6/10

The greatest stage show on the planet is back, as Channing gets the guys back together for another magical dose of Magic Mike. Picking up the story three years after Mike bowed out of the stripper life at the top of his game, “Magic Mike XXL” finds the remaining Kings of Tampa ready to throw in the towel. But they want to do it their way; burning down the house in one last blow-out performance in Myrtle Beach, and with legendary headliner Magic Mike sharing the spotlight with them. On the road to their final show, with stops in Jacksonville and Savannah to renew old acquaintances and make new friends. This sequel supplied a lot of great dance choreography and some over the top comedic moments that brought down the house many times. What really makes these films stand out however, is the artsy cinematography from Director of Photography and first movie film director, Steven Soderbergh. He has a great way of lighting up many inside night time scenes that gives the film a different dimension in colorful pallat tones. It’s a movie that looks and feels like a movie, and that’s not a bad thing. Too many films these days try to accomplish a real life atmosphere and i’m glad that this movie refused to do the same. It would be easy for many males to dismiss these films and it’s tasteless on stage shenanigans, but deep below the surface is a real movie that explores the nightlife scene in a way that no other movie has explored it honestly before. ‘XXL’ does fall a little short of it’s predecessor for me, and that’s mainly because the plot of this film is very paper thin and at times drifting to unrelated scenes to drag on the run time. Some of these scenes play on for a little too long, but are given this time because the road trip theme has been done before. It works, but it’s a sequel that is purely a cash grab, as nothing is really added to any character to give them a satisfying bow out of the dancing scene. The movie does feature some creative soundtrack uses, most notably of ‘Closer’ by Nine Inch Nails, and a convenience store breakdown featuring ‘I Want It That Way’ by the Backstreet Boys that is just too silly not to enjoy by even the harshest of critics. While Matthew Mchonaghey is missing from the madness in this sequel, his emcee replacement (Jada Pinkett-Smith) gives a rich safistication to the stage show, acting as an almost appetizer for the beefy main course. The film does start to lose some steam around the third act, but is given a supercharge of energetic rush with the big dance-off in Myrtle Beach. I was really impressed with some of the stage gimmicks that were used for the movie, and while some can be laughable, all of them are impressive in their own ways. The most amazing thing to me about the Magic Mike films is just how reputable positvely that they are from the male audience. This is a movie purely based for the ladies, but there is something honest and enlightening for the men who take their ladies out that is hard to hate. These actors are having the time of their lives in these roles, and that energy is infectious for a majority of the two hour sit. ‘Magic Mike XXL’ is proof that there is still some magic in this Mike. I laughed, i shrieked, i was invested in this film .