entertaining dialog and some dances, but... story? character development?

Rating: 5/10 (12 July 2015)

Magic Mike XXL in a way is like the films that Adam Sandler has been making with his buddies over the past several years (think the Grown Ups movies, Blended, even Jack & Jill), where, and Sandler's admitted this, it's really an excuse to hang out with his buddies while going on basically a paid vacation. The difference in this case of a Magic Mike sequel is that there IS some actual craft going on, with an artist like Steven Soderbergh behind the lens and in the cutting room. While he is not credited as director - this is currently during his hiatus as a full-on helmer (I hasten to say retirement) - his fingerprints are still all over Gregory Jacobs' first stab at making a Hollywood feature.
The camera and editing can get experimental here, which is good and intriguing; one might not expect things like low, natural light (see the Tatum/Amber Heard meeting scene on the beach at night), but it is here in a Magic Mike sequel and that is appreciated, as is the use of light and how Soderbergh cuts his dance numbers together. They don't move ever TOO fast or kinetically, and he uses cranes and other motions really well. Considering that this is, in a manner of speaking, an action movie, the action is presented reasonably well.
The problem then? In lieu of the character Dallas being written off (i.e. McConaughey couldn't get brought on back post-Oscar, I suspect), Tatum's titular character rejoins for the One Last Time scenario, and goes with his 'Male Entertainer' buddies on a road trip. So, first off, no McConaughey, so what can be made up for it? Jada Pinkett Smith in a sexy but thankless role as a would-be MC, and Donald Glover basically doing his, uh, Donald Glover/Childish Gambino thing, and though somewhat putting on the stripper-thing is really not that physique. The other thing is more crucial: there's no story. Or really much character development. Like, at all.
Oh, sure, things happen, and Mike has his moments with each character (oh, look, his phone to do all his work stuff is thrown out the window, as are all the uh, wait, all the old costumes, won't they need some of those, whatever). And there are some funny set pieces; the one that takes the cake for me involves the character played by Joe Manganiello in a convenience store where he does an over-the-top dance to a Backstreet Boys song to just get the cashier to smile. However, all of the hijinks can't mask how little there really is here - and how stretched it becomes at a near two-hour running time. It feels its weight and length especially in the mid-section, mainly in over-long scenes at a Male-Stripper party at night and a chance meeting with Andie McDowell's character (albeit she is one of the better actors here in her all too brief and kind of on its own intriguing scene).
Ironic that Tatum gets a sorta, kinda, half-assed love interest here played by Amber Heard, and though less developed than the romantic angle in the previous film she carries more charisma and talent than Mike's flame in the first film (also written off for the sequel). She is practically shoe-horned in to whatever thin narrative is here, and yet among the characters she does stand out in her naturalistic way (at least as much as the script allows, which... is quite a bit actually). So there's a lot of male bonding here, some fine dialog that allows for funny jabs and even small, if minute, moments of insight... but ultimately, it lacks what a movie NEEDS to actually get one invested.
It may have more dancing than the first movie - I didn't put a stop-watch to time it out, but it felt like bigger numbers, certainly with this movie's climax which lasts a good twenty minutes, albeit meant to be a showstopper and it tries hard - but Soderbergh's presence as someone who could corral the story and characters together into something more interesting is lacking. Kudos to him sticking around to make the look consistent and compelling though, if he didn't do more for Jacobs.