MAGIC MIKE’S LAST DANCE (2023)

About 11 years after Channing Tatum’s Mike Lane danced into our lives in 2012’s Magic Mike, he’s back for the series’ swan song, an absolute mess of a film that takes an interesting idea and squanders it in a ridiculous, inept plot.

After working an event for  wealthy socialite (Salma Hayek Pault), Mike (Tatum) is roped into an opportunity that puts him front and center as the creative director of an old production with new ambitions. The first Magic Mike was a solid film because there was heart behind it, drawn from the experiences of Tatum and influencing a hot, different film. Now that we’re on the third iteration, it’s clear that the money-milking machine has been hard at work. Aside from Salma and Channing, there is little to love about this flat, misdirected threequel. Let’s not lose site of the fact that the first dance scene, a long one with the two stars, is sexy AF and one of the best of the series. But that’s where it all falls apart. 

I don’t understand how writer Reid Carolin, who has been with the series from the beginning, produced such a wildly inept script. Hayek Pault’s character starts out as one who seems like a formidable opposite to Tatum’s Mike, but ends up without a leg to stand on. It’s as if the original ideas for the script were at first cheered, before being forgotten, instead jumping from a promising premise to a ridiculous third act. This is a cash-grab film and nothing more. Both stars deserve better.

Magic Mike’s Last Dance is now playing in theaters.

Rating: 1/5