Magic Mike XXL (2015)

Directed by: Gregory Jacobs
Country: USA

Movie Review: “Magic Mike XXL” is ridiculous at every level, starting with its title and finishing in the deplorable situations created along its nearly two fastidious hours. As you can guess, this is a sequel of “Magic Mike”, dated from 2012 and directed by Steven Soderbergh, which at that time, threw some originality to the screen, guaranteeing fair entertainment. Reid Carolin wrote the XXL version, just like the original one, but this time the script is simply a joke, a road trip of male strippers filled with embarrassingly unnecessary episodes, so devoid of insight or interest. If the writer’s job was a fiasco, the new director Gregory Jacobs was a disappointment exhibiting a heavy-handed style that can’t be compared to the sturdiness evinced by Soderbergh, key for the success of the previous version. If this was not enough, the star Matthew McConaughey didn’t return, so the film trusts solely on Channing Tatum, who plays once again the fantastic ‘Magic Mike’ Lane, to draw some excitement. However, he just couldn’t do it because the repetitive dance performances were never stirring and the bothersome episodes reserved by the plot didn’t work in any circumstance. Three years after he has renounced to the stripper life, Mike, takes a break from his own company to join the remaining ‘Kings of Tampa’, now preparing to retire in style. On their way to Myrtle Beach for one last performance, they’re subjected to a few meaningless experiences that switch from stupid to fabricated, or play both at the same time – to start, Mike flirts with Zoe aka Dolly Tits; then, he helps ‘Big Dick’ Richie retrieving the confidence in his sex-appealing; after that, they have a car accident that throws the driver to the hospital; the next cheesy episode is when Mike stops by a strip club he knows very well and reconnects with the mesmerized owner, Rome; before the last strip, the group still has time to reunite at the house of a middle-aged mom who was hosting a small party for her hysterical middle-aged friends. Shallow and staged, this XXL feels more like a lousy XXS. Did the fans ask for this?