Review of Magic Mike XXL (2015) by Matthew F. J — 02 Jul 2015

Beyond the pleasure to reconnect with some of the original characters from the first film and an amazing cinematography, lighting and set locations, this film is nowhere near as fun as the first episode. This sequel felt very stretched, opting for long conversations between the lads rather than showing some amazing dancing numbers. The film is actually very toned down and the dancing merely happens at the end for a grand finale that is of course memorable ...

I wish they kept it more straight forward, less chatty and focused more on the dancing numbers... unfortunately Gregory Jacobs is no Soderbergh and you will quickly feel there is mostly a huge problem with the pacing of the film.... the trailer did make us hope for a hell of a ride, but unfortunately the film fail to deliver the Magic and left me personally (and the group of people I was with) a little disappointed.... since this film is going to make a ton of dough this summer, I'm sure a third one will come up soon, let's just hope they make it more biting next time... because this second episode feels like we are indeed close to retirement...