Magic Mike: MSN Review

Release date: 11 July 2012
Certificate: 15
Director: Steven Soderbergh
Starring: Channing Tatum, Alex Pettyfer, Cody Horn

What's the story?
Meet Magic Mike (Tatum): roofer, entrepreneur and exotic dancer. After he persuades Alex (Pettyfer) to join his troupe though, the latter's sister (Horn) makes him question his chosen career path.

What did we think?
The glistening pecs, dynamic dance routines and Matthew McConaughey's stand-out performance as flamboyant showman Dallas make Magic Mike a blast for both sexes. Dig deeper, however, and it's clear that Steven Soderbergh has some serious points to make about capitalism and the role of the artist in today's consumerist society.

The trailers and posters for Steven Soderbergh's latest have promised plenty of studly flesh, shiny six-packs and raunchy choreography. And Magic Mike certainly does not disappoint, providing enough well-oiled male nudity to keep your average audience at a Chippendales show happy for months.

But what, you may ask, has this to do with the Oscar-winning director of Traffic, Che and Erin Brockovich? Should he not have better things on his mind than penis pumps and tearaway Velcro chaps? True, this playful romp finds him more in the jaunty ball-park of Ocean's Eleven than his more highbrow outings. Even here, though, he gives us more than you might anticipate, turning Mike and his fellow disrobers into macho metaphors for a capitalist system built on exploitation and excess.

If there is food for thought here, though, it's 100% beefcake, liberally garnished with Tatum's boyish charm, some ace tunes and a brilliant turn from a burnished Matthew McConaughey as the wild-eyed, hard-headed leader of his Florida-based outfit. You also get some romance as well, Mike finding love with the disapproving sister of the gauche young stud (our own Alex Pettyfer) he coaxes into a G-string.

Now that's what we call the Full Monty!

Verdict: A sure thong.