Ensign Lestat's Film Log 19/10/15
Sitting down to watch 'Magic Mike XXL' I had no hopes, aspirations or expectations. I watched it to
have an informed opinion on the matter and that's pretty much all I got out of it. That and this log, of course.
The first 'Magic Mike' film was the most anticipated event of its year (I think). The majority of female viewers were excited that Hollywood was finally creating a film with their needs in mind. Article after article poured over the eventual outcome of the film and teasers were awaited with baited breath.
When eventually the film came out, my sister's premonition of a male stripper film featuring more naked women came true. Not only that, the cast lacked diversity, the film lacked dance moves, a storyline or anything remotely expected of this new-agey thing called 'male stripper movie'.
The film left such an awful taste in my mouth I needed desperately to purge myself of it by binge-watching other non-stripper-related entertainment. Hollywood's idea of what women want and what women actually want are parallel lines that will never meet.
'XXL' tries its best to rid itself of the cobwebs of its predecessor, while still being burdened by its lack of knowledge about its primary audience.
Mike (Channing Tatum) is now working full-time as a carpenter with a grand total of one employee. He gets a call telling him that someone's died, we assume it's Matthew McConaughey's character from the first film. Anyway, Mike runs off to meet the guys from the club and promptly finds out the dude isn't dead, but he's not around either (McConaughey was too expensive to get a role in this film). The other strippers just came up with an excuse to bring him over and coax him into joining their stripper expo.
Much cell-phone throwing later (no, I'm not kidding about this), they get high and crash their trailer. In need of a new MC, they meet up with Jada Pinkett Smith and her band of exotic dancers. She has a house full of them and they're in this midst of servicing 100s of enraptured ladies. It's... pretty weird to be honest. The scene goes on and on and on, but none of the dancing is much like dancing. But, I'll get to that in a minute.
The entire team and Jada then turn up at the expo to compete. This entire, poorly-paced sequence culminates with the group looking beatifically at the sky afterwards, to some balladic tune or something. Really, the whole thing is a bit of a mess.
Maybe not all women want to see gorgeous naked men enthrall staged audiences with spectacular dance moves, but in a world where we can count the number of female-pandering English language films on one hand, it's refreshing to come across a film that sexualises men while not demeaning them (that never happens with female characters, by the way).
'XXL' doesn't reach that target. It never feels like it even tries. Throughout its rather overlong course, the film felt constantly like it had important parts of it missing; that somewhere in the studio backroom, significant motivators and character development got left behind by accident.
Directed by Gregory Jacobs, this film often feels like an extended music video - a music video that wants to tell a story but has to throw in some dancing as well. It's better than the first, but it's hardly as improvement.
The rare few who enjoyed the first film, will be bitterly disappointed by this sequel, because there is zero nudity here. One brief glimpse of of Joe Manganiello (Richie, I think), but that's it. There's no female nudity either, which is a huge plus.
Add to that, there are only 2 thonged numbers, despite several dance sequences. The film tries to be different, but goes about it the incorrect way.
In one of its earliest scenes, the guys stand about discussing the expo while a faceless, helmet-clad woman in a tiny bikini weaves between them, behaving in an unfathomable fashion. Watching this scene, my head went into red alert, absolutely sure this film was going the same way as its predecessor - accessorising male exotic dancers with naked objectified women. Thanks Soderbergh. Not.
That is not a precursor to what's to come, thanfully. The film tries its hardest to 'respect' women - in the best possible way that the writer/director knows. Women of all sizes and different races are seen enjoying the entertainment. Women of different ages are seen enjoying it too, as well as one older lady bagging a younger hunky fella.
The dudes in the film are written as characters who absolutely love what they do, and also do it for the contentment they see in their audiences' faces. The script steers clear of cliched sexism. At one point, Mike challenges Richie to embrace his new moves all in an effort to make a bored cashier smile. Yup, that's it - just get her to smile. He does so with an extended, suggestive dance sequence, which would actually have made me laugh my head off, but the cashier only grinned.
Later, when the two lovelier members of the cast, Matt Bomer and Donald Glover bond over music and ambition, they too reinforce the statement that their job as entertainers is only worth it because of how they make the audience feel.
However, the film-makers can't seem to imagine a world where women enjoy a range of entertainment for a range of reasons. Here's an article from The Mary Sue that clearly states all the many problems with this film. I don't agree with all her points, but for the most part, the writer provides an eye-opener on the continued problems of the film.
As mentioned in the article linked above, the film has no clue what women might enjoy as entertainment. The dance moves on display throughout this film are nothing more than simulated sex moves. Like, what? I cringed through most of it because that's not dancing - I'm not moved to get my groove on. Daftest thing I've ever seen.
As well as those poor excuses for moves, whenever Mike (or any of the dancers, but mostly Mike) partners up with one of the unsuspecting audience members, he proceeds to flex in every possible direction unknown to man. There's no way most ladies enjoying a show would be that flexible. They would have broken their necks, torn some ligaments or worse. Seriously, it's the stupidest thing - and only a mindless director with no interest in learning what is really considered appealing could have included that. Most impractical. Again, this is why the majority of the film feels like a music video.
The best thing in this film is Jada. And this is hard for me to say, because I've never quite liked her. But ever since I saw her turn in 'Gotham' as Fish Mooney, I've been floored. She continues her confident, boss moves in this film. She's a born MC, and her character Rome should really get a film all to herself. She has a presence that is undeniable. Who knew Jada could be a scene-stealer, but she is. She's the sole reason for sitting through that overlong expo (I keep calling it expo because I've forgotten it's actually term) scene.
But, she's criminally underused, as are the heavyweights Andie MacDowell and Elizabeth Banks. I'm surprised these actors took on the curtailed roles they did, but I guess they got something out of it.
To reiterate the pointlessness of this film, the female lead from the first film is swapped out for a replica. Where her predecessor was a surly vapid blonde, Amber Heard's character is a hippy vapid blonde. Subtle difference. In a film hell-bent on showcasing diverse sizes, the main women are all slender unconventional beauties. Studios don't try very hard to be inclusive, do they?
Going back to the expo scene, it felt like the director had no clue what he wanted to do with it. Jada has the most significant role in that scene, geeing up the audience for the many acts from Mike's group. But the moves continue to be unimpressive. We watch each character do his part, but there's no rhythm to it. I also don't know why that poor audience member was tied up in that uncomfortable fashion for so long. And why Heard's character is dragged on stage when she's clearly not interested.
We also don't know what the point of this entire exercise is. Do they win? Is there something to win? Why go through all this trouble if you're just going to disband and quit the industry?
Generally, the film is watchable - but that is an understatement, considering I expected this one to be a disaster. It's better than the first because of it's attempted consideration for women and lack of objectification (don't get me started on that scene between Bomer and Alex Pettyfer in the first film, I will burst a blood vessel). I also like that most of the main characters from the group in this film are the characters of colour who were ignored in the first film.
The film loses points however for doing its best not to be a stripper film. Case in point, what's the point of a diverse cast including Donald Glover if all he's going to do is sing. Not complaining about his singing, because it was probably one of the greatest gems to come out of this film. He sings Bruno Mars better than Mars himself. It's outstanding! I love his voice. He needs to make an album, any album, ASAP.
He's joined in his warbles by Matt Bomer. Bomer was pretty much ignored in the first film (because Soderbergh is an idiot). He's beautiful and the larger role does him good. He doesn't do his character much justice, though. His acting was iffy at times - which was shocking, considering he's really great in everything else I've seen him in.
I don't think Hollywood film-makers will ever understand what is required of a diverse film or what it will take to cater to a diverse audience. They have a narrow notion of what should be appealing, which surprises me as this is the studio's second go on the subject-matter. 'XXL' is better than its predecessor, but that doesn't make it a better or more intelligent film.
 |
| Wow, nothing magical in this Photoshop job, I have to say. |
Sitting down to watch 'Magic Mike XXL' I had no hopes, aspirations or expectations. I watched it to
have an informed opinion on the matter and that's pretty much all I got out of it. That and this log, of course.
The first 'Magic Mike' film was the most anticipated event of its year (I think). The majority of female viewers were excited that Hollywood was finally creating a film with their needs in mind. Article after article poured over the eventual outcome of the film and teasers were awaited with baited breath.
When eventually the film came out, my sister's premonition of a male stripper film featuring more naked women came true. Not only that, the cast lacked diversity, the film lacked dance moves, a storyline or anything remotely expected of this new-agey thing called 'male stripper movie'.
The film left such an awful taste in my mouth I needed desperately to purge myself of it by binge-watching other non-stripper-related entertainment. Hollywood's idea of what women want and what women actually want are parallel lines that will never meet.
'XXL' tries its best to rid itself of the cobwebs of its predecessor, while still being burdened by its lack of knowledge about its primary audience.
Mike (Channing Tatum) is now working full-time as a carpenter with a grand total of one employee. He gets a call telling him that someone's died, we assume it's Matthew McConaughey's character from the first film. Anyway, Mike runs off to meet the guys from the club and promptly finds out the dude isn't dead, but he's not around either (McConaughey was too expensive to get a role in this film). The other strippers just came up with an excuse to bring him over and coax him into joining their stripper expo.
Much cell-phone throwing later (no, I'm not kidding about this), they get high and crash their trailer. In need of a new MC, they meet up with Jada Pinkett Smith and her band of exotic dancers. She has a house full of them and they're in this midst of servicing 100s of enraptured ladies. It's... pretty weird to be honest. The scene goes on and on and on, but none of the dancing is much like dancing. But, I'll get to that in a minute.
The entire team and Jada then turn up at the expo to compete. This entire, poorly-paced sequence culminates with the group looking beatifically at the sky afterwards, to some balladic tune or something. Really, the whole thing is a bit of a mess.
 |
| This scene lasts one second. |
'XXL' doesn't reach that target. It never feels like it even tries. Throughout its rather overlong course, the film felt constantly like it had important parts of it missing; that somewhere in the studio backroom, significant motivators and character development got left behind by accident.
Directed by Gregory Jacobs, this film often feels like an extended music video - a music video that wants to tell a story but has to throw in some dancing as well. It's better than the first, but it's hardly as improvement.
 |
| Joe Manganiello |
Add to that, there are only 2 thonged numbers, despite several dance sequences. The film tries to be different, but goes about it the incorrect way.
In one of its earliest scenes, the guys stand about discussing the expo while a faceless, helmet-clad woman in a tiny bikini weaves between them, behaving in an unfathomable fashion. Watching this scene, my head went into red alert, absolutely sure this film was going the same way as its predecessor - accessorising male exotic dancers with naked objectified women. Thanks Soderbergh. Not.
That is not a precursor to what's to come, thanfully. The film tries its hardest to 'respect' women - in the best possible way that the writer/director knows. Women of all sizes and different races are seen enjoying the entertainment. Women of different ages are seen enjoying it too, as well as one older lady bagging a younger hunky fella.
The dudes in the film are written as characters who absolutely love what they do, and also do it for the contentment they see in their audiences' faces. The script steers clear of cliched sexism. At one point, Mike challenges Richie to embrace his new moves all in an effort to make a bored cashier smile. Yup, that's it - just get her to smile. He does so with an extended, suggestive dance sequence, which would actually have made me laugh my head off, but the cashier only grinned.
 |
| Matt Bomer - this time he's on screen. |
However, the film-makers can't seem to imagine a world where women enjoy a range of entertainment for a range of reasons. Here's an article from The Mary Sue that clearly states all the many problems with this film. I don't agree with all her points, but for the most part, the writer provides an eye-opener on the continued problems of the film.
As mentioned in the article linked above, the film has no clue what women might enjoy as entertainment. The dance moves on display throughout this film are nothing more than simulated sex moves. Like, what? I cringed through most of it because that's not dancing - I'm not moved to get my groove on. Daftest thing I've ever seen.
As well as those poor excuses for moves, whenever Mike (or any of the dancers, but mostly Mike) partners up with one of the unsuspecting audience members, he proceeds to flex in every possible direction unknown to man. There's no way most ladies enjoying a show would be that flexible. They would have broken their necks, torn some ligaments or worse. Seriously, it's the stupidest thing - and only a mindless director with no interest in learning what is really considered appealing could have included that. Most impractical. Again, this is why the majority of the film feels like a music video.
The best thing in this film is Jada. And this is hard for me to say, because I've never quite liked her. But ever since I saw her turn in 'Gotham' as Fish Mooney, I've been floored. She continues her confident, boss moves in this film. She's a born MC, and her character Rome should really get a film all to herself. She has a presence that is undeniable. Who knew Jada could be a scene-stealer, but she is. She's the sole reason for sitting through that overlong expo (I keep calling it expo because I've forgotten it's actually term) scene.
 |
| The real magic is right here |
To reiterate the pointlessness of this film, the female lead from the first film is swapped out for a replica. Where her predecessor was a surly vapid blonde, Amber Heard's character is a hippy vapid blonde. Subtle difference. In a film hell-bent on showcasing diverse sizes, the main women are all slender unconventional beauties. Studios don't try very hard to be inclusive, do they?
Going back to the expo scene, it felt like the director had no clue what he wanted to do with it. Jada has the most significant role in that scene, geeing up the audience for the many acts from Mike's group. But the moves continue to be unimpressive. We watch each character do his part, but there's no rhythm to it. I also don't know why that poor audience member was tied up in that uncomfortable fashion for so long. And why Heard's character is dragged on stage when she's clearly not interested.
We also don't know what the point of this entire exercise is. Do they win? Is there something to win? Why go through all this trouble if you're just going to disband and quit the industry?
Generally, the film is watchable - but that is an understatement, considering I expected this one to be a disaster. It's better than the first because of it's attempted consideration for women and lack of objectification (don't get me started on that scene between Bomer and Alex Pettyfer in the first film, I will burst a blood vessel). I also like that most of the main characters from the group in this film are the characters of colour who were ignored in the first film.
 |
| Hidden talent! |
He's joined in his warbles by Matt Bomer. Bomer was pretty much ignored in the first film (because Soderbergh is an idiot). He's beautiful and the larger role does him good. He doesn't do his character much justice, though. His acting was iffy at times - which was shocking, considering he's really great in everything else I've seen him in.
I don't think Hollywood film-makers will ever understand what is required of a diverse film or what it will take to cater to a diverse audience. They have a narrow notion of what should be appealing, which surprises me as this is the studio's second go on the subject-matter. 'XXL' is better than its predecessor, but that doesn't make it a better or more intelligent film.
Comments