Photo by: Charlie Martin

Overall rating: 2.5/5

Magic Mike’s Last Dance is a 2023 drama and comedy film that was released on Feb. 10. It completes the Magic Mike trilogy, the other two films being Magic Mike (2012), and Magic Mike XXL (2015). 

The movie was directed by American film director Steven Soderbergh American film producer Reid Carolin provided the screenplay. American actor Channing Tatum stars as “Mike Lane,” and Mexican-American actress Salma Hayek plays “Maxandra Mendoza.” 

Magic Mike’s Last Dance has good directing. The movie has several dance scenes, and good camera placement and capturing different angles really brought them to life. The writing is hard to critique because, for one, this is the third installment in a trilogy, and the story therefore correlates with the first two movies. Fans of the Magic Mike’s franchise might have different opinions on how Mike Lane’s life has turned out. 

Also, a few minutes into the movie, it’s clear this is just a lighthearted, silly, Friday night relaxation-type movie, and probably not something that’s going to win the best motion picture award at film award shows. Haven’t said that, the comedy is good, but the story is too simple to fulfill that “drama” genre. Also, an interesting sub-plot would’ve been good for the film; a lot of scenes are only of the two main characters.

The soundtracks in the dance scenes are used effectively. They bring out the essence of the scenes and they are captivating, but that mostly comes in the later parts of the film. Early into the film, some scenes just aren’t good at retaining the viewer’s attention, much of it shouldn’t have made the film’s final cut.

Tatum is very natural in his portrayal of Mike Lane. He embodies the role very nicely in the film. Hayek’s portrayal of Maxandra Mendoza is also very good. Her experience as an actress makes her acting effortless. 

Overall, Magic Mike’s Last Dance is a film that doesn’t lead too much on one side of the good and bad spectrum. It’s the kind of movie one tries out after scouring for something to watch, and it’s not bad enough to click off and watch something else, but also not good enough to give one’s undivided attention to, for instance, a lot of boring dialogue were suddenly followed by gravitating dance scenes.