Everyone in it seems to be having the best time, and isn’t out to prove anything other than that they have the ability to have fun and do awesome things with their butts. The characters (and actors playing them) are earnest, but fluffy. And that is that it takes itself exactly zero percent seriously.
If that doesn’t sound profoundly rave-worthy, it should be said that this movie has one extraordinary thing going for it. These are scenes that don’t so much drag as they do… exist. They pick up a Jada Pinkett Smith, whose super sexy ultra-ham skills are finally used in the way they should have been in Gotham but very much weren’t. They pick up a freestyling behatted Donald Glover for no reason other than Donald Glover should definitely be in this movie in some capacity. They seduce a bunch of drunken lonely middle aged upper crust southern WASPs- side note, Andie MacDowell needs to play this role in EVERYTHING. It’s a fun road trip movie that has less in the way of through line than it does fully enjoyable vignettes. (By the way, if you’re looking for any indication of how fully these script details were fleshed out, know that when the guys show up at this heretofore unnamed convention, the marquee reads simply: “Stripper Convention.” I feel like that is a full review in itself.)Īs the guys head out in their artisanal frozen yogurt food truck (really), the plot alternates between bumping and grinding, comedic interludes usually involving alcohol and/or controlled substances, and awkward, seemingly improvised emotional development from actors who have little chemistry and no business improvising. Their leader Dallas (Matthew McConaughey) wanted too much money left for some reason, and now the guys are on their way from Miami to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina for a stripper convention. Think Bring It On, or Pitch Perfect, or Pitch Perfect 2, or Glee, or fucking anything that involves a bunch of beautiful underdog performers fighting their way to their version of “regionals.”Īfter a brief backstory, basically meant to let us know that the stability Channing Tatum’s Magical Mike earned at the end of the first movie has only left him unfulfilled, he’s reunited with his old stripper Male Entertainer buddies. The pitch meeting for this movie is easy to imagine. Whatever you think this movie will be, that’s what it is- but a better version. And yet for that terrible (and accurate) description, the movie is better than you expect. It ditched the plot, upped the GIFable grinding, and stretched it all out to a ridiculously unnecessary 115 run time.
Probably… I think? Honestly, I know I was surprised by the Soderberghness of the first movie, and thought it was so much better than anyone expected, but when you think back on the movie, this is what you remember, right? When you think back to the first Magic Mike movie, what do you remember? Unless you were a super fan and have done numerous rewatches, I’m going to assume you’re like me and remember a movie about a bunch of guys grinding on things while simultaneously having feelings and romance and stuff.