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Jul 1, 2015 · Magic Mike XXL has enough narrative thrust and beefy charm to deliver another helping of well-oiled entertainment, even if this sequel isn't quite as pleasurable as its predecessor. Read...
- (240)
- Gregory Jacobs
- R
- Channing Tatum
They stop by a next-generation strip club run by Mike's old flame Rome ( Jada Pinkett Smith), who styles herself as a goddess-queen of desire, overseeing a mostly black male crew of strippers catering to a predominantly black female clientele.
Plot-free, significance-free, character development-free and crotch-in-face heavy, Magic Mike XXL is a cheerful, inconsequential bit of jiggle and thrust, buoyed by a few strong performers.
- Back to the grind
- Verdict
By Brian Formo
Updated: Nov 24, 2018 7:00 pm
Posted: Jun 29, 2015 6:39 pm
Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson has earned the Hollywood nickname “Franchise Viagra” for his ability to enter a franchise of diminishing returns and help drag it back across the big profit goal-line (his late-to-the party-savior resume includes The Mummy, Journey to the Center of the Earth, G.I. Joe and yes, even the Fast & Furious franchise sputtered before The Rock could help piston-pump into the billion dollar realm). Sexy title aside, however, The Rock’s G.I. Joe: Retaliation co-star Channing Tatum has graduated into perhaps the most interesting and unlikely franchise star.
Tatum has starred in two films whose success wasn’t pre-packaged to make big bucks around the world by way of minimal dialogue, winks, and explosions. Tatum’s two franchise films were 21 Jump Street and Magic Mike. Mike was even his own embryonic indie-film-that-could (Magic Mike only cost only $7 million to make; it earned $167.2 million domestic, and even spawned a Las Vegas show. The story itself was loosely based on Tatum’s own career shift from roofer to male stripper). Both of those films got sequels. And 22 Jump Street took a dangerously meta-route by skewering sequel (and corporate) culture at large. It paid off, as not only one of the best reviewed sequels of all time, but it also earned more than the original, the only real measuring stick for execs when it comes to sequels.
You’re wondering, what the hell does this have to do with Magic Mike XXL? Well, after seeing the male stripper sequel, I think Tatum might deserve a franchise nickname, too. Tatum again repackages a sequel into something entirely different in scope and tone. He’s got, shall we say, the Sequel Serum. That might not sound as foolproof as Viagra, but between these two franchises, Tatum has proven that he has something fresh and vital to inject into sequels. Because, like Jump Street, this sequel might not only be better than the original, but it is also entirely different.
Magic Mike XXL is a trusty physical performance vehicle that rarely stalls, and when it does sputter you know that its going to kick into high gear again. Not every character is equal in ability, but every character gets equal amount of screen time. Magic Mike XXL is giving in that way. It’s female worship that’s fun for both genders—as long as the...
- Brian Formo
Jul 1, 2015 · Magic Mike XXL review: bigger, looser, and here to please. The sequel to Steven Soderbergh's male stripper sleeper hit is still sleepy, and still fun. By Emily Yoshida. on July 1, 2015...
- 2 min
- Emily Yoshida
Jul 1, 2015 · Magic Mike XXL, as helmed by Soderbgh's longtime first assistant director Gregory Jacobs, is more of an epilogue than a sequel to Soderbergh's film - one lighter in tone and more lively in presentation.
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Jul 3, 2015 · Magic Mike XXL tries mightily — if unsuccessfully — to match its predecessor’s stature as a camp classic, the epitome of trashy summer fun for the whole pansexual, polymorphously perverse ...
