Oh my word, this is among one of the WORST films I have ever seen! The lead actress has one expression throughout the film and she's a pretty terrible actress too. The scene on the island/beach where she's walking along the shore with Mike and "laughing" is just utter rubbish and not at all believable. To sum up, it's entirely rubbish and has absolutely no plot to it, just avoid it if you want to watch a decent film!

In anticipation for Logan Lucky this weekend, I've decided to look back at 2012, which in my opinion, is one of the best highlight reels for cinema of this century. From the top 3 highest grossing films (The Dark Knight Rises/Skyfall/The Avengers), to award winners (Argo/Silver Linings Playbook/Django Unchained), and the foreclosure of one of the worst book to film cash cows in recent history (Twilight: Breaking Dawn Part 2). That year; Magic Mike didn't score well with mainstream audiences due to it's marketable lead in a film that was more than just an estrogen catering piece, but received substantial reviews sitting at an 81% on Rotten Tomatoes.Much of the film's success lies on the shoulders of director Steven Soderbergh. He has been a huge inspiration to me in filmmaking. In 1989 at age 26, he was the youngest director to win the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival for Sex, Lies, and Videotape. His directorial style is transparent in his films that range from obscure art house pictures to critically acclaimed masterpieces, that like Magic Mike, thread art house and blockbuster mechanics together into a coherent whole.What me and many other people who enjoyed Magic Mike can agree with- the directing, lighting, editing, and soundtrack all fuse together.This film displays some of the best cinematography I've seen in modern film; vivid spotlights and camera angles centered around dances on the Fourth Of July and Mike flaunting his hip hop swagger in a black vest, Mike and his friends partying after a night of stripping and foreplay, and an ecstasy infused nightclub sequence- mixing a variety of color palettes and close up angles makes the environment of Tampa, Florida a breathing entity which is a skill Steven has been parading since Traffic.On the surface; it's a story we've seen before and but how it's executed when you consider how it's subject material has been bastardized by the likes of Showgirls and Striptease, that is something to be honored.Mike and Adam are the most real characters in the film, as they struggle with realizing their dreams and the perception of their lives as male strippers by other people, including Adam's sister Brooke.Matthew McConaughey fires on all cylinders as Dallas. Before his more depth driven work, he had been phoning it in with a thread of forgettable romantic comedies. Matthew strikes an equilibrium between the 2 personas. Aside from Cody Horn's mousy bored as hell performance as Brooke, the whole cast is a delight.Down to brass tacs; Magic Mike is an underrated masterpiece, and among Soderbergh's best, reminding us of an important lesson in quality movie watching- Don't judge a book by it's cover. Grade- A

Camryn Grimes was wonderful as the birthday girl. Never knew that she played Hugh Jackman's daughter in Swordfish (2001). Also Kate Easton was good in a short supporting role. To top the cherry, Alex Pettyfer who plays "The Kid" or Adam was the icing of the cake. His acting was unbelievable and priceless.Overall, a different movie experience.

A male stripper teaches a younger performer how to party, pick up women, and make easy money. Magic Mike is a film that nobody expected to turn out into a critical success but since it did and i have only reviewed the crappy sequel i said to myself "why don't i review the original as well?". Although it's not a masterpiece by any means Magic Mike is still a surprising well made film and if you go to rotten tomatoes you will see that both men and women enjoyed this. The performances and the dancing were pretty good, the characters were alright nothing spectacular although sometimes they get a bit annoying and the acting was good and i think that some people will enjoy it depending on their expectations (7/10)