‘Magic Mike’s Last Dance’ review: We come to this place for Magic (Mike) and one final strip across the pond

Nicole Kidman’s AMC ad is a new kind of national anthem for moviegoers and people who are generally savvy when it comes to pop culture. The ad is instantly recognizable, with beats that inspire viewers to clap, cheer, and even parrot back the earnest lines of dialogue like they’re in a cinematic karaoke bar. Recently parodied by Saturday Night Live’s Chloe Fineman and RuPaul’s Drag Race alum Katya, the ad now has a firm place in camp culture. So when Steven Soderbergh opens Magic Mike’s Last Dance with a shot of a puddle and the title of a theater reflected in it, it’s impossible not to giggle at this visual parallel. Much like the famed ad, we hear a woman’s voice sharing earnest dialogue–not about cinema this time, but the power of dance and where our titular Magic Mike is now. This cheeky opening shot shows that the final chapter of Soderbergh’s sexy stripper saga understands its audience. After all, what stirs a crowd more than taut, dazzling strippers on the silver screen?

Recently, life hasn’t been too kind to Mike (Channing Tatum). He’s been listless since the pandemic, having given up on his furniture business and dancing altogether. While bartending a private event in Miami, he’s recognized by Kim, a woman who slyly asks him if he used to be a cop. Soderbergh incorporates a quick flashback to the scene in Magic Mike when Mike crashes a party under the guise of being a cop, giving the woman he’s now handing a vodka soda a lap dance. Not only does this serve as a fun bit of fan service to viewers of the first film, but it also functions as a little tease of what Mike can do. He shouldn’t be behind the bar but dancing on it instead. 

Mike’s dance ten years ago was so memorable that Kim recommends him to the stunning hostess of the party, Maxandra “Max” Mendoza (Salma Hayek Pinault). Max has a lot on her plate, including a difficult husband she’s currently separated from back in London. Looking for a bit of escape, she offers to pay Mike $60,000 for a dance, even though he assures her that he doesn’t dance anymore. Tatum is incredibly charming here, infusing the scene with his natural movie star charisma. Even though it’s clear that he’s about to deliver the first dancing showcase of the film, Tatum plays with the audience’s expectations in humorous ways by testing out how sturdy the beams are in Max’s Architectural Digest-worthy home, clearing the coffee table, and assuring her that she’ll need a drink before this all begins. Soderbergh is wise to put one of the steamiest scenes in the franchise this early in the film’s runtime. Not only does it entice the viewer, but it also illustrates the crackling physical chemistry between Tatum and Hayek Pinault. At his best, Soderbergh can make any scene scorching (Out of Sight comes to mind), and this first dance of the film is no exception. Tatum and Hayek Pinault actually make you believe that if you had that amount of money, you might be tempted to spend it that way too. That pricey dance is the first of a few of Max’s offers that Mike can’t refuse, and she persuades him to travel with her to London to put on one final show.

Fans of the franchise’s first two films might expect an ensemble piece that introduces or revisits new or returning favorite characters. Instead, screenwriter Reid Carolin focuses the script on the relationship between Mike and Max and, perhaps more specifically, their individual relationships to performance. When they arrive in London, it’s clear that Max has a surprise up her sleeve and a way to inspire his love of dance again. Like Mike, she’s also restless and adrift. As a part of her messy marriage, Max has inherited a theater called The Ratigan, which is currently staging a stuffy period piece called “Isabel Ascends.” Max impulsively and rather abruptly fires the director and cancels all future performances of the show to make room for a brand new, one-night-only vision directed by Mike. Naturally, “Isabel Ascends” depicts the barriers put in place by society that women are expected to uphold. As the film progresses, the line between what occurs on the stage and what happens in Max’s life blurs. The script smartly addresses themes that resonated with audiences in the first two films in a new way. What do women want? Why do they always have to choose between cookie-cutter, predetermined options when it comes to love?

While the relationship between Max and Mike is compelling, thanks to Tatum and Hayek Sinault’s commitment to the script and natural charisma, the characterization of the ensemble could be better. What made the first two installments so much fun was that each stripper had a distinctive personality and talent that was smartly showcased. Here, as Mike recruits a new troupe of dancers for his one-night-only show, we rarely get to know any individual dancers as characters. While the group dance numbers are exciting to watch, it’s challenging to connect with any of the dance sequences that don’t showcase Tatum.

It’s worth noting that this is not a film about stripping as much as it is about dancing. While it’s understandable to lament that Joe Manganiello’s body is unfortunately restricted to a Zoom square as Mike video chats with him and a few audience favorites, the new dance numbers are guaranteed fun on the big screen. In a Fosse-inspired, 30-minute finale, dancing and the connection between Max and Mike is the primary focus. The excellent final number from Tatum is a gift to everyone who has felt his magnetic pull as a dancer since Step Up.

It would be easy to be far more critical of this film and its shortcomings if it wasn’t so self-aware in its humor and purposeful in its pivot from the first two chapters. For anyone wondering if Magic Mike’s Last Dance is worth the trip to the cinema, I’ll defer to Max. Early in the film, she notes, “it’s a silly little dance to get my mind off of things.” The film itself is exactly that, a perfect escape. 

Grade: B

Warner Bros. Pictures will release Magic Mike’s Last Dance only in theaters on February 10, 2023.