Early in his career, he seemed like a disposable dance-movie type-electric on the floor, a block of wood off it-but he’s grown more confident and self-possessed, and able to play dumb with a wink in comedies. It’s also a victory lap for Channing Tatum, who has now fully succeeded at bending the world to his will. These are entertainment professionals, after all, and the audience is in good hands. More than the first Magic Mike, XXL is a loose, shambling party bus-or party organic fro-yo food truck, to be more exact-and everyone’s having a great time. They have fun together, and they bring the fun wherever they turn up, whether it’s a drag show, a private club, a parlor room in old-money Charleston, or a humble mini-mart.
Pleasure is their business, and they can’t help giving it whether they’re off the clock or on. Richie bristles at the label “stripper,” but Magic Mike XXL, the irresistible sequel to Steven Soderbergh’s 2012 sleeper hit, means to put the emphasis on the word “entertainer.” These are men who cannot merely bump-and-grind their way through events-though they’re certainly excellent at doing that-but who have to be disarming, silly, and self-deprecating, too, more a full-scale charm offensive than a desultory striptease.
Big Dick Richie (Joe Manganiello), one of a crew of dancers taking the scenic route to a convention in Myrtle Beach, makes this distinction to a group of middle-aged women who are turning the dancers’ visit into a wine kegger. They aren’t male strippers, they’re male entertainers.