Magic Mike's Last Dance

As I was prepping in doing the research for reviewing "Magic Mike's Last Dance", I was suddenly made to realize that this franchise is eleven years old. What started out to be a small film showing us what Channing Tatum did as a precurser to his acting career, has ended up with Magic Mike live shows around the world and has spawned two more films. 

"Magic" Mike Lane (Channing Tatum) takes to the stage again after a lengthy hiatus, following a business deal that went bust, leaving him broke and taking bartending gigs in Florida. For what he hopes will be one last hurrah, Mike heads to London with a wealthy socialite Maxandra Mendoza (Salma Hayek Pinault) who lures him with an offer he can't refuse...and an agenda all her own. With everything on the line, once Mike discovers what she truly has in mind, will he--and the roster of hot new dancers he'll have to whip into shape--be able to pull it off?

Others to round out the cast are Caitlin Gerard as Kim, Ayub Khan-Din as Victor, Alan Cox as Roger Rattigan, Jemelia George as Zadie Rattigan, Ethan Lawrence as Woody, Vicki Pepperdine as Edna Eaglebauer, Suzanne Bertish as Renata and Gavin Spokes as Matthew.

This was directed with showstopping speed by Steven Soderbergh ("Sex, Lies, and Videotape" '89, "Out of Sight" '98, "Erin Brockovich" 2000, "Traffic" 2000, "Ocean's Eleven" '01, "Solaris" '02, "The Good German" '06, "The Informant!" '09, "Contagion" '11, "Magic Mike" '12, "Side Effects" '13, "Logan Lucky" '17, "Unsane" '18, "Let Them All Talk" '20, "Kimi" '22) plus others, TV, shorts and videos. Clearly by his very resume, Soderbergh cannot be pigeonholed into any one genre or subject matter which can be healthy, because it then allows the audience to be able figure out what this filmmaker is attempting to convey. Sure these dancers were obviously consummate pros, but Soderbergh was truly able to showcase them, along with Tatum, in a way that was definitely captivating. It was written with the similar feel of the same writer of its predecessors, Reid Carolin ("Earth Made of Glass" '10, "Magic Mike" '12, "Magic Mike XXL" '15,"Dog" '22). If you are expecting a tighter, more cohesive script than in the previous films, you will be sorely disappointed. Although this wasn't a terrible story, it wasn't with any more substance than in its predecessors. It's basically a story that has Mike in a quandary about where and if he can get one of his shows done, and suddenly he meets the right people for this to happen. The story or script is not why you are seeing this film. this was made to showcase the incredible dancing and choreography this film gives its audience. It's a chick flick replete with handsome guys strutting their stuff on a stage with great lighting to showcase those amenities. Tatum is still an awesome dancer, and the new roster of dancers are incredible, and this speaks volumes for Tatum being able to produce not one,but three of these films. Carolin's best script to date has to be "dog" '22 also with Channing Tatum.

If you liked the two predecessors of this film, you'll love this. Eleven years has gone by since the original "Magic Mike", and Tatum still has it at the ripe old age of 42--he will be 43 in April. He has mentioned that this will probably be the last 'Magic Mike' film since the grueling regimen in preparing for these films is just exhausting. Hey, he is 42 after all. 

Out of 4 Stars: 3                                                 Rated: R                                               112mins.