Magic Mike XXL: Channing Tatum still has all the right moves

REVIEW: Channing Tatum’s chest is a long time coming but there’s some disposable fun to be had before Magic Mike XXL drops its strides.

Magic Mike XXL (MA15+)

Director: Gregory Jacobs (Criminal)

Starring: Channing Tatum, Joe Manganiello, Matt Bomer, Jada Pinkett Smith, Andie MacDowell, Amber Heard.

Rating: ***

Delivering upon gyrate expectations

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Both a sizeable and surprise hit in 2012, Magic Mike found considerable depth, meaning and heart in the most unlikely of places: behind the bronzed, waxed and muscle-bound chest of a male stripper.

Now here comes the follow-up, which instead of bolting a simple 2 on to the title promises an extra-extra-large cinematic experience.

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If it’s simply he-things in G-strings that you’re after in Magic Mike XXL, let me tell you right now you’re going to have to wait until well into the closing act to get to the good stuff.

It is then, and only then, that the multiple truckloads of guy candy you have been expecting will finally be delivered. To the seedy stage of a national male strippers’ convention in Tampa, Florida, to be exact.

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To get there, you’re going to have to patiently sit through a pointedly talky, if rather aimless road movie, which rounds up most of the old Magic Mike gang for one last gripping and groping group disrobing.

Most of the old Magic Mike gang? Well, Matthew McConaughey’s character - the troupe’s self-appointed spiritual leader Dallas - is nowhere to be seen. Same goes for a few others. Don’t worry. You won’t really miss any of them.

For Magic Mike XXL is all about pinning everything on the astonishing moves, impressive physique and subtle acting smarts of Channing Tatum. Turns out to be a winning play for what might have been a losing sequel.

What little actual story there is in the movie picks up with Tatum’s Mike now working for himself as a furniture maker. Times have gotten tough since his glory days as a superior syncopated power-thruster.

Some of Mike’s old buddies have also tried earning a conventionally-clothed dollar. They haven’t really set the world on fire either.

So when someone gets the wild idea to get the gang back together to get it all off like the good old days, Mike is hardly about to say no.

Hitting the highway in a decrepit frozen-yoghurt truck, Mike and his cohorts — a likeable enough collection of mid-cast hangers-on from the first movie — pause occasionally to interact with the neon-lit nightlife and womanly wildlife encountered en route.

A stop-off at an upmarket strip joint for amorous African-American ladies (where Mike once worked under the alias ‘White Chocolate’) finds its brassy owner Rome (Jada Pinkett Smith) joining Mike’s entourage as their new stage MC.

Another detour places Mike’s mates at a house party populated by wine-swilling cougars (led by Andie MacDowell in a memorable turn) who wouldn’t mind a free show.

Oh, and now that Mike’s fiancee from the last movie is gone, he’s free to keep crossing paths with an artsy-angsty photographer (Amber Heard).

As you may have gathered by now, Magic Mike XXL is a far more disposable commodity than its ingenious predecessor.

However, it remains an enjoyably easy-going experience throughout. The random repartee shared by Mike and company really does grow on you after a while.

Better still, these sincerely sweet-natured fellas (all of whom you could safely take home to meet your mum) never once sink to the bro-tesque banter of those dirty dudes from that recent Entourage movie.