By John Corrado

★★½ (out of 4)

The third instalment in the Magic Mike saga, which began with Steven Soderbergh’s 2012 film that first introduced us to Channing Tatum’s titular male stripper, Magic Mike’s Last Dance is an example of a third film that is easily the weakest in the series, yet still mildly entertaining thanks to its leads.

The film opens with voiceover telling us that Mike Lane (Tatum), whose dancing days are now behind him, has lost his furniture business due to economic circumstances from the pandemic. Still living in Florida, Mike is now working as a bartender for private events.

This is where he meets Maxandra “Max” Mendoza (Salma Hayek Pinault), a rich socialite who hears about his past and requests a private dance from him (but no “happy endings,” she tells him). Maxandra is so impressed by his skills that she invites him to come back to London with her for a month, to put on a show at the Rattigan, an old theatre that has been left to her by her ex-husband Roger (Alan Cox), as a way to get back at him.

The idea is to replace the theatre’s production of a somewhat stuffy period piece play with a stripper extravaganza choreographed by Mike. While assembling a troupe of young dancers to perform in the show, Mike and Maxandra also have to balance their feelings for each other, as well as Maxandra’s precocious teenaged daughter Zadie (Jemelia George).

While Soderbergh returns to direct Magic Mike’s Last Dance, this isn’t really one of his strongest efforts behind the camera. The screenplay by Reid Carolin (who also wrote the first two) not only references the COVID pandemic, but the film also feels somewhat like a product of it that was rushed into production and made primarily for streaming (it was initially developed to go directly to HBO Max before being released in theatres first instead) to capitalize on the success of the previous films, and it struggles to retain the same spark.

The first film (for better and for worse) was more of a stripped down look at the stripping industry than it was a dance movie, while the second one, Magic Mike XXL, found the right balance between being an amiable hangout film that also built to a dazzling, all-dance last act. This one falls somewhere between soapy romance and gauzy fantasy, never recapturing the relative grittiness of the first one or the giddy exuberance of the second.

The characters and story have never been the most engaging across these films, which have always been at their strongest during the dance scenes. But the plot feels particularly threadbare this time around, and sort of feels like it is just making things up as it goes along. This includes a subplot involving them trying to seduce a prudish bureaucrat named Edna Eaglebaur (Vicki Pepperdine), who threatens to shut down their play. It does allow Soderbergh to stage a somewhat fun Ocean’s 11-esque sequence, but also feels tacked on to provide an obstacle for the second act.

The biggest problem with the film is that it feels like it should be building to a big getting-the-gang-back-together reunion that never actually comes. While original cast members Joe Manganiello, Matt Bomer, Kevin Nash and Adam Rodriguez do make a brief appearance, they are relegated to what is basically a cameo over Zoom, which feels like a lazy sort of fan service.

The new dancers, who were plucked from the Magic Mike Live shows in London and Las Vegas, are barely even presented as characters, and we can’t help but feel like the big finale would have been more satisfying if the original cast members had returned. The dancers are exceptionally talented, but the film ends up feeling more like a commercial for the live show instead of a continuation of the story.

The Magic Mike movies (especially the second one) have always been the most fun when the focus is on the dancing, and the dance scenes here are as enjoyable as is to be expected (even if there was room for a few more of them), including the sensual early number between Tatum and Hayek and the rain-soaked finale. While Magic Mike’s Last Dance is a case of diminishing returns, the film still offers just enough eye candy to pass the time at home, and Tatum and Hayak are both appealing performers who are fun to watch together.

Bonus Features (Blu-ray):

The Blu-ray includes a bonus featurette and single deleted scene. A regular DVD and code for a digital copy are also included in the package, which ships with a standard slipcover.

• Magic Mike’s New Moves (6 minutes, 24 seconds): Choreographers Alison Faulk and Luke Broadlick talk about working with Channing Tatum to develop the dance sequences in the film.

• Deleted Scene 44 – Edna Expanded (8 minutes, 5 seconds): An extended version of the Edna sequence that starts off basically the same, before blossoming into something even longer. It’s worth watching after the film.

Magic Mike’s Last Dance is a Warner Bros. Home Entertainment release. It’s 112 minutes and rated PG.

Street Date: April 18th, 2023