Whilst the first Magic Mike was an unexpected success, the sequel takes a different route and hits some roadbumps along the way. The fairly standard and reasonably tight dramatic narrative course taken by the original is replaced here by a more free-form road movie, with the result that it lurches episodically from one scenario to the next and shoehorns in some of the 'male entertainer' action along the way in a less-than convincing manner. Tatum is a solid centre for the movie as expected, Joe Manganiello is often hilarious, and Jada Pinkett Smith eats up the screen whenever she appears. There is self-aware humour that occasionally comes across as crass, and whilst the first film considered male objectification and exploitation, here the focus is much more on the seemingly witless (female) punters, at times distasteful in its treatment of the gay community and larger-size women. There are plenty of good, enjoyable 'buddy' moments, and Manganiello's garage-store scene and his reaction to a Twilight tribute are priceless, but XXL is not as strong as the original.
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