“There is absolutely nothing sexier than a body in motion,” says Hannah (Juliette Motamed) during the tail end of Magic Mike’s Last Dance. Director Steven Soderbergh returns to the director’s chair to put that quote to the test during a thirty-minute dance sequence where perfectly constructed bodies move on the stage gloriously, at times drenched in neon colors, black and white, and, finally, rain. It gives fans of Magic Mike XXL what they’ve wanted from the start, but Soderbergh brings down the intensity for most of the runtime and instead constructs a romance between Mike Lane (Channing Tatum) and Maxandra “Max” Mendoza (Salma Hayek Pinault).
After the COVID-19 pandemic, Mike and his friends lose their furniture business, and our titular protagonist is off bartending at Max’s charity event. The two immediately hit it off, and Mike gives her a night she will never forget. After saying a variation of, “I don’t do what you think I do anymore,” he does exactly what she thinks he does, setting the tone for the rest of the romance. Max immediately flies Mike to London to “readapt” a controversial (fictitious) play titled “Isabel Ascendant” into a steamy show featuring hot men moving their bodies, with Max even stating that “This show is not about getting dick…only.”
It’s there that Magic Mike’s Last Dance soars. Sure, Soderbergh and screenwriter Reid Carolin strip away the “brotherhood” aspects of Magic Mike and Magic Mike XXL, with Mike and his friends (played by Matt Bomer, Joe Manganiello, Kevin Nash, and Adam Rodriguez) in favor of a romance. However, in Magic Mike’s Last Dance, Soderbergh presents Mike living in a post-COVID world, having moved away from male stripping for a long time. He still hangs out with some of his friends on Zoom, but he’s moved on from that world until he gives Max “a magical night,” which goes from dry humping on the dinner table to performing a pull up with Max sitting on Mike’s knees blindfolded. That leads him to London, where he slowly falls in love with Max, who finally shows him what kind of artist he’s always been, even as he tries to put his past behind him.
It’s the classic “one last ride” film that is vastly different from previous installments in favor of a more human story, where the larger-than-life protagonist is at their most vulnerable. It’s the Magic Mike version of Logan, where our hero goes for “one last dance,” hoping he’ll do some good, but learns more about himself in the process than he had previously imagined.
Soderbergh knows how talented Tatum is. His comedic timing is terrific in scenes where he knows he’s way over his head (such as talking to Max’s rich friends about “Isabel Ascendant,” not knowing anything about the source material). Still, it’s during the film’s dramatic scenes where he shines the most. Tatum solidified his career by starring in the 21 Jump Street films (and he’s very funny in both installments), however, he’s a severely underrated dramatic actor. The way he moves his eyes with immense charm in front of Hayek as tensions rise between the two conveys the emotions needed to invest the audience in their romance.
Thandiwe Newton was initially playing Max until she left the project 11 days after filming began, but it truly seems the role was made for Hayek. She anchors the movie’s emotions, so her romance with Mike is believable and purely romantic. Tatum and Hayek are a match made in heaven and their chemistry fires on all cylinders. Her dancing with him feels freeing for her and the audience. All Max wants to do is escape her life. When she meets Mike, she’s found the perfect way to escape it to new horizons. But what starts as fantasy becomes deep love, encapsulating the film’s final dance scene.
The romance elevates the film’s climactic dance scene, where Mike celebrates his love for Max by putting on a show. Fans who were disappointed at the lack of stripteasing for most of the movie can’t complain when that scene occurs. Soderbergh took his time for Magic Mike’s Last Dance but satisfyingly concludes the trilogy by having Mike’s career ending on a high with his newfound friends and someone who loves him for who he is. Like Ocean’s Twelve (and Thirteen), I’m fairly confident that Magic Mike’s Last Dance will be reevaluated in a few years as one of Soderbergh’s best motion pictures. No one crafts a film like Soderbergh or stages a body in motion quite like him. And there is absolutely nothing more cinematic than a body in motion. Enough said.
