Magic Mike’s Last Dance 2023 Movie Review

In 2012, Channing Tatum cemented his name as one of the most lucrative stars in Hollywood when he took a small movie with a $7 million budget and got it a box office of $167 million. Based on Tatum’s own experience as a stripper in Tampa, Florida, Magic Mike followed Mike (Tatum), a talented exotic dancer, who takes on a younger performer and teaches him how to make money, party, and pick up women. With a cast of talented and attractive leading men like Matt Bomer, Joe Manganiello, Matthew McConaughey, and Alex Pettyfer, the movie had audiences and critics alike praising it. 3 years later, the sequel Magic Mike XXL went viral and audiences became certain that another film to close out this trilogy was inevitable. Now, nearly 8 years later, that sequel is finally a reality. For anybody wondering when, how, and where they can watch Magic MIke’s Last Dance, the most anticipated movie of 2023, you’ve come to the right place.

Plot details have remained under wraps until very recently with Tatum only describing it as a “fish-out-of-water story where it’s a reverse role ‘Pretty Woman’ story that ends up with a lot of dancing in it.” Producing partner Reid Carolin also stated that the film will be about a woman stuck at a horrible tacky strip show who is saved by Mike. Along with Pretty Woman, Steven Soderbergh has stated that much of the film was inspired by Tatum’s choreography on the “Magic Mike Live” tour as well as the Bob Fosse classic, All That Jazz.

Much of the important plot details have been recently revealed. The film opens with Mike in dire straits. A bad business deal has left him broke and taking bartender gigs in Florida. When he meets a wealthy socialite, she provides him with the opportunity to return to the stage in London for what he believes will be the last hurrah. Unbeknownst to him, this woman has an agenda of her own. With his career on the line, once Mike discovers what is on her mind, will he still be able to pull off the greatest erotic show of all time?

Yes, the trailer for Magic Mike’s Last Dance was released on November 15th. Set to “Last Dance” by Donna Summer, the trailer opens with a rich but aimless woman played by Salma Hayek lamenting how little joy she got from life until she met Mike. He tells her he’s just a bartender but when she presses him to tell him what he really does, he shows her in a Flashdance-esque sequence. Entranced by his talent and good looks, she invites him to London with her to put on a show. People are skeptical of his relationship with this mysterious benefactor, but he assures them that no one has believed in him as she does. Will she prove to be as altruistic as he thinks or is she just another charming grifter? That is not certain. The only thing we know is that London is in for quite a spectacle.

The director of Magic Mike’s Last Dance is Steven Soderbergh. Along with directing the first film in the series, Soderbergh has been a pioneer of American independent cinema. Soderbergh made his directorial debut with Sex, Lies, and Videotape starring James Spader, Andie MacDowell, Peter Gallagher, and Laura San Giacomo. The film explored themes like adultery, intimacy, and marriage in a refreshing and scandalous way and surprised everyone when it picked up the Palme D’Or at the Cannes Film Festival over films like Cinema Paradiso and Do The Right Thing. Since then, he received continued critical acclaim for Out of Sight and Erin Brokovich. He won an Oscar for directing the drama about the War on Drugs, Traffic, and has enjoyed great commercial success with the Oceans Trilogy and Contagion.

The cast may be missing some of its regulars like Joe Manganiello or Matt Bomer, but the new additions more than make up for that. In the titular role, Channing Tatum returns as Mike. Tatum started his career as a teen heartthrob in hits like She’s the Man and Step Up. He became a major action star with roles in films like G.I. Joe and a charming leading man in films like Dear John. In the early 2010s, he garnered critical acclaim for his comedic and dramatic abilities present in 21 Jump Street and Foxcatcher. Currently, he is set to star in Zoë Kravitz’s directorial debut, Pussy Island. Starring alongside him as his lover and bankroller is Salma Hayek. Hayek got her start in Mexican telenovelas but became a star in American film in the 1990s with movies like Desperado and From Dusk Till Dawn. She also won an Oscar nomination for her role as the complicated and visionary Mexican artist, Frida Kahlo in the biopic, Frida. Since then, she has starred in critical and commercial successes like Grown Ups, Beatriz at Dinner, and House of Gucci. Thandiwe Newton was initially cast in Hayek’s role but left due to personal reasons. Caitlin Gerard, Ayub Khan Din, and Gavin Spokes also star.