Magic Mike's Last Dance (2023)

"Mike Lane" (Channing Tatum) is now reduced to tending bar at exclusive functions when he encounters the wealthy "Max" (Salma Hayek). She offers him $6k for a private dance, and this moves her world sufficiently for her to take him to London with an unique offer that shocks her estranged husband, their adopted daughter (and the narrator) "Zadie" (Jemelia George) and amuses her rather sceptical factotum "Victor" (Ayub Khan-Din). What's wrong with this film, though, is that it attempts to inflict a plot on what has been essentially, up to now, a series of (very) soft porn dance routines that allow those of us to relish some fit young blokes parading their abs and asses whilst giving us a good old dose of raunch! This offers very little of that, even at the end - and as such the thing struggles to engage. There are the odd moments that raise a smile, but Hayek overacts dreadfully and Tatum spends too much of his time standing around with his hands in his pockets as both deliver a rather strained and contrived dialogue. Simply, not enough happens on stage here and, well, let's hope it is, indeed, his last dance - this is poor, sorry.