Magic Mike XXL
Director: Gregory Jacobs
Starring: Channing Tatum, Joe Manganiello, Matt Bomer
115 mins; Class 15;
KRS Releasing Ltd

2012’s Magic Mike was a sleeper hit – a drama with comedic undertones about the life of the male stripper, with an excellent cast led by Channing Tatum.

It proved to be yet another success for versatile director Steven Soderbergh and the film went on to earn almost universal critical and audience acclaim.

While it was sold on its premise of the likes of Tatum and co-star Matthew McConaughey and Alex Pettyfer in steamy and sexy dance sequences, the film struck a chord thanks to its strong script by Reid Carolin, charting the triumphs and pitfalls of the business.

The character development, with its parallel storylines of Tatum’s character wanting out and Pettyfer wanting in, also helped.

This sequel however comes to us with none of the ingredients that made the original so good.

Despite the still undeniably strong chemistry between the guys and, of course, their collective, perfectly tanned and toned abs and pecs, the whole is held together with the barest hint of a plot.

The story opens three years after the events of the first film. McConaughey’s Dallas is gone, as is Pettyfer’s character. Tatum’s Mike is now retired and struggling with his furniture business.

None of the ingredients that made the original so good

When he finds out that the Kings of Tampa, his former strip troupe, are heading to Florida for a strippers convention and one final performance on stage, Mike develops a sudden yearning for his old profession (which he expresses in a rather nifty dance in his carpentry workshop) and so decides to tag along.

What unfolds is a road movie of sorts, with Mike and the rest of the gang (Matt Bomer as the perfect Ken; Joe Manganiello as Big Dick Richie; Kevin Nash as Tarzan; Adam Rodríguez as Tito and Gabriel Iglesias as Tobias) getting onto a bus and heading to Myrtle Beach.

Having lost the love interest he found at the end of Magic Mike, Mike is now single.

Yet, on the way he befriends photographer Zoe (Amber Heard) and pays a visit to an old fling and colleague Rome (Jada Pinkett Smith). And that is the extent of the story, for nothing of note really happens.

It is not without its delights. A stop on their journey at the home of a genteel southern lady (Andie McDowell, clearly having fun) where they provide a couple of hours of entertain-ment (and more) for her and her friends works.

However, it remains rather pointless, apart from giving the guys the opportunity to get a fancy car for the final leg of their trip.

Needless to say, the dance numbers are plentiful. And yet, they don’t conjure up the bawdy and steamy atmosphere as successfully as the troupe’s first outing; even though they are that little bit more daring and in-your-face (in more ways than one).

The problem is they are all too slickly choreographed; even the various fistfuls of dollars flung at their perfectly toned bodies feel staged.

With roles in comedies, dramas and dance movies, Tatum has shown on many occasions his versatility, especially in the original Magic Mike.

But here gets more time to display his dance moves than his acting chops and the film has nothing new to say about his character or indeed any of the others.

It almost feels as if director Gregory Jacobs and returning screenwriter Reid Carolin didn’t quite know what to do with them away from the dance floor, leaving the whole film feeling like a series of scenes that do not quite make up a cohesive story.