Mike takes to the stage again, following a business deal that went bust, leaving him broke and taking bartender gigs in Florida. Mike heads to London with a wealthy socialite who lures him with an offer he can’t refuse.
When the first Magic Mike film appeared in 2012, it gave rise to male strippers who became unashamedly appealing once again to the world outside the club scene. Mike Lane (Channing Tatum) and his entourage of street-savvy hunks of greatness had audiences in high salivation mode due to a unique collaboration of characters who worked hard during the day and played much harder at night on the dance floor. In the backstory, Mike was invested in teaching his girlfriend’s brother the tricks of the trade until it became no longer beneficial for him to do so. Fast forward to 2015, and “Magic Mike XXL” was a continuation of the salivation; however, while the crew of dancers grew to include more famous faces, the storyline appeared to have been weaker. And now, in what seems to be the final installment of the salacious trilogy, “Magic Mike’s Last Dance” suggests that those of us who are waiting for the fourth installment may do well to resort back to the clubs to get our fix on the highly acclaimed moves of Channing Tatum that we can’t seem to get enough of.
When the film opens, Mike Lane is done with the furniture business and has resorted to doing odd jobs to make ends meet. On a new bartending assignment for a charitable event in Miami, he runs across a female customer from the past who seems to remember him well from a lap dance he gave her ten years earlier. After they covertly reflect on the memories, word travels to the event sponsor, Maxandra Mendoza (Selma Hayek Pinault), who is in the midst of a divorce after her wealthy husband, Roger Rattigan (Alan Cox), was caught sleeping with his assistant. After becoming despondent over the rumors of her marriage, Maxandra awkwardly approaches Mike and asks what price he would charge to dance with her. Throwing out a deterrent amount of $60,000, Mike is confident the request will go away as he makes it clear that he doesn’t dance anymore. After a few short questions challenging his worth and her motive, Mike agrees to do it for $6,000 and commences reorganizing her home to set up his dance stage. To say the rest is history is so cliché-ish; however, it is very accurate. After the dance and an overnight stay, Maxandra convinces Mike to leave his odd job and go to London for a month to work another temporary position as Creative Director for Maxandra, after which he would receive the $60,000 that he quoted beforehand.
No sooner than the wheels are up on the flight to London, Mike’s life begins to change dramatically… from the food he eats to the personal butler service he receives from Victor (Ayub Khan-Din), to meeting Zadie Rattigan (Emelia George), the teenage daughter Maxandra failed to mention that she had. As Mike is prepped for his arrival at The Rattigan, Maxandra also leaves out essential details, such as replacing the entire crew at The Rattigan and that her soon-to-be ex still has massive control over the property. Roger steps in as Maxandra and Mike begin to collaborate on the fine details of the radical change in the upcoming production he was hired to direct. He makes things more complicated once he realizes that Maxandra’s newest flame is about to change the entire trajectory of his beloved Isabelle Ascendant. While they both realize these are jealous antics, neither the relationship Mike is developing with Zadie nor the understanding he has come to with Victor seems to be enough to save them from each other as they battle the reality of feminism and realism. Once Maxandra decides to walk away from it all, Mike goes into high gear and uses every resource he has within his reach to ensure that her unicorn dreams become a reality.
While director Steven Soderbergh’s magic in creating a solid storyline for the last two installments seems to be waning, there is still a great presence of fundamental themes relevant to the film’s success. Overcoming adversity to find out what you are great at and knowing your own strengths and weaknesses are vital to being able to dance to your own music. The sobering reality of being able to choreograph your own steps into the world’s theatrical wavelength, at times, necessitates someone to play the chords while you sit back and find your own rhythm. If Magic Mike can continue to evoke change through the silent, salivating sexiness of his dance moves, I am all for it and pray it isn’t the last attempt.
Now available on Digital HD, Blu-ray™, and DVD
