Gyrating Back to the Big Screen
At the end of the original Magic Mike, a disillusioned Mike (Channing Tatum) walked away from his life as a male stripper. Magic Mike XXL picks up three years later, and it seems that Mike is getting nostalgic for his former job. So he reunites with his old co-workers (including Matt Bomer and Joe Manganiello) to return to the stage, one last time. We’re not sure if this is supposed to be hot or funny, and the flick itself seems unwilling to choose a side. Magic Mike XXL opens in wide release July 1.
JAIMIE: I can’t even. Guys, what. I can’t even.
NICOLE: Jaimie, if you hate on this, I will be so upset with you. I. Can’t. Wait.
JAIMIE: This is a comedy right? Like, this has to be a comedy. Is this real? I can’t even formulate words right now. Like, nothing about it is hot or sexy or attractive to me. It just makes me laugh. Like, I DO NOT BELIEVE THIS, laugh. When Joe Manganiello is in the gas station, dancing against a refrigerator full of sodas, and then he takes a bottle out and tries to be sexy while dancing with it, in a gas station, half naked, I’m supposed to find that hot?
CHRISTINA: That convenience store thing was the best part of the trailer. It’s hilarious! I don’t think it’s supposed to be hot at all — I think it’s supposed to be funny? If someone walked into a store and started doing that in real life, it would be the funniest thing to happen, ever. The way he is slowly walking to the refrigerator and then he just grinds on it — best thing ever.
PAIGE: I think the film is a little uncomfortable with its own sex appeal, in a sense. If this movie were about a bunch of girls, obviously they would all be really hot and their stripping routines would be straightforwardly hot. So I think the comedic approach is kind of a reflection of how society is uncomfortable with this kind of male objectification.
JAIMIE: Am I imagining it, though, or did the first film actually address some social concerns? Wait, who am I kidding. The answer probably is no.
CHRISTINA: I never saw the first one, but I heard that it was actually kind of a downer and was all angsty. Which makes me want to see it.
PAIGE: I also did not see the first one, but it is on my list of “movies I need to watch because obviously.”
NICOLE: I’m glad Matthew McConaughey isn’t in this one. I can’t take him seriously, ever. Especially in those Lincoln commercials.
CHRISTINA: WHAT. Matthew McConaughey is such a good actor! I love the turn his career has taken in these last few years — he’s been doing so many good movies. Here’s a list of just a few of the impressive roles he’s done since 2011: Mud, The Paperboy, Dallas Buyer’s Club, Interstellar. And those Lincoln commercials.
JAIMIE: I agree, Matthew Mc-Conaughey is a good actor. But DAMN, he should fire whoever convinced him to do those Lincoln commercials.
PAIGE: I also have to say that I love the puns and word play and that they couldn’t just call this sequel Magic Mike 2, no, they had to call it Magic Mike XXL.
CHRISTINA: James has been awfully quiet.
JAMES: Yet another movie objectifying the male body. Ladies, my skimpy shorts aren’t for you. Men should be able to dance without being ogled, harassed, groped, and paraded out on stage like slabs of meat at an auction. I swear. First, The Avengers, and now this.
