R | 115 min | Comedy, Drama, Music
Review - Kathi Ryan

Synopsis: Three years after Mike bowed out of the stripper life at the top of his game, he and the remaining Kings of Tampa hit the road to Myrtle Beach to put on one last blow-out performance.

Review: It’s been three years since the first Magic Mike movie was released. During this timespan, Mike (Channing Tatum) has been out of the male stripper lifestyle that was highlighted in the first film and is struggling to peruse his dream of building furniture. He encounters his old friends and fellow strippers, Ken (Matt Bomer), Tito (Adam Rodriguez), Tarzan (Kevin Nash), Big Richie (Joe Manganiello) and comic relief DJ, Tobias (Gabriel Iglesias). The group is traveling through town on their way to a final blow out-show in Myrtle Beach at the annual Strippers Convention and want Magic Mike to join them.

Dallas (Matthew McConaughey) has evidently left the country so the guys are out for one last big fling before they all scatter and have to find big-boy jobs that probably require clothing.

Directed by Gregory Jacobs, this movie has a lightness about it that the Soderbergh original was lacking. You’re not going to find any dark, sad, psyche like the original and frankly not a very deep storyline either but I was OK with that. Instead it has been replaced with numerous funny moments, more dancing and it dives into the quirkiness of the guys and their brotherhood.

Along the way they meet new and old friends. There are a couple of impressive cameos, one by Michael Strahan, which is pretty funny and shows his sheer strength. Near the end of the movie, Mike and Malik (Stephen “tWitch” Boss) perform an epic routine. You may recognize tWitch from You Think You Can Dance, and he is also the DJ on the Ellen Show.
In addition to pumping iron, these guys have evidently eaten a lot of egg whites, drank proteins shakes and are close, intimate friends with the esthetician that waxed them. They are in prime shape and not hard on the eyes.

With that said it is rated R for strong sexual content, pervasive language, and drug use. There is a little male backside nudity, but no female nudity. This is a movie I would go with girlfriends to see but would not feel comfortable taking anyone under 17.

I give Magic Mike XXL 4 out of 5 bags of Cheetos!







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