Film Review: Nichely Entertaining ‘Magic Mike XXL’ a Substanceless Soft Porn

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Average: 5 (1 vote)

CHICAGO – You know those amateur porns with no-name actors that use cheesy dialogue in between the sex scenes those viewers simply want? You never expect a real story or actually developed characters because it’s a collection of sex scenes. It’s not a real, you know, movie.

HollywoodChicago.com Oscarman rating: 2.0/5.0
Rating: 2.0/5.0

“Magic Mike XXL” is a soft porn with professional, “A”-list actors, but the film’s script takes the same substanceless qualities of its amateur porn brethren. Unlike soft porns, the sequel’s cinematography is Hollywood caliber and its actors know how to act, but its script is just as insulting. And the film’s purpose for being is the same: just to show you their dancing naughty bits with cheap words in between.

Though I’m not the demographic for “Magic Mike XXL,” I can recognize the value of pure shut-your-brain-off entertainment. Sometimes that comes in the form of a brainless popcorn flick that just blows stuff up and uses CGI to make special effects look appealing.

Other times it’s well-oiled strippers turned actors who revisit their stripper days just to strut around shirtless for two hours and dance into the smooth recesses of every woman’s fantasy. I know “Magic Mike XXL” has that as its primary mission, but I can’t forgive it for having nothing else to say.

StarRead Adam Fendelman’s full review of “Magic Mike XXL”.

Targeting a “girl’s night out” movie, the primary purpose for this film is seeing mostly nude strippers dancing with little concern for the story that propels them. But when a film has a $14.5 million budget and decides to write one of the laziest, non-existent stories I’ve seen in 2015 – and in Tuesday pre-shows it’s outpacing “Terminator Genisys,” which actually attempts to have a real story – something is very wrong and Hollywood is laughing to the bank.

“Terminator Genisys” isn’t a perfect film either, but “Magic Mike XXL” is proving how unintelligent audiences are willing to be in exchange for flashing some flesh and dancing smooth grooves.

“Magic Mike XXL” stars Channing Tatum, Jada Pinkett Smith, Amber Heard, Elizabeth Banks, Joe Manganiello, Matt Bomer, Donald Glover, Adam Rodriguez, Kevin Nash, Stephen Boss, Andie MacDowell and Michael Strahan from director Gregory Jacobs, writer Reid Carolin and executive producer Steven Soderbergh. The film, which opened on July 1, 2015, has a running time of 115 minutes. It is rated “R” for strong sexual content, pervasive language, some nudity and drug use.

StarContinue for Adam Fendelman’s full review of “Magic Mike XXL”.

Stephen Boss, Matt Bomer, Kevin Nash, Joe Manganiello, Channing Tatum and Adam Rodriguez Magic Mike XXL
Left to right: Stephen “Twitch” Boss as Malik, Matt Bomer as Ken, Kevin Nash as Tarzan, Joe Manganiello as Richie, Channing Tatum as Mike and Adam Rodriguez as Tito in “Magic Mike XXL”.
Image credit: Warner Bros., Claudette Barius

StarContinue for Adam Fendelman’s full review of “Magic Mike XXL”.

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