MAGIC MIKE was a surprise hit for Director Steven Soderbergh and star Channing Tatum, so… Of course they have to make a sequel! How about we do a road movie where all the boys head down to a stripper convention? Is that enough of a story? Who cares? They'll be dancing and taking their clothes off. It'll be great. That's how I assume the conversation went. And that's what the sequel is. The first picture had a lot of story to tell and characters to develop. This one just tries to skate by on that picture's charm.

 

But it doesn't work. First of all it is terribly paced and way too long. Certain dialogue scenes go on forever and sound improvised because no one would actually write dialogue this dull, would they? Though Steven Soderbergh is retired from filmmaking, he shot and edited this picture under pseudonyms for his long time collaborator Director Gregory Jacobs. But he did Jacobs no favor with his choices, unless the two of them have worked together so long that they share the same aesthetics. Scenes are awkwardly photographed and poorly edited. They hold on reaction shots for far too long while the action is elsewhere. And the overall storytelling is odd. Something interesting will start to happen, then they cut away to another scene and never return to what was interesting.

 

Brief aside on Steven Soderbergh - while he has always been a solid filmmaker, there was a real turning point in the quality of his films when he became his own Cinematographer. Sadly, the quality went down. The last great one was his first as D.P., OCEAN'S 11. That ended his run of arguably his best pictures, OUT OF SIGHT, THE LIMEY, ERIN BROCKOVICH and TRAFFIC. His subsequent pictures were usually good, but none were great.

There are highlights in MAGIC MIKE XXL. Some of the dance numbers are well done and have a lot of energy, but none of that is really due to Soderbergh's work. His photography and editing of most of those sequences is pedestrian. It's like no effort has been put into how to shoot and edit those sequences. I'm not arguing for some quick cut, MTV style aesthetic for every sequence, but maybe that works for one of them. Maybe each of them deserves its own style. But you won't find that here.

 

Joe Manganiello as Big Dick Richie stands out in the picture. The sequence where the boys dare him to go into a convenience store and make the clerk smile is a big comedy highlight in the film. His character building subplot is that he hasn't had sex in years because he can't find the right woman to physically handle him. Late r in the story, he meets Andie MacDowell and just as they begin to flirt, the picture cuts away. We see them the next morning and it turns out that she is the one. Then Richie and the gang leave never to see her again! That's some storytelling.

 

The sequence where the boys meet MacDowell and her lady friends is also a highlight despite some awkward writing and aesthetic choices. But putting the boys in a situation with some horny, drunk older women at least made for something interesting.

 

A lot of screen time is wasted on star Channing Tatum, but not much is done with all that screen time. His scenes with the usually electric Amber Heard are really dull. It's surprising that two charismatic performers don't light up the screen together, but they just aren't given much material to work with. His scenes with Jada Pinkett Smith hint at a dramatic past, but they just beat home the point that they broke up badly. Who cares?

 

Jada wants to charge things up as Rome, a host M.C. at an exclusive club, but she is not nearly as charismatic as she thinks she is. The dance sequences here are fun, but go on way too long. Donald Glover stands out in this sequence and has a few other good moments in the picture. 

 

Matt Bomer, Adam Rodriguez, Kevin Nash and Gabriel Iglesias are all game performers and have a moment or two, but the picture does not know what to do with them or doesn’t care. They are just along for the ride. 

 

While I wasn't expecting great cinema from MAGIC MIKE XXL, I am surprised at how overlong and poorly paced this thin story is. At a tight 90 minutes, it would probably fly by and be watchable entertainment but at almost two hours, it drags on and on. But what do I know? The female audience will probably make this one a smash hit too since there's a lot of half naked men on display in those two hours.