Thank God the Last Act Saves the XXL

************這篇影評可能有雷************

回顧觀影當場一句話感想：一塊絕好的生鮮刺身被開水煮著吃了。＝食材的浪費～



"Alright, alright, alright", something you would not hear much in this LONG and WIDELY (XXL, wink wink) expected spinoff since 達拉斯 (the character played by McConaughey) is quickly ditched in the begging of the movie (oops) , I have finally watched this XXL tonight. Yeah! (hard for just two seconds), and "it was all right", which was my very instant feedback right after coming out of the cinema.

Don't get me wrong, it is funny, occasionally, and I laughed, occasionally and perhaps some would say, "It's a striper movie, what do you expect?" Well, first of all, it's "Male Entertainer" to address the characters professionally, accurately and consistently with the movie. Secondly, as a matter of fact, it is very ironic that this movie turns out to be rather different from what is usually expected from it, sadly in a bad way - it would be FANTASTIC if it follows the typical pattern and pace of unveiling a drama/comedy (the genre of this movie), the cinematography included. - The furniture dream did not work out for Mike in real life that he decided to reunite with the old crew (not exactly) for their perhaps-last ride to the stripping endeavour, yet shit happens along the way, but they finally made it.

Yes, the story line is as simple as that, which i'm afraid is exactly what freaks out the screenwriter. "It can't be simple like that",he/she may think. Therefore, excessive nonsense of events and dialogues are added here and there (on the road, in the van, in the living room, you name it), which makes it less Channing (lean) but more Gabriel (fluffy), if you know what i mean. In this case, the genre of this movie is distorted unfortunately, from a should-be drama/comedy to a semi-documentary/road-film.

Yes, documentary indeed, as clearly found not only in the way of story telling, yet also and especially in cinematography (use a bloody cane if you could, cut between more camera angles, drum up the magic, would you?). Somehow actually, I'm not surprised, and it can make sense if you consider that a legacy from its predecessor, directed by 史蒂夫n Soderbergh who is of course the Executive Producer of the fellow spinoff. HOWEVER (a big one), IT DOES NOT HAVE TO BE THAT WAY. As I couldn't help but share with my fellow viewer on the spot, "the movie feels like a fresh piece of great sashimi got boiled in water rather than served raw as righteously destined." In my two cents, a brilliant idea is shamefully not delivered to its full potential. Give it to Michael Bay, for cry out loud.

Educated by the screenplay books I've been reading, I'm lucky to come to realise it is essential to RESPECT the pattern and pace of each genre, if you are not genius enough like Quentin Tarantino to create your own, as they do make sense and work well. In this sense, I'd rather see the Magic Mike volume cheesily successful, than innovatively mediocure.

Well, to make ya all less disappointed, as said in my title of this review, the XXL was luckily saved by the last act/dance, not too bad.




To read my last review on FURY, which I'm more proud of, haha, here is the link - http://movie.douban.com/review/7161106/