In Magic Mike’s Last Dance “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 bartender gigs in Florida. It’s at one of these gigs where Mike meets Maxandra Mendoza a wealthy socialite (Salma Hayek Pinault) who owns a theatre in London and who wants Mike to front a male strip show at the venue.
The Magic Mike films, of which this is the third, have had a downward trajectory in terms of quality, the first one way back in 2012 had a charm about it whilst the second one Magic Mike XXL three years later suffered badly from losing Matthew McConaughey’s character, and this proves the case with Magic Mikes Last Dance as it’s easily the poorest of the three and also suffers from no returning characters other than Mike. Tatum’s previous co-stars Matt Bomer, Adam Rodriguez, Kevin Nash and Joe Manganiello are sorely missed their only contribution being a fleeting cameo during a zoom meeting.
The first two Magic Mike films had a bit of an erotic edge to them whilst Magic Mike’s Last Dance feels more like a British rom-com than a film about strippers. The whole venture isn’t really helped by the lack of any real strippers’, after all that’s what Magic Mike is about, and with Steven Soderbergh who directed Magic Mike returning for this outing you would expect in the hands of such an accomplished director that we might have been in for a treat. Sadly no as Magic Mike’s Last Dance is a watered down PG version of what’s came before and one that, with most of the story being set in a theatre, ultimately feels like one long advert for the Magic Mike stage show that’s toured various theatres across the globe.
On the basis of this Magic Mike has certainly danced his last dance.