Welcome to A-Z Movie Reviews. Every Sunday, for the next several months, I will be posting a review of a film in my home movie collection. How it works is, I will be reviewing movies in alphabetical order until I get to the letter Z (Yes, I do have a film that ends in Z). Now I realize there are many ways to alphabetize a film collection, but this is mine so don’t judge me. This is simply for fun.
Yes, we are back at the strip club once again. For last week’s installment of A-Z Movie Reviews, I talked about Magic Mike, this week we are talking about Magic Mike XXL.
What it’s about:
Three years after Mike bowed out of the stripper life at the top of his game, he and the remaining Kings of Tampa hit the road to Myrtle Beach to put on one last blow-out performance.
I’m not really sure why they did a second movie but I guess they must have felt the first one didn’t really give us what we wanted. Let’s be honest, nobody is watching these movies for the plot. The plots are not that strong and the dialogue is pretty meh. It’s a whole lot of nonsensical stuff from kens (Matt Bomer) commercial to Big Dick Richie (Joe Manganiello) trying to find his glass slipper (no, we are not talking about an actual shoe). There isn’t alot of substance to these films so I’m only going to talk about the things I liked.
Jada Pinkett Smith
One of the best things about Magic Mike XXL is Jada Pinkett as Rome. Rome is a badass owner of a strip club in Savannah where Mike once used to work. She and Mike were in a relationship eight years prior to him going to work for Dallas (Matthew McConaughey) in Tampa. When he shows up on her doorstep asking her to help him and the guys, she’s having none of it. I love Jada Pinkett Smith so much because first off, she’s beautiful, and second she was the perfect choice to step in after Matthew McConaughey to play MC. She’s more than an MC though, she’s all about empowering the women who come to her club and she celebrates them all which is one of my favorite things about her character.
The dance routines
The routines in Magic Mike were good but, the ones in Magic Mike XXL were sooo much better. It was evident that a lot of work was put into them. Naturally, I love my Channing Tatum but I loved watching him and Twitch’s character Malik do their final routine together. The mirror idea was amazing and I know it must have taken awhile to perfect the moves and the timing of the steps to match each other perfectly.
Guys bonding
Like I said, the dialogue in the Magic Mike films is not that great however, I will say that I enjoyed it a little bit more in Magic Mike XXL. I say this because it actually felt more like everyone was friends. In Magic Mike the guys are supposed to be this big family that gets along well and all that, but you really don’t see them bonding. There’s more screen time for all of the guys this time and we get to know them all a little bit better.
Joe Manganiello
I love all the guys in Magic Mike XXL but there was something about Joe Manganiello that I was so drawn to. Of course I was a fan of his in True Blood but, this role made me feel different about him on a whole new level. Sure he’s sexy, we can all agree on that but, he was a teddy bear too and I think that’s probably what got me. In True Blood he’s a tough Wolf guy but in this he’s just a guy and he’s got insecurities like anyone else.
Magic Mike XXL is a great film to whip out on a girls night especially now while we are still in the middle of a pandemic. You can feel like you’re at the strip club without having to leave the house.
Other Thoughts
- Helmet girl was super annoying, it was so unnecessary. Like what was the reason?
- I can’t watch Channing Tatum dance to “Pony” in his work room without wondering how many splinters he ended up with from touching all that wood.
- Joe Manganiello’s dance to the Backstreet Boys “I want it that way” is so fun to watch.
- That time Michael Strahan played a stripper…
- There was an overload of celebs in Magic Mike XXL; Donald Glover, Elizabeth Banks, Amber Heard, and Andie MacDowell but none of them necessarily made the film any better.
- I’m with Mike (Tatum), I’ll take an Oreo cookie over red velvet cake any day.
- Love the little nod to Joe Manganiello’s True Blood days when he says “Fucking Vampire Bullshit” after watching a Twilight themed strip routine.
Do you enjoy the movie? Feel free to share with us in the comments below!
Magic Mike XXL is available to stream on Amazon Prime Video.
