Magic Mike XXL

[projekktor id=’19747′]

Magic Mike XXL, directed by Gregory Jacobs, is the sequel to 2012’s Magic Mike. Jacobs was a producer and first assistant director under Steven Soderbergh on the first film, so he’s pretty familiar with the series. Channing Tatum returns to star as Mike while the supporting cast includes Matt Bomer, Joe Manganiello, Kevin Nash, Adam Rodriguez, Gabriel Iglesias, Andie MacDowell, Amber Heard, Jada Pinkett Smith, Elizabeth Banks, and Donald Glover.

Picking up the story three years after Mike bowed out of the stripper life at the top of his game, “Magic Mike XXL” finds the remaining Kings of Tampa likewise ready to throw in the towel. But they want to do it their way: burning down the house in one last blow-out performance in Myrtle Beach, and with legendary headliner Magic Mike sharing the spotlight with them. On the road to their final show, with whistle stops in Jacksonville and Savannah to renew old acquaintances and make new friends, Mike and the guys learn some new moves and shake off the past in surprising ways.

So how does this story differ from the first film’s? According to Tatum, “The first movie was more about him rejecting that life because he feared maybe it was holding him back from seeing what else he could do. But now that he’s stepped away and some time has passed, he remembers everything that was good and cool and fun about it and, most of all, about the guys who were on that wild adventure with him. It might not have been perfect and neither were they, but he loved those guys and they had some great times.”

Magic Mike XXL is rated 14A.