Thanks to 2012's movie, Magic Mike, Channing Tatum (21 Jump Street) not only became a household name but, because of the film, it also became widely known that he once made a living as a male stripper while living in Tampa, Fl. That same year Tatum was also named People Magazine's Sexiest Man Alive. Magic Mike gave female audiences the opportunity to sit in the dark with their friends hooting and howling as the characters on the screen suggestively gyrated their bodies while taking off their clothes. Three years later he continued that story with Magic Mike XXL and this past winter he starred as Mike once again in the third installment, Magic Mike's Last Dance. The latter film hits stores on Blu-ray and DVD this week.
Mike Lane (Tatum) has left the road and his stripper job behind to open a handmade furniture store. However, like so many others he had to close the business because COVID-19 led to a decrease in sales. Not wanting to go back to his previous job, he chose to become a bartender instead. However, while working at a charity event he is recognized by one of the women who later tells the host Max (Salma Hayek Pinault; Desperado) about Mike's talents. Separated, and fighting with her husband, Max asks Mike to dance for her and the next morning she offers him a $60,000 job to direct a stage production in London.
Tatum does what he does best in Magic Mike's Last Dance. He slowly slides his body up and down Pinault's making almost any woman in the room wish they were her at that moment. Pinault responds in kind and does her best to match Tatum's dancing abilities despite being thirteen years older than her co-star. They have some decent chemistry together and manage to make their "romance" somewhat believable. While Tatum's stripper co-stars only return for a short cameo, the new dancers (most of which came from the various Magic Mike live shows) are effective replacements who bring new moves to the dance floor. However, my favorite character is Victor, the butler/driver, played by Ayub Khan-Din (East is East).
What Magic Mike offers is some incredible genres of dance and includes some amazing performances. The final dance number - complete with water raining down - is sensual, sexual, intricate, intimate, and probably somewhat dangerous. Tatum stated they would have to bring the dancing up a notch and I feel they succeeded.
The 1080p resolution was the perfect mix for the movie. The video quality is sharp enough without being too detailed (which could have been problematic). True, the 2160p would have given the viewer more to digest, however, the Blu-ray quality offers a lot.
The DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 is even more important in this movie because with so many dance scenes the music needs to be sharp, otherwise, it would be distracting. Luckily, the audio holds up and, like so many other dance-related films, becomes its own character. The song choices are eclectic so you are never quite sure what to expect but the DTS-HD audio presents it beautifully on the Blu-ray Disc.
The combo pack comes with a digital download and Blu-ray and DVD discs. Unfortunately, it also only comes with 2 extras. The first is a 10-minute or so feature on the dancing and the second is one expanded scene that doesn't add much to the overall plot. I wonder if we will get more extras on a 4K or a "special edition" release down the road.
I'm not a big fan of age different couples, either in real life or in movies so I never fully embraced Max and Mike's relationship. However, I could have overlooked that flaw if the story had any kind of energy or made any kind of sense within the framework of the whole franchise. Sadly, it doesn't so, other than some amazing dancing, the movie doesn't work.
Grade: C-
