Baring it all: The New Masculinity of 'Magic Mike XXL'

Adam Rodriguez (from left), Kevin Nash, Matt Bomer, Channing Tatum, Joe Manganiello, and Gabriel Iglesias bond during one last road trip in 2015’s “Magic Mike XXL.” (Warner Bros/MovieStillsDB.com)

“Magic Mike XXL”
Released July 1, 2015
Directed by Gregory Jacobs
Where to Watch

What a year, huh? It’s July, but that’s beside the point. It’s safe to say the vast majority of us have been locked down in our houses for the past few months, and we’ve watched a lot of shit. Tiger King was a topic of conversation for a hot minute there, with my social media feed blowing up with references along the lines like I have to see it ASAP, but I put my flag in the sand and said to no one in particular, “Naw. I’ll get to it when I get to it.”

Instead, I watched “Magic Mike XXL,” which, respectively, aware of the irony here; you have to see ASAP. It’s not only one of the best hangout movies of the past decade, but “Magic Mike XXL” presents a counter to the toxic masculinity that feels honest, inspiring, and, well, manly in a way we’re not used to seeing in mainstream cinema. 

Steven Soderberg helmed the first “Magic Mike” movie in 2012. Written by Reid Carolin, the film was loosely based on star Channing Tatum’s real-life experiences as a male stripper. It also featured Matthew McConaughey checking with a vital chapter of the McConaissance in his role as the male strip club owner Dallas. “Naw, naw, naw, naw, no,” Dallas says to audience members tempted by touching the strippers at the opening of “Magic Mike.” “The law says you cannot touch, but I see a lotta lawbreakers in here.”

The first “Magic Mike” is a dark movie about the downside of stripping for money (and quickly, drugs). Most of the cast reunited for 2015’s “Magic Mike XXL” (minus McConaughey, whose character is written out) that, unexpectedly, transforms into a movie about human connections and friendships. It’s a chill film that is also inspiring, one that leaves you in a better mood than you were before. If the first “Magic Mike” is a societal horror film, “Magic Mike XXL” is the crowd-pleaser. It’s a franchise turn we haven’t seen since “Alien” and “Aliens,” but with strippers.

“Magic Mike XXL” opens three years after the original, which ended with Mike Lane (Tatum) quitting the strip stage to run his own custom furniture business. He gets a call from his former colleague and dancer Tarzan (Kevin Nash) that Dallas has passed away. It’s only a ruse to hang out with Mike, as Dallas is alive, but closed the club and left all the other dancers, including Big Dick Richie (Joe Manganiello), Ken (Matt Bomer), Tito (Adam Rodriguez), and emcee Tobias (Gabriel Inglesias), out of a job. The boys decide to go on one last ride with a road trip to Myrtle Beach in South Carolina to perform at a stripper convention. Mike decides to join them, as he realizes his life has become more of a grind than dry humping lonely women in a dark room.

The sequel to “Magic Mike” came together quickly, even as the original was being released. “We want to flip the script and make it bigger,” Tatum said during a Glamour Twitter takeover in 2012. Soderbergh handed the reigns to Gregory Jacobs, who worked with Soderbergh on many projects previously as a second unit director. Soderbergh worked on “XXL” as a cinematographer (billed as his pseudonym Peter Andrews), keeping the sequel visually consistent with the original while remaining attractive, whether it’s filming in a moody, erotic Southern mansion or using natural light for an outdoor night scene.

But while the photography is engaging, what really stands out about “Magic Mike XXL” is letting its male protagonists lower their guards to make powerful connections to each other. The men of Hollywood cinema are almost exclusively hammered into a masculine ideal of being rugged, durable, relaxed, charming, and witty. To express any emotion other than dry reserve is to signal weakness to the audience. I can’t think of a better scene that summarizes this philosophy than in “The Empire Strikes Back,” as the rogue space pilot Han Solo (Harrison Ford), facing certain death in front of the love of his life, looks her in the eye as she declares her love for him. He cooly replies, “I know.” The male heroes of Hollywood never let you see them sweat. When “Magic Mike XXL” makes them do it figuratively and literally, it feels revolutionary. 

But the perfectly chiseled and physical specimens of “Magic Mike XXL” are facing nothing but doubt and regret. They are all out of jobs (or are struggling with gigs on their own) and have no idea what their future looks like even a week from now. (Everyone in 2020 screaming, “SAME!”) The only thing they have at this moment is each other and a weekend to pay one final tribute to a job they’re leaving behind. Mike already thinks he’s left this life back, but as he spends another late night working on furniture listening to Spotify, his theme song “Pony” by Ginuwine comes on. For the first time in what it feels like years, Mike can’t help himself but express his mood through dance. 

Over the past few months, who amongst us hasn’t busted a move over our favorite song as we live through isolation? Of course, none of us can do it as well as Tatum, the closest thing we’re going to get to a modern-day Gene Kelly and whose dancing ability is a natural special effect, but we’re all working with what we got, right?

Mike joins the crew on their trip, but men being men, they are all still frontin.’ All of them are doing OK, and they have plans for the future. But as it happens when six men are stuck in a frozen yogurt food truck for several hours at a time, their truth comes out. When Mike suggests everybody doing a new routine at the convention, Dick reveals that he’s terrified of change. The boys challenge Dick to an impromptu dance at a convenience store to make the dower clerk there smile. Still, Dick, physically the ideal personification of a man, continues to doubt himself.

And then the Backstreet Boys’ “I Want It That Way,” everyone’s favorite secret pop song, comes on the store audio system. Tentative at first, Dick’s routine gradually grows bigger and bigger as the clerk impassively looks on. The climax of the scene comes as Dick stops, casually asks, “How much for the Cheetos and water?” and the girl breaks into a grin as the song bridge reaches its crescendo. The guys watching outside erupt with the kind of enthusiasm you save for the home team scoring the winning touchdown at the Super Bowl, and frankly, our hearts do too.

What’s fantastic about the store scene, perhaps one of the best moments of the cinematic decade, is that we see the emotional vulnerability of these men, but never minimizes it. Instead, they hold each other up with unconditional support and become better for it. They may have been on edge at the beginning of the trip, but from here out, they are together. The future remains uncertain, but they are finding the courage to face it by embracing themselves. They want it that way.

As the Kings continue their road trip to the convention, they make a couple of other connections along the way. Mike has them stop to see Rome (Jada Pinkett Smith, never better than here), his former “boss,” who has converted a Southern mansion to a classy and chill operation that treats the clientele like queens. Rome is sexy, sassy, and outta fucks when Mike rolls up.

“Shit don’t change, huh,” she tells Mike, casually affirming the impenetrability of the male persona. “Always gotta lead with a joke before you ask for what you want.”

Rome lets us in on what women are looking for in the unspoken contract between them and these male entertainers. They want to feel something that’s been missing in their lives, where they can feel uninhibited, safe, attractive, and special. The Kings know they have to provide this for their customers, but it took them some time to realize they needed it for themselves too.

By the time the Kings arrive in Myrtle Beach, they have all gone on their own personal journeys to say goodbye to their past, and embrace how they can identify themselves in the future. Each dancer performs to their own unique emotions and talents, which finally concludes with Mike and Malik (one of Rome’s dancers, played by Stephen “tWitch” Boss) working an elaborate, complicated number where they play mirror images of each other with syncretized lap dance moves. From a pure production perspective, the imaginative stagecraft, choreography, and performance in this conclusion would be impressive enough. It’s also an homage to the iconic mirror scene from 1933’s “Duck Soup,” which, I’m sorry, are you fucking kidding me? THIS MOVIE ALSO GETS OFF FILM BUFFS WHO LOVE THE MARX BROTHERS. ALL HAIL THESE KINGS AND QUEENS. How can you not leave this movie feeling better about life?

I can’t compare myself to the Kings of Tampa physically, but I can relate to them emotionally. We’re living in an era where every week drops a whole new, “Now fucking what?” problem on our doorsteps, and it’s taking all of our emotional energies to just get through the day. As this shit gets worse, the toxic people around us keep raising their voices in public, social media, and in the news. They’ll keep pushing the edges to tell you that they’re better, tougher, and smarter than you as if their bullshit wasn’t a massive part of the problem most of the time.

These Kings and Queens of “Magic Mike XXL” just want to know how you’re doing, buddy? They don’t know what the future looks like either, but they’ve got some quality drinks and good company while we’re here now.

Lots of people skipped “Magic Mike XXL” in theaters, probably because of the male stripper bit, but that ain’t nothing but a mistake. Rare is the movie that invites its audience in for soul affirmation while treating all of its characters with respect and dignity. Everyone here just feels human in all the ways that matter, and connect in the ways we want to reach out to others. By the time DJ Khaled’s “All I Do Is Win” plays out the film, I want nothing more than to pour a beverage and hang with Mike, Dick, Rome, Tarzan, Nancy, Zoe, and everyone else. They all find ways to use their vulnerability as a strength, and that’s a vibe I can dig throughout 2020.