Let's put aside the obvious for now. Yes, I get that this movie is about male strippers or 'male entertainers' but ultimately this is a group of muscly men who are on a road trip to Myrtle Beach for their last hurrah. That's it, that's the storyline. Of course it could have a bit more of a storyline but it doesn't. Is there anything wrong with that? Not at all. Despite that, it still very clever knowing that its audience are intelligent and not just airheads, rewarding them with witty one-liners and even deep conversations.
There are large dissimilarities with Magic Mike XXL, and in my opinion its much inferior younger brother, Magic Mike. Firstly, XXL's a lot more fun and funny, making it more like a comedy unlike the first one, which was a bit confused as to what it wanted to be. There were too many plot elements in Magic Mike and there was quite a dark undertone with all the drug use and debt. XXL is the film I wanted the first one to be, but alas it was not.
The dance scenes are equally as good, if not better overall (the only exception being the infamous 'Pony' scene) and there were more of them. It is cheesy how Mike Lane (Channing Tatum) gets back into the game but what a fitting way for him to do it. Mike's in his furniture-design workshop in a welding mask when suddenly Ginuwine's Pony comes on the radio. He stops and pauses with his face obscured, gives a reminiscent shake of the head and then takes off the mask to reveal a cheeky grin as if to say "Are you kidding me?" He then busts out into dance and begins grinding and drilling (with a handheld drill) simultaneously. There are too many for me to go into detail about but you get the idea.
The reason I loved it so much though was because of its ideology. Hear me out, I know I said this wasn't going to be like my other reviews and it isn't, but for once this isn't a film focusing on the male gaze and how a male audience should react! It's no surprise that a high percentage of adult females make up the overall viewing number, arguably it has targeted a population of cinema goers that has very often been forgotten about and ignored. Surely that is something extraordinary! Instead of being made fun of and/or being the butt of the joke (apparent in the first film) women of all sizes, ages and races are quite literally worshipped but also celebrated. Jada Pinkett Smith's character Rome is the boys' MC at the convention and she refers to all women as "Queens" who should be reminded how beautiful they are by their 'Kings'. I find it refreshing and much more enjoyable than the first because of all these subtle elements.
Should you watch it? To help you make your mind up here are the words of director, Gregory Jacobs: "We always felt that we were making the movie we wanted to make and the story we wanted to see. Any of my male friends who see these movies, especially the sequel, they think its like a bromance. They'll say, 'I didn't expect to like this movie...' They are put off by the male stripper thing, of course..." Men and women in fact, be open-minded and see it, it honestly has some hilarious scenes that will have you stitches, including the wonderfully brilliant convenient store scene!
