10 Surprisingly Good Movie Sequels NOBODY Saw Coming

The first Magic Mike was one of the most unexpectedly genuinely great movies of the 2010s - guided by Steven Soderbergh's tight direction and the efforts of a game cast, it was a best case scenario movie that managed to offer up genuine heart and rich themes amid its flesh peddling.

But swiftly announced sequel Magic Mike XXL seemed like little more than a hard, fast cash-in on the original's surprise success, and without Soderbergh in the director's chair this time - replaced with Magic Mike's first assistant director Gregory Jacobs - it was easy to have low expectations.

While it certainly doesn't hit the "where the hell did that come from?" highs of its predecessor, Magic Mike XXL is nevertheless another joyous celebration of the male form that's elevated considerably by the chemistry of its scantily clad central cast.

Rather than making the classic sequel mistake of trying too hard to up the stakes, this is mostly content to be a brotastic hangout movie with some killer dance sequences - especially Joe Manganiello's impromptu Backstreet Boys-scored hose-down in a convenience store.

The less said about recent threequel Magic Mike's Last Dance, though, the better.