The titillating franchise that initially made viewers clutch their pearls in 2012 is fizzling out without any of the bang its trailers promised. A wandering plot navigates surface-level character dynamics in search of a higher purpose through the lens of a middle-aged Mike. Unlike the preceding movies, the fragile back of the third installment in the franchise lacks the muscle necessary to deliver the same pathos. The fragmented storyline ofMagic Mike’s Last Dancesuffocates its characters, boxing them into one-dimensionality the heart of the movie seems to be fighting against.
What’s more, the final installment of the trilogy is without the sex appeal advertised, leaving the viewer feeling as ensnared as the fictional audience on the screen. The undercooked plot lines and confusing character dynamics would be easier to overlook if the movie delivered what was promised: female pleasure. Instead, the film serves long-winded speeches surrounding pleasure and feminism from the mouthpiece of characters who seem to have only read the spark notes version on the topics. In comparison to the two steamy succeeding movies, brief glimpses of Channing Tatum’s chiseled abdominal muscles and affable characterization in our protagonist, Mike, don’t quite satisfy the accumulated appetence.
The beginning of the film sets Mike back in Florida, performing gig work as a bartender who found himself at a point where a good majority of the population this past year has found themselves – at the backend of a global pandemic with a failed business behind him. However, this reach for relatability through the screen elicits the immediate urge to slap it down, an audience seeking to escape, as the trailer says, shouldn’t be reminded of the world outside the theater. Not only does the attempt at relatability fall flat, butit’s immediately passed over with the introduction of Maxandra (Salma Hayek Pinault), the wealthy host of the event Mike is bartending. She invites Mike to visit with her after catching word of his past profession and asks for a dance—or as Mike calls it, his last dance. And thus, the plot is mobilized onward. Mike is whisked off to London with the promise of employment on a creative project by the mysterious, hair-brained, high-rolling Maxandra. Yet, inMagic Miketradition, a series of obstacles line the path to the characters’ ultimate goal and present a show the likes of London has never seen.
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What Went Wrong?
The movie seemed to have all the right bones—a hunky male lead, a gorgeous romantic interest, and a release date scheduled for Valentine’s weekend—so what went wrong?
To pinpoint the exact shortcomings of the last movie, its successor must be examined. The first movie and the kickstart to the franchise,Magic Mike,laid the groundwork beautifully. Mike is introduced to the viewer through the protagonist, Adam, a down-and-out construction worker who recognizes Mike from a recent job on a night out. Mike pulls Adam out of the line and introduces him to the life of luxury that is dancing, or so Adam thinks.
As the film progresses, Adam’s older sister, operating as the Greek chorus, sees through Mike’s persona and his farfetched claims of success. Mike’s loneliness and insecurities become more apparent to the audience through raw scenes where he reaches out for companionship or lies about his furniture company. It’s impossible not to root for Tatum’s character, who is humanized to the point the interlacing steamy dance scenes feel like an intrusion to watch. It’s a human story that just so happens to feature strippers, it manages to give the audience a thrillanda story to walk away with.
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The first movie held against the last draws circles around the flaws of the third installment in bright red ink, all the things that made Mike relatable and likable are left in the previous two movies. This time the storyline is ungrounded, not at all based in the same reality as the first movie, which would be perfectly fine if the viewer were given the chance to warm up to the characters. The plot ofMagic Mike’s Last Dancedoesn’t allow any downtime, instead, it slaps too many events together, leaving its audience disoriented within the succession of the story. One minute Mike’s a bartender in bed with his boss, Maxandra, the next he’s flying to London as a director of sorts.
Maxandra Falls Flat as a Character
The audience is told Maxandra is a passionate character, one who gets so involved in ideas she takes them on as projects that never see the light of day because she’s already moved on to the next. The plot moves too fast, focused solely on montages of the play’s creation, and the viewer isn’t allowed the opportunity to understand Maxandra, or her full motives. It’s understood that Maxandra wants to embarrass her ex-husband, to put on a play that features erotic dancing in the theater she has inherited from his family, and it’s understood that Mike is financially strapped, he’s working for a paycheck as well as a creative opportunity. The audience is told these one-dimensional motives but never given the chance to sit with the character, the movie is lacking in the scenes that breathe humanity into the story. The scenes in which Mike is smoothing down the plastic around the air vents of his expensive truck, telling Adam it keeps everything new looking, but the viewer can assume a nefarious motive.
The effect? The audience is numb to the main characters’ final embrace as the curtain drops, uncaring about the future of either.
