Magic Mike’s Last Dance

Steamy, sexual, and sensual. These were three expectations in mind when viewing Steven Soderbergh’s 2023 movie, Magic Mike’s Last Dance. The third and final installment in the Magic Mike trilogy, the movie follows former male stripper Mike Lane (played iconically by Channing Tatum) who is now a bartender in Miami. Mike is recognized from his glory days as a stripper by a guest at a fundraiser hosted by Maxandra Mendoza (played by Salma Hayek) a wealthy and eccentric socialite who is in the midst of a hard divorce. After a pretty shitty days, Max asks Mike how much a lap dance would cost her. Mike tells her he is retired but caves in for $60,000. During their dance, Mike, and Max share a real moment of passion and end up sleeping together. The morning after, Max offers to take Mike to London for a special job and he is tasked with directing a play in hopes of sharing the passion Max felt during her lap dance with other women.

            The camerawork throughout the movie is consistent. A lot of the dance scenes are shot in an interesting way. There is a sense of consistency with the camera’s angles, and a lot of the dance routines but nothing can top the first dance scene. The pacing at times made events either feel ridiculously sudden and outlandish or very dragged on and jaded. Channing Tatum brings a likable charm to the character. At times, it even feels like Tatum’s character is unsure of what is going on. In terms of character progression, Mike transition to a director was a good choice. Channing Tatum makes dry humping into a fine art in this movie. Like it is actually impressive how much flexibility and muscle control is being consistently used throughout his dance routines. It was shot as if it was more than just some hot guy showing off abs. There is a sense of intent with the way the dance pairs with its coordinating song.

            This is a romantic comedy and admittedly it is pretty boring. With the cultural legacy Magic Mike has (or merely that name alone) there was an expectation to deliver a passionate and dynamic romance but beyond the actor’s physical attraction, there wasn’t a lot there. Max is eccentric to an entertaining degree but that only goes so far, eventually it comes off as aimless wishy-washiness and convenient to the plot. Mike is a lot more developed and interesting but that could be solely because he is the main character but his situation with Max is off and feels disingenuous. They don’t seem to click exactly, and their romance is mostly a result of the movie’s first lap dance which makes their love for each other seem forced. There were a handful of comedic moments mostly revolving the butler Victor (played by Ayub Khan Din) and Max’s daughter Zadie (played by Jemelia George). The dynamic the ladder have with Max and Mike is entertaining to watch but not necessarily new. Zadie is a sarcastic teenager, and she comes off as smarter or more aware than Max or Mike. Zadie’s relationship with her mom is distant to say the best and quite literally at times feels borderline neglectful. Victor is another butler who seems to distain the wealthy but, in all honesty, considers his bosses as if they were family. Although they were entertaining side characters, they felt too familiar and not very memorable.

            Magic Mike’s Last Dance tried and equally kind of failed to fulfill women’s desire. It was an interesting approach to a movie following a former male stripper. The marketing and trailers tried to emphasize the movie’s understanding of female desire, but it is a shallow attempt of any ‘sexual liberation’ it tries to depict. Max’s character battles between being progressive and realistic and borderline parody and too zany. Her reasoning behind recruiting Mike seemed genuine but the execution fell flat. She didn’t seem all too interested and was hardly involved. Which is a shame because there was potential to making more than just another finale full of erotic dancing and men stripping. As someone who has never seen any of the previous entries of this franchise, I was expecting a lot more. The movie felt very tame, and I feel like it didn’t live up to its predecessors which was sad to me. Like I said earlier, none of the other dance scenes ever top the first dance. Quite literally, I was shocked, and it did feel hella passionate like fire in the loins type beat. Admittedly, although the final dance at the end lacked the passion and carnal sensuality one might’ve expected, it did an amazing job showing off just how good of a dancer Channing Tatum is. The moves flowed like water and dance overall felt like a sufficient enough conclusion. I may not be a Magic Mike stan, but I do think that these movies deserved a better finale. It felt like a cash grab and very lazy. There were a lot of interesting parts throughout, and I will admit it was an entertaining watch both sober and not. I just feel like they could have done more with the Magic Mike lore. I mean understandably, it’s been over 10 years since the original movie came out, and a lot has changed in contemporary society but when you have the original director back for the third and final movie, there really is no excuse. It deserved the theatrical release, but it made no noise, I fear.