel by John Green, Nat Wolff plays a boy who convinces his friends to embark on a road trip to find the missing girl next door (Cara Delevingne).
Twentieth Century Fox
"Pixels" - July 24 Adam Sandler leads a team of gamers (Kevin James, Josh Gad, Peter Dinklage) who must fight aliens that invade Earth in the form of classic video games.
Columbia Pictures
"Southpaw" - July 24 Jake Gyllenhaal packed on the muscle for this drama about a troubled boxer fighting to regain custody of his daughter. Antoine Fuqua directed based on a script by Kurt Sutter.
The Weinstein Company
"Irrational Man" - July 24 Joaquin Phoenix and Emma Stone star in a Woody Allen film about a college philosophy professor (Phoenix) who enters into a relationship with his student (Stone).
Sony Classics
"Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation" - July 31 Tom Cruise once again does the impossible as he leads his team against an international syndicate intent on destroying the Impossible Mission Force.
Paramount
"End of the Tour" - July 31 Jesse Eisenberg stars as Rolling Stone journalist David Lipsky as he conducts a series of interviews with author David Foster Wallace (Jason Segel). The film is based on Lipsky's book, "Although of Course You End Up Becoming Yourself."
A24
"Fantastic Four" - August 7 Miles Teller (Mr. Fantastic), Michael B. Jordan (Human Torch), Kate Mara (Invisible Girl), and Jamie Bell (The Thing) lead this comic adaptation about the superhero team that gained powers after an accident in space.
Twentieth Century Fox
"Masterminds" - August 7 Kristen Wiig, Jason Sudekis and Zach Galifianakis star in this heist comedy about a real 1997 armored car robbery in North Carolina
Relativity
"The Man From U.N.C.L.E." - August 14 Henry Cavill and Armie Hammer play an American and Russian agent forced to team up to stop an evil organization trying to steal nuclear weapons. The film is based on the 1964 TV series of the same name.
Warner Bros
"Straight Outta Compton" - August 14 O'Shea Jackson Jr., the son of Ice Cube, plays his father in this look at the impact of the revolutionary gangster rap group NWA.
Universal
"Hitman: Agent 47" - August 28 Rupert Friend stars in this video game adaptation about a genetically engineered assassin who teams up with a mysterious young woman to bring down an evil corporation.
Twentieth Century Fox
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