Movie Breakdown: Magic Mike’s Last Dance

Pre-Screening Stance:

Where Magic Mike is a mostly solid film, Magic Mike XXL is a total delight. I’d really like Magic Mike’s Last Dance to be more like the latter, but with it being back in the hands of Steven Soderbergh (he directed the first film), I’m guessing that it won’t be. Still, fingers crossed.

Post-Screening Ramble:

Magic Mike’s Last Dance starts off just the way you want it to – in ridiculous fashion. Mike (Channing Tatum) is no longer in the furniture game (a plot point that has somehow stretched across three movies), and he’s now bartending events. While working at a party, a rich socialite, Maxandra (Salma Hayek), asks him to provide a certain service (it’s an elaborate, sensual dance). After being wowed, Max then invites Mike to come to London with her to craft the kind of show that will allow woman to feel as free and empowered as she did. He goes, because why wouldn’t he, you know?

While Last Dance may have a strong jumping off point, the movie doesn’t really do a lot from there. I think it’s meant to be a rom-com, but it’s not very funny and the romance is a bit awkward, with Tatum and Hayek often interacting in a way that feels a bit forced – partly due to a lack of chemistry, partly due to a script that connects all the wrong dots. For example, Mike is someone who has constantly failed at things, and yet his character trounces around all sure that everything in his nonsensical situation is just fine. And then Max, who should be strong and confident in her mission, is often portrayed as a “crazy” and unsure mess. Why wasn’t it the other way around? Oddball writing aside, there also just isn’t a lot that happens until the final dance scene, which is nicely done but nowhere near as fun as the one that closes out Magic Mike XXL.

If I didn’t know any better, I’d think that Steven Soderbergh did not at all enjoy Magic Mike XXL and set out to right his ship of strippers. That’s fine, I guess, but the result is a movie that … well, is short on magic.

I wouldn’t call Magic Mike’s Last Dance bad, but you should keep your expectations in check. It’s in theaters now.

One Last Thought:

It’s a real bummer that Magic Mike’s fellow dancers/buddies from the first two movies are regulated to a brief cameo on a video call where everyone looks like they have poor Wi-Fi connections.