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Magic Mike XXL (2015), R, ★★

They wonder if their stripper years are outnumbered.
Doesn't it feel sometimes when you have that glimmer of success and glory that you feel like you are on top of the world for a brief span of time or for about a few weeks? Nowadays, it is equally frustrating that your success is so short-lived that sometimes you have to start the next chapter quickly and you have no plans whatsoever and you are basically dead and are going to be bored for the rest of your life. Mike, even though he retired himself from stripping in the first film, has been in a normal life of running a furniture company but most of the time he misses his infamous life. However, this movie has some entertaining value of characters interacting with each other and trying to become better people during their road trip, but the movie has enough charm to propel enough entertainment. But, the movie is inconsistent in its pacing and does try too hard on what it wants to be as a motion picture for its demographic.

Mike (Channing Tatum) is running his furniture store doing what he does for his business in the first montage and he receives a voicemail from Tarzan (Kevin Nash) informing that "Dallas is gone". (Matthew McConaughey is absent from this movie.) Mike goes to a local motel where he was told to go to Dallas' wake but he sees a pool party with a lot of girls and stripper friends: Richie (Joe Manganiello), Ken (Matt Bomer) and Tarzan.

They go to a hotel room where the strippers have an idea to go on a road trip for this type of farewell tour for Mike. It turns out that there is a "stripper convention" in Myrtle Beach and they want to have a show in front of mostly the female crowd. Mike wants to but he replies that he has a real life now and he has to run a business. The strippers understand his response. Mike wants to help a fellow employee to get some health insurance, however, he needs a bigger space. So, in order to do that, he has to go with his friends to the convention and that's pretty much it...

Females...look at these bodies. 
This movie is slightly better because of a few good scenes that are filled with "by-the-numbers" jokes and the one scene in a convenient store made me laugh a lot more that the whole first movie. But, this movie is a lesson of how male people, even though they are underneath all these stripper clothing of pretending to be a cop or a fireman, see themselves and how they listen to other females and how they listen to their responses. But, the pacing is so languid and unsteady that most of the scenes are either too much of a build-up or just plain fluff for the characters to show more of the camaraderie for the audience.

Channing Tatum has been on a roll lately with great roles for him but I think, even when he shows his best assets, he has to retire this character because there's not much more context for him to do except just strip to get money for his business. Joe Manganiello and Matt Bomer are ok but show their personalities a little more and we see Donald Glover. I think the best performance, however, goes to Jada Pinkett Smith as another stripper club owner who is fierce and does not take any heat and persuades Mike to give it his all in her classy business. Andie MacDowell has a good cameo in this. Amber Heard's character did not work for me at all as she basically fills in the "Cody Horn" character from the first movie and she was unnecessary in this film trying to persuade Mike to spoil his feelings.

There's a lot more testosterone than advertised. The Expendables trilogy are basically in competition with this movie but given some of the dialogue in the movie, the film seemed more artificial in their celebratory fashion to give one more hurrah for their talents and that is for the reason why the movie is inconsistently paced. There are some elements from the first movie that give a little jolt and more elements from this sequel that give a better balance in its humor but the narrative is as thin as a slice of a little butter with not much to do except gawk at males taking off their clothing and seeing females cheer. For people who want to see this movie and think that the first movie was a depressing experience, this sequel is for you.

**

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