I must admit that I loved Magic Mike before I even saw it, based solely on the trailers alone. I mean what red blooded woman wouldn’t love a movie that features Channing Tatum, Alex Pettyfer, Joe Manganiello, Matt Bomer and Matthew McConaughey stripping down to next to nothing for the better part of two hours? But now that I’ve seen it I can tell you that you need to grab your girlfriends and get your ass to the nearest theatre because Magic Mike didn’t disappoint.
Magic Mike is loosely based on Channing Tatum’s stint as a stripper when he was younger – and as such Tatum is really the star of Magic Mike. He plays serial entrepreneur Mike Laine who is a roofer/car detailer by day and super hot stripper by night. He meets ‘The Kid’ aka Adam played by Alex Pettyfer who’s a college dropout living on his sister’s couch and promptly introduces him to the world of stripping. Matthew McConaughey is like the owner of the strip club where Tatum is the headliner and dances along with Joe Manganiello, Adam Rodriguez, Matt Bomer and Kevin Nash. But really, it’s all about Channing.
What was good;
The Dancing
OK not gonna lie, I went and saw this movie with my 3 girlfriends and each of us muttered more than a few ‘are you serious-es?! during the dance sequences while fanning ourselves profusely. I believe there might have been a cat call or two as well, not gonna lie. Then we might have googled ‘Chippendales’ shows immediately upon leaving the theatre. Channing Tatum is so so good. So good. And that man can dance and rip his shirt off at the same time with the best of them.
Channing Tatum
OK so we covered how hot Channing Tatum is when he dances right? But he’s also really good in this movie. Because he’s so likeable. And hot. And I know that since the movie is based on him he should be good but what I like is that even though Channing Tatum is very much an A list actor right now he still gives it all he’s got in the stripper scenes. Which, I have to respect. Because there’s a lot of cheese in this movie, but he knows it and he owns it and the cheese is delivered exactly the way it should be. Magic Mike is what Rock of Ages couldn’t be.
Matthew McConaughey
Well colour me impressed but I was surprised, a lot, but how good Matthew McConaughey was. He played Dallas, the owner of the strip club and basically the paternal figure for the strippers. He plays the role so well that you totally believe him when he’s teaching The Kid how to grind for the ladies while wearing a yellow spandex crop top and booty shorts. When I saw Rock of Ages I found Tom Cruise to be the most distracting part of the movie, because he was trying too hard he wasn’t even remotely believable. No matter what, I couldn’t see the character he was playing, I could only see how hard he was trying to make us believe he was that character. The same was not true for Matthew McConaughey. Matthew McConaughey was so good. He reminded me a lot of Burt Reynolds character in Boogie Nights. By far the biggest and best surprise for me in the movie.
The Bad
Alex Pettyfer
Maybe it’s because I don’t like Alex Pettyfer in general, but I didn’t like him as Adam aka ‘The Kid’ aka the guy that Mike takes under his wing. I didn’t find anything about him attractive, and his acting leaves a lot to be desired. He seemed so out of place in the film and there was no connection to him as a character. Both the casting of the role of Adam and his sister Brooke, played by Cody Horn, left me shaking my head.
The Dancers
There was a lot of hype going into the movie about the other dancers – especially Joe Manganiello and Matt Bomer, who make who dance at the Xquisite’s dance club along with Magic Mike. I was a little shocked at how little a role they had. And even more shocked at how little they could dance. I mean they looked great without their clothes on, but if you watched them during the choreographed sequences they’re clearly not dancers.
The Flow
I can’t quite put my finger on it, but in the scenes not filmed at the strip club I felt the movie could have used a bit more something. Like it was missing a better score, or better editing, or just better casting (again, this goes back to the Pettyfer/Horn casting). Also – zero chemistry between Tatum and Horn. Zero. Again, casting.
All in all Magic Mike was a fabulous movie if you’re going to see it for the hot men stripping down to g-strings on stage. It’s the perfect movie to go and see with a big group of girlfriends on a GNO. If you’re expecting a really great story to go along with it you might be a bit disappointed, and if you’re a dude, you might want to skip this one. I saw it with three of my girlfriends and we all loved it, but we went for the hot naked strippers. I say put your critic hat away, grab your besties and enjoy the show!
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