Magic Mike's Last Dance (Released 2/10/23)

This movie had me thinking of something I never thought I would think about the trilogy as a whole. So scale-wise, this had the natural progression of a city movie to a road-trip movie to an international movie. But storywise, this would make more sense as the second movie. The arc could have been all the stuff that happened in the first movie. Then, he steps away and keeps working odd jobs until he is discovered by Selma Hayek. She offers him a gig to spruce up a live show. It’s successful and all is good. Then everything is back to basics after a falling out but he managed to start a business. The old crew begs him to go on a trip and do one last show before the whole crew truly gives up the dancer's life. The road trip can be a memory lane trip and it ends with the epic finale. Instead, we get this awkward almost midlife crisis movie. As a whole, this third movie is enjoyable but it felt more rom-com than the drama that it started out as. It’s not a bad movie, but it doesn’t really give much reason for existing in the franchise. It has some callbacks, but other than that, this could have straight up been its own independent movie. It could have even passed as a soft reboot. Honestly, only see it if you like the franchise or Channing Tatum/Selma Hayek.

Story - 15%

Characters - 15%

Pacing - 18%

Spectacle - 18%

Entertainment - 16%

Total score: 82%

Grade scale:

90%-100% = must watch

80%-89% = solid, but could be better

70%-79% = Not terrible, watch if the characters or story interests you

60%-69% = only watch for completionist reasons

0%-59% = just skip it, I find the positives and they don't exist here