They're back! In an era of high-flying superhero movies, it's nice to see one as down-to-earth and unpretentious as our friendly neighborhood stripper. I confess to being more than a little worried that a sequel was going to crash and burn, especially since this round isn't helmed by Steven Soderbergh or aided by Matthew McConaughey. But Magic Mike XXL is so well-crafted that it barely feels like a sequel at all. I mean, structurally, it's obviously a sequel; tonally, though, it feels more like a companion piece. And in many ways, this film works overtime to complete the circle its predecessor started.
The first thing you need to know is that this film is much funnier than the first. We don't need to slog through a trivial love-interest plotline, and we don't need to establish introductions for everyone. Instead, we get some one-on-one time with our guys, and the actors finally get a chance to develop actual characters, beyond their chiseled bodies. Whereas in the first film they simply danced on stage and relaxed backstage, here we see them as real people, interacting with each other and navigating their sordid lives. Their performances, especially Joe Manganiello and Matt Bomer, are fully realized, and exhibit some detailed work I would never have expected. We also, yes, see them dancing a lot -- perhaps even more than before -- and frankly the dancing here is also better than before. It's probably nothing to fans of the Step Up series and its ilk, but I wouldn't know about that.
We have some new additions this time around, and all are more than welcome. Jada Pinkett Smith slides into her role with a sultry comfort that fits perfectly. Her strength and assertion is exactly what we need in a film of dancing men, and her presence also marks a welcome image of an independent, savvy woman as well as a black woman in this world of mostly white men. There is an extended sequence in her private stripper/sex club where we see mostly black entertainers and a mostly black audience performing in ways we could hardly have imagined from the first film. Along with Smith, we have Donald Glover as a singer/rapper/pseudo-stripper (?) who pops in mostly for spectacle. But his joining the team signifies the main turning point, wherein the guys decide to let their dreams shine through their twerk. I mean work. Cheesy, maybe, but hardly ineffective in continuing to cultivate our affections for them.
This movie goes a bit overboard with spectacle. We have stripping, dancing, singing, rapping, fabulous lighting effects, and camerawork that looks like Soderbergh's brainchild (indeed, director Gregory Jacobs has worked extensively with Soderbergh, and was his first assistant on Magic Mike). As a companion piece, this film succeeds admirably, going overboard with "money shots" (beg pardon) in every scene, whereas the first kept us guessing and hungry for more. This film may lack Soderbergh's seasoned grace, intricate pacing, and calculated plans, but it elaborates a lot of ideas Soderbergh conspicuously left out of his film and gives us the raucous entertainment we all expected last time. In short, it is indeed an "XXL" Magic Mike, and these guys command all our attention and dollar bills.
IMDb: Magic Mike XXL
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