Why So Blu?

Magic Mike XXL (Movie Review)

Director Gregory Jacobs and Writer Reid Caroline have a present for women and men alike — and it’s called “Magic Mike XXL,” an absolute must see. Take your hyper critical thinking caps off for a second and just enjoy the ride. THE RIDE. XXL is in the title for god’s sake get into it. My eyes ran a train on a pound of dick glitter for almost two hours and I smiled through basically the entire thing. If I wasn’t smiling I was having serious feels for Joe Manganiello character’s sexual arc and witnessing estranged male entertainer BFFs rekindle friendships and discover how much they seriously love stripping together. This movie is a 5-star buffet in some foreign exotic land no one knows about; I just couldn’t choose where to look or what to put on my plate. My brain plate.

This movie pulled every emotional trick out of the hat for lady audiences and executed each and every inch of that trick brilliantly. A sad Mike (Channing Tatum) graces the screen in the beginning. He’s working hard, building sexy ass furniture for fine tushies to sit on but it’s apparent that he’s been brewing a struggle for quite some time. He can’t pay for his single employee’s health insurance, and the house seems a little too quiet to inhabit two people. I’m not directly saying these stresses are handled with a dance solo to Ginuwine but, you know, maybe. In the nick of time Tarzan (Kevin Nash) calls Mike up and with a clever ploy (that son-of-a-gun) to get him back with The Kings of Tampa. The group is onto bigger and better things in life and in one last hoorah they decide to go to Myrtle Beach for, “The Convention.” A stripper convention. Let’s get excited!

Each character seems to be coming into their own and cultivating some pretty unique identities. This is paired with genuinely touching moments of extreme respect for the ladies. The Kings of Tampa show insurmountable love for women, which grows deeper as they discover their true songs. No lie this all happens and it’s gorgeous. There’s a sweet symmetry between the ladies of the film and our leading lads. Andie MacDowell makes a lovely appearance and adds stunning social commentary on what it’s like to be a middle-aged woman in the world of love, dating, and sex. On the opposite spectrum we have Jada Pinkett-Smith strutting her beautiful sexually liberated self around an empire she built for women’s entertainment supplied by copious amounts of men. Tables being turned and double standards crashing to the ground.

Admittedly, the film takes a while to find it’s footing and It doesn’t help that some of the weak moments are populated by the least charismatic actor in the movie, Ken (Mat Bomer) who’s beautiful no doubt but the shamanic like journey his character goes through is forced. Additionally, there’s some lighting techniques that don’t quite do it for me but there’s a reason why this movie works and why it works so well for female audiences. It’s a place and world where women get exactly what they want with the respect and adoration they deserve.

Film 

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Kaitlin Grout