When Magic Mike strutted its way into theaters in 2012, the somewhat fictional story of Channing Tatum and his male stripper beginnings became a surprise smash. With that kind of a success, it seemed a sequel was a no-brainer, but was there more to Tatum’s story as a Southern gent who lived to tease lovin’ to the ladies?
Turns out there was and it involved a road trip his crew took from Florida to Myrtle Beach for a male stripper convention, and thus, we get Magic Mike XXL.
Tatum is back as the titular character, and as our film commences he is three years removed from his stripping days and attempting to build a life as a furniture builder. Things aren’t going so well for our craftsman, so when a moment of fate brings him back together with his old crew, he decides to join them for one last road trip of stripping, male bonding and perhaps a little shagging on their way up to the South Carolina beachside paradise.
Matthew McConaughey’s Dallas is gone, but Joe Manganiello’s Big Dick Richie, Kevin Nash’s Tarzan, Matt Bomer’s Ken and Adam Rodriguez’s Tito are all back and ready to rock their chiseled abs to the delight of ladies up the southern East Coast.
Whereas Magic Mike was more of a straightforward story about life as a male stripper in Florida, Magic Mike XXL is a road trip movie including all that comes along with that subgenre of film. There’s the male bonding, and there’s a lot of it that is frankly, at times, downright (and surprisingly) touching. There are the speed bumps (and there are many) that force our crew to make pit stops along the way that introduce us to various characters played by Andie MacDowell and, thankfully, Jada Pinkett-Smith.
Our boys need a new emcee and Pinkett-Smith is just the queen to take the reigns of these kings. Believe it or not, as a whole, she is the best thing about the entire picture. She steals every scene she is in and commands our attention, even as perfect male specimens stand around half-naked!
As this really is a different film than the first, it is almost a blessing that the first film’s director, Steven Soderbergh, stepped aside and let his longtime collaborator Gregory Jacobs take the helm. Jacobs manages to craft a picture that has a slew of different feels that reflect that changing landscape of the road trip, while still maintaining the common thread of buff brotherhood that unites our entire tale.
The boys are also not alone in their journey to Myrtle Beach. They pick up a few new dancers along the way, including Stephen “tWitch” Boss’ Malik and Donald Glover’s Andre, both fantastic additions (particularly tWitch, whose final dance with Tatum’s Magic Mike is downright electric and quite the explosive way to conclude the film).
But, the biggest surprise addition to the Magic Mike XXL joy ride is the sonic succulence of Bomer’s voice. He sings like an angel. Who knew?
And who knew that a sequel to a male stripper movie could be so much damn fun?
Grade: B