10 Recent Movies Nobody Saw Coming

8. Magic Mike's Last Dance

Hypnotic Ben Affleck
Warner Bros.

When Magic Mike's Last Dance was first announced, the entire world expected yet another movie centered around Mike (Channing Tatum) and his stripper pals as they seemingly enjoyed one final go-around on the stripper pole.

And of all the franchises to cling to the prevailing formula, Magic Mike would surely be right at the very top. Meld character drama with bro comedy and sexy stripping and you've got a license to print money.

But for the threequel Steven Soderbergh ill-advisedly bucked the formula, pushing the stripping to the back-burner for a deeply strange globe-trotting dramedy in which Mike flies to London to help a socialite (Salma Hayek Pinault) produce a stage play.

From the mostly underwhelming stripping scenes to the near-total absence of Mike's pals - their roles reduced to a single pixelated Zoom call - and odd choice to have the movie be narrated by a child, it's a film chock with head-scratching decisions few could've ever expected.

Though some lauded Soderbergh for not simply giving the audience what they wanted, again, this is a movie that should've done exactly that.

As a result, Magic Mike's Last Dance received wildly mixed reviews from critics and flopped at the box office, and it's honestly tough not to call that outcome both totally deserved and completely avoidable.

Contributor
Contributor

Stay at home dad who spends as much time teaching his kids the merits of Martin Scorsese as possible (against the missus' wishes). General video game, TV and film nut. Occasional sports fan. Full time loon.