Magic Mike's Last Dance

Story: A broke Mike meets socialite Maxandra while bartending at her fundraising party in Miami. After a night of lap dancing, Maxandra makes Mike a business offer to direct a jazzed-up Victorian stage play in London.

Review: The very amusing “Magic Mike” series was meant to come to a dramatic conclusion with “Magic Mike's Last Dance,” but instead director Steven Soderbergh gives audiences a plodding and limp film. The worst experience spectators could have with this film is that it doesn't resemble the prior two movies in the series. The mere premise of the movie is absurd and bizarre: Mike, a former stripper, goes to London to direct a sexed-up adaptation of a Victorian drama.

The opening fifteen minutes of the movie are when it really starts to take off, but it sputters as the action moves to London. The plot of the film is thin and devoid of any high points. The movie does feel disjointed as you watch it because there are sequences that are distinctly Soderbergh and then there are scenes that are wholly unlike his approach to filming.

This comedy-drama opens with retired stripper Mike serving drinks at socialite Maxandra Mendoza's fund-raiser campaign. Mike is now broke and earning his living as a bartender. In the end, Maxandra receives a more than sensual lap dance from Mike. An impressed Maxandra offers Mike $60,000 to travel to London for a business proposal. In London, it is revealed that she is the owner of Rattigan, a theatre and she has brought Mike to London to take over the reins of the play “Isabel Ascendant” as director. After firing the cast, Maxandra asks Mike to bring in a few strippers to spice up the show. There are some hiccups, namely those from Maxandra's estranged spouse and from the authorities.

If not explosive, the on-screen chemistry between Tatum and Hayek is sensuous and will help the film out. Their banter is entertaining and humorous. For the third time, Channing Tatum is reprising the role that catapulted him to fame. It would have been nice if the actor had loosened a bit for the part and the director had made use of his sense of humour. Tatum seemed to be somewhat stifled at times in the movie. Salma Hayek portrays a wealthy socialite who enjoys all that life has to offer admirably. In fact, she is the source of all the drama and turmoil that is depicted in the film. But it’s Ayub Khan-Din as Victor, the butler to Hayek’s character who walks away with all the plaudits. It’s a small role but he shines through.

The film's opening steamy scene starring Hayek and Tatum, as well as the film's climax, which features some good dance numbers, will all appeal to moviegoers. There will be laughs in the scene where three strippers attempt to seduce three elderly women on stage. Having said that, this comedy-drama lacks the impact that the other two movies had. There are no dancing routines that feature Max and Mike together on stage, which leads to a lackluster ending despite the screenplay giving viewers a hint of the same.

“Magic Mike’s Last Dance” eventually comes across as the love story of Mike and Maxandra. Wish the film had taken that route.