‘Magic Mike’s Last Dance’ Review: Last Gasp
The world of Magic Mike movies moves fast and changes constantly. An unfettered life for Channing Tatum’s tender-hearted hunk of a stripper-promoter-construction worker-furniture designer-entrepreneur has meant a shifting stream of old and new friends, new loves, and new towns as he rides his “Pony” from film to film, starting with the 2012 hit Magic Mike and ending, presumably, with Magic Mike’s Last Dance (★★ ☆ ☆ ☆).The original — a good-vibes backstage melodrama directed by Steven Soderbergh, who also directed Last Dance — introduced enterprising exotic dancer Mike Lane (Tatum), his crew of dance-challenged stripper buddies, and his journey as a hardbodied, hard-working Florida lug who’s just looking for his shot.Produced for well under ten million dollars, the film went on to gross nearly $170 million worldwide, and of course begat a sequel, the 2015 road movie Magic Mike XXL, which was considerably less successful both at the box office and as a compelling story.That breezily entertaining follow-up, directed by Gregory Jacobs, showed the Magic Mike train already wobbling on its rails, burying the erotic appeal of hot guys stripping under a heap of treacly, trendy, self-help speak about making women feel like queens.Seemingly, the studio’s market research had divined Mike’s true purpose, not as a sexy single stud but as a fantasy boyfriend, who would patiently listen to his lady pour out her feelings, before flipping her onto a table and pounding her to ecstasy.