Trilogies are a funny thing, and nowadays it rarely seems as though they’re conceived as such to begin with, let alone retain the same creative teams through all three installments. Luckily, director Steven Soderbergh (“Logan Lucky,” “Oceans 11 (2001)”) and writer Reid Carolin (“Dog (2022),” “Magic Mike”) have worked on the entire “Mike” trilogy in some capacity, with Soderbergh directing the first and third installments and working as cinematographer on the second and Carolin writing all three. So, if anyone was up to the task of creating a trilogy-capping sendoff for Channing Tatum’s shirtless dancing fool, it would be them.
After losing his furniture business due to the pandemic, former stripper Mike Lane, played by Channing Tatum (“21 Jump Street (2012),” “Logan Lucky”), finds himself with an opportunity to get back on stage due to the financial backing of Maxandra Mendoza, played by Salma Hayek (“Frida,” “Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard”), who wants to invigorate the London theatre she owns by putting on a classy dance/strip show with Mike directing.
Originally developed for HBO Max before being moved to a full theatrical release, “Magic Mike’s Last Dance” does have an atmosphere of slightness to it. Despite being a globe-trotting adventure, with Mike packing up and moving to London to put on the show, it feels much smaller than the previous two films. This isn’t an issue, save for the fact that you can get the sense that Soderbergh and Carolin are trying to build things up to be a sort of artistic finale for Mike’s character.
Tatum continues to do well here, exuding the same intelligent charm he’s always had, this time digging a little bit deeper into Mike’s artistic desire and fulfillments. Hayek is also great, although Max feels far more thinly written than Mike does. The supporting cast is rounded out by a handful of actors doing their best with some fairly clichéd material: the cool, wise butler Victor, played by Ayub Khan Din (“Coronation Street,” “London Bridge”), the precocious teen daughter Zadie, played by newcomer Jemelia George, and the estranged jerk ex-husband Roger, played by Alan Cox (“Young Sherlock Holmes,” “A Voyage Round My Father,”).
Most of the characters, while being well acted, don’t amount to much more than a handful of clichéd adjectives to described their formulaic archetypes. A stand-out performance though comes from Juliette Motamed (“We Are Lady Parts”) who simply lights up the screen as Hannah, one of the lead performers in Mike’s new show. Her role is all too brief in the entire runtime, but she makes an impact as a distinct personality who loads the film with smiles and laughs.
There’s nothing wrong with “Last Dance” per se. It’s shot well, and it has the loose vibe of other Soderbergh “hang out” movies like “Oceans 12” and “No Sudden Move”, wherein it often feels like the actors are given an outline and told to simply cut loose. It’s a method Soderbergh has used before to great effect, and while we don’t know if it specifically was used here, it has a similar momentum. The third act is the best of it all, with Mike’s show taking center stage. Its so full of energy and well-choreographed it practically screams for it to be basically the entire film.
What populates the rest of the movie is an amalgamation of “lets put on a show” comradery and Mike’s internal struggles as an artist. Both of these aspects are fine as they exist here, but it’s not hard to see them fleshed out more or even just being the focus of the entire film. Tatum’s charisma is enough to carry the character of Mike, but after the first two films had such different tones from each other, to see this one sort of settle into a calm malaise is disappointing.
This is a well-shot, well-choreographed, loose-goose of a movie, with a plot that meanders with a self-improvised nature, some charming characters held back by clichés and a third act that demands an extended cut just for itself. “Magic Mike’s Last Dance” isn’t going out on a high note, but its at least departing on a jumbled, interesting one. 3/5
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