Magic Mike takes his G-string and six pack on the road!

Rating: 7/10 (15 July 2015)

The hunky fellas in the Magic Mike series aren't just pieces of USDA Grade A prime rib, they are people with feelings and stuff, or that is what the sequel Magic Mike XXL will lead you to believe.
Mike steps out of retirement and takes a break from his contracting business to help his stripper friends from the Kings of Tampa have one mega-memorable performance at the Myrtle Beach stripper convention.
Just as men get Playboy magazine for the articles, women watch Magic Mike XXL for the captivating dialogue and plot lines. Just kidding, of course we don't, we watch it to see these handsome dudes shake their a$ses and take their clothes off! The sequel definitely takes the dance routines to the next level. Just ask Joe Manganiello if he woulda bet that in his acting career he'd be doing a stripper routine in a Quickie Mart to Backstreet Boys "I Want It That Way." That's just the tipof the iceberg.
And Magic Mike XXL has loads of good-natured self-aware hilarity in the form of objectifying sexiness. But the bromance antics and dynamic between the strippers with hearts of gold is what makes the film entertainingly watchable. Shifting the focus to the men of Tampa and their lives still leads to lulls in the plot, similar to what happens on an actual road trip.
The absence of Mr. Matthew McConaughey is noticeable, and he is sorely missed, but the film still stands on its own. In a way, Magic Mike XXL is an improvement upon Magic Mike in that it removes the token but unnecessary romantic subplot that took up so much screen time in the original.
Will men want to join their ladies when they inevitably head to the theaters to satiate their primal urges? Probably not. But that's okay. Magic Mike XXL makes no qualms about what it is and who it is for – and their audiences will be especially pleased.
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