The Magic Mike films, Channing Tatum‘s passion project inspired by his own experiences in the world of male stripping, certainly knows how to draw a crowd. Even though Magic Mike XXL didn’t quite reach the critical heights of its predecessor, it still garnered a staggering $122 million against a budget of just under $15 million, proving the ever-evident claim that sex sells, and that Tatum is one hell of a salesman.
And judging by what critics have been saying about Magic Mike’s Last Dance, the upcoming third and final installment in the trilogy, we can more or less expect a repeat of the Magic Mike XXL saga. Tatum’s sex appeal combined with director Steven Soderbergh’s eye for surprising spectacle will no doubt be enough to reap profits at the box office, but as far as the critical consensus goes, Magic Mike’s Last Dance sounds to be a few steps short of a tango.
In a particularly critical review for Variety, Peter Debruge called the film a “toothless” sendoff for Tatum’s trilogy, taking particular note of how the eponymous dancer was butchered as a character.
Tatum’s still got it, and he ain’t about to retire, even if his semi-autobiographical hero, Mike Lane, has lost his magic and seems ready to hang up his thong.
IndieWire‘s Jude Dry was much more forgiving, labeling the film as a sexy, dazzling love letter to the art of dance, though she was far from sold on the film’s script.
The plot doesn’t need to do much, and it hangs together long enough to deliver a truly spectacular dance show.
And Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian, in a two-star review, was left unimpressed by the sum of Magic Mike’s Last Dance‘s parts, but admitted that seeing Tatum in his element was nothing short of refreshing.
It’s baffling, and the dramatic tension and focus is dissipated with the extended final dance scene. But it’s nice to see Tatum back: a natural performer with marvellous physical grace and (underused) comic style.
In other words, it sounds like Magic Mike’s Last Dance manages to do exactly what it needs to do; thrust Tatum back into his strikingly sexy passion project and deliver on the more visual artistic goods, plot (or lack thereof) notwithstanding.
Magic Mike’s Last Dance will release in theaters on Feb. 10.