Mike Meyers' CompTIA A+ Guide to Managing and Troubleshooting PCs (Exams 220-901 & 220-902)
Book
130+ Hands-On, Step-By-Step Labs, Fully Updated for the 2015 Exams This practical workbook contains...
![DrupalEasy Podcast](/uploads/profile_image/40a/5d15a586-9006-4757-a2f3-9556479f740a.jpg?m=1522357349)
DrupalEasy Podcast
Podcast
We make Drupal Easy. Drupal is a powerful content management system that can save organizations lots...
![The China Syndrome (1979)](/uploads/profile_image/c90/72b7e396-6330-4956-b933-6bef7f99dc90.jpg?m=1522329758)
The China Syndrome (1979)
Movie Watch
A news reporter (Jane Fonda) and her cameraman (Michael Douglas) are unintentional witnesses to a...
![The Power and Speed Podcast](/uploads/profile_image/3ed/96edacdb-6ecb-4a63-ad4a-a94f701e53ed.jpg?m=1522359787)
The Power and Speed Podcast
Podcast
Power and Speed. The two single most important things to an automotive performance enthusiast. ...
![101 Keyboard Shortcuts for Excel](/uploads/profile_image/af9/c99d49fe-e9cc-4552-8f8b-495762b5caf9.jpg?m=1522331876)
101 Keyboard Shortcuts for Excel
Reference and Productivity
App
Microsoft® Excel® 2011 for the Mac is a powerful spreadsheet program. One of the power features...
![Noodle!: 100 Amazing Authentic Recipes](/uploads/profile_image/2a3/0898fd4a-a3f7-401f-85ce-b3fdff3e12a3.jpg?m=1522356555)
Noodle!: 100 Amazing Authentic Recipes
Book
Popular food blogger and veteran noodle eater MiMi Aye celebrates the addictive power of the noodle...
![One Year Wiser: A Graphic Guide to Mindful Living](/uploads/profile_image/052/6cd450c0-f1ec-4ef7-8d11-aba1dba98052.jpg?m=1522341241)
One Year Wiser: A Graphic Guide to Mindful Living
Book
As we travel through the world, we are often faced with conflicts and challenges that cause...
![Building Node Applications with MongoDB and Backbone](/uploads/profile_image/3fe/849e3851-e965-40c3-89a7-f9065b9ae3fe.jpg?m=1522328357)
Building Node Applications with MongoDB and Backbone
Book
The enthusiasm behind Node doesn't just reflect the promise of server-side JavaScript. Developers...
![40x40](/uploads/profile_image/b26/4fceea14-87e1-4455-b98c-cda626154b26.jpg?m=1549634223)
Gareth von Kallenbach (971 KP) rated Magic Mike XXL (2015) in Movies
Aug 6, 2019
Or so he thought.
Three years later, we find Mike has found a little success, his company has grown by one employee. The empty apartment with no sign of a roommate suggests his future no longer includes Brooke. A phone call from Tarzan (Kevin Nash) has Mike donning a suit to attend a “wake”. Cue the reunion with his old gang that is far from somber, and more of a ruse to see him. Apparently, his orphaned crew is set on one last hurrah before they follow in Mike’s footsteps and go after their own entrepreneurial dreams.
Does Mike want in on the swan song of stripteases at Myrtle Beach’s stripper convention? Of course not. He has a business to run, employees to pay, he postures. But considering this movie is a sequel entitled “Magic Mike XXL” you know he changes his mind. And, boy, how he changes his mind! With a little help from power tools and Genuwine’s “Pony”, natch.
Magic Mike XXL is a road trip of discovery for Mike, Tarzan, Tito (Adam Rodriguez), Ken (Matt Bomer), Tobias (Gabriel Iglesias) and Big Dick Richie (Joe Mangeniello). There were a few times I wondered where exactly this story was going, but as ensemble features go, the insightful peeks into the guys’ individual stories distracted from the meandering plot. Okay, why I was looking for a plot in a movie clearly made to titillate fans of sculpted male phsyiques, I don’t know. Sorry. Not sorry.
The road to Myrtle Beach is littered with conquests, old and new, and epiphanies fueled by pharmaceuticals inspire the Kings of Tampa to learn a few new tricks along the way. XXL actually achieves that rare feat of being better than the original. I know, that may not exactly be high praise, but it delivers more of what fans enjoyed in the original – the male entertainment.
XXL has the same awkward, but slightly improved banter between Mike and the females he encounters, but it also has new routines, a sexier emcee in Jada Pinkett-Smith (with all due respect to Matthew McConaughey) and it doesn’t require Kevin Nash to dance like a lost mannequin. There are some eyebrow-raising casting choices for a couple of new strippers. You may find yourself asking “Hey, is that who I think it is jumping all over that woman?” And “Okay…so he doesn’t actually strip. He just sings?” But don’t worry, that singer inspires Matt Bomer to do both. Very well. How did I not know Matt Bomer could sing?
The finale is one the screener audience, the majority of which were female, of course, did not want to end. I admit I could’ve stayed in my seat for more Channing Tatum and professional dancer, Stephen “tWitch” Boss, who could make his own Magic Malik movie. As my girlfriends and I left the theater, one commented that her face hurt from smiling the whole time. At the risk of sounding extremely shallow, we all agreed that the only way the movie could have been better is if it was shown on the IMAX screen in 3D. Maybe in Dbox seats.
Probably not a movie women will want to take their significant others to, but their girlfriends for a ladies night out? Hell to the yeah.
For story, acting and plot? Ummm 2 out of 5
For sheer, eye-candy entertainment? 4 stars.