Magic Mike XXL (2015)

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It's out there now that I ended up enjoying 'Magic Mike' for what it was; more of a cautionary tale about living a particular lifestyle, complete with a bit of real drama. Like most of us guys at the time, watching it wasn't exactly a priority, but when I did see it on a date, I was pleasantly surprised by how much the "eye candy" aspect of the film took a back seat. It was still there, but the movie wasn't really about it. That is more than I can say for its sequel here, which is much more about the strip act.

Three years have passed since we last saw Mike Lane (Channing Tatum), and he has since quit as a male entertainer to run his own mildly successful furniture business. One day, "Tarzan" (Kevin Nash), a former fellow dancer of Mike's, calls him to meet up and reunite with the old gang, the "Kings of Tampa:" Tarzan, Richie (Joe Manganiello), Ken (Matt Bomer), Tito (Adam Rodriguez) and their DJ, Tobias (Gabriel Iglesias). As for Dallas, The Kid (Adam) and Brooke from the previous film, don't expect to see either of them here.

Dallas and The Kid have since bailed to start their own acts, and Brooke is just kind of not present, leading one to believe instantly that maybe things haven't worked out to be a "happily ever after" between Mike and her. Some new names are attached to this, but a bit more on that later. Returning to the big meetup, the Kings plan to end their careers as male entertainers on a high note with a trip to Myrtle Beach, SC, to participate in a big male entertainment convention. So yeah, this is very much about the dancing this time.

Mike's a little apprehensive about joining the old gang for the road trip to Myrtle Beach, but with a bit of a 'Footloose' solo dancing moment, while he's working on a furniture project, he gets the bug to go and have a good time with the boys. From that point, it essentially turns into a road trip movie consisting of male bonding and a few obstacles the guys have to overcome, but nothing that seems too serious. The amount of stakes in this chapter pale in comparison to the first film, and it works out to be sort of average.

Going back to some of the names mentioned earlier who joined the cast this time around, perhaps who stuck out the most to me was Donald Glover, a male entertainer named Andre, working for the very independent Rome (Jada Pinkett Smith) who runs a sort of male entertainment mansion, where girls can go to get a dance and feel good about themselves; another theme the film gets into - the hottie male stripper paying special attention to someone who may have low self-esteem, to give them the attention they're wishing for.

As far as the "bad" of the film goes, it does feel perhaps a bit cocky at points, considering things like the above theme, but I didn't exactly hate it either. Much like the last film, there's some good camaraderie here with the guys, and it's pretty humorous overall. Still, it's definitely more about their performances, and again, there's no real stakes to this. It's an easy-to-shrug-off story. Just another road trip movie with less comedy than your average movie should have.

I didn't even mention Zoe (Amber Heard), who's here to flirt with Mike, and there's not much more to her. I'm glad they didn't cram a love story into the film, but she is just "there" in it. When all is said and done, 'XXL' isn't without its moments, but it pales in comparison to the first, and instead of it being a pleasant surprise like last time, it's more or less what we all thought the first one was going to be - not a whole hell of a lot more than a bunch of eye candy for those who enjoy a good six-pack of "bro abs."

2/5

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