Movie review | ‘Magic Mike XXL’ an improvement on the first

Magic Mike XXL ***

I had credible cover seeing the first “Magic Mike” movie in 2012 as my female friend, her husband and I all went together, sitting through a film we all agreed was one of the worst movies we’d ever seen, though that’s not to say it didn’t have its fans.

The movie grossed $167 million against a $7 million budget. Channing Tatum and Matthew McConaughey both delivered robust performances, and the story and its depictions of the behind the scenes life of male exotic dancers was fresh for the big screen.

In seeing “Magic Mike XXL,” the new sequel, I snuck into a matinee by myself populated with almost exclusively women 55 years old or older.

In “Magic Mike XXL” Tatum proves again he can act, and that he has moves.

McConaughey bows out of this one and his character “Dallas,” is only briefly referenced. The character, Magic Mike, is loosely based on Tatum’s early days as an 18-year-old male stripper working in Tampa, Fla. One scene in MMXXL particularly is reminiscent of Kevin Bacon’s warehouse sequence in “Footloose.”

Tatum’s character, “Magic” Mike Lane, while working in a small furniture shop he owns is moved by hip-hop playing on the radio. He can’t control himself and dances around the shop in an impressive display of skill, helping him, somehow, to decide to rejoin his ol’ pals, The Tampa Kings, for one last hoorah.

And thus begins a road trip from Tampa, through Savannah. Ga., and into Myrtle Beach for an annual male stripper convention. A few very funny scenes can’t quite hold the picture together, though it’s an improvement on the first.

Ironically, there’s way less sex and nudity than in many current movie releases, but there’s still plenty of skin, though it’s almost all the chiseled flesh of the Tampa Kings. Locals and visitors familiar with the area will recognize several scenes shot on the Myrtle Beach Boardwalk, and at local oceanfront hotels. Andy McDowell and comedian Gabriel Iglesias both turn in strong performances.

This story was originally published July 11, 2015 at 1:17 AM with the headline "Movie review | ‘Magic Mike XXL’ an improvement on the first."