Review: ‘Magic Mike’ didn’t go full frontal — for the better

SARA DAVIDSON & HAMZA SAEED THRESHER STAFF

Walking into the theater in a threepiece suit and a beret, we were salivating. Sara was salivating thinking of the food we planned to grab afterwards. Hamza was salivating for some of that Magic Mike action. Neither of us had seen a Magic Mike movie before this one, hoping that the fresh perspective we could offer would lead to greater insights, or at least some surprises. What this actually led to was one hour and 52 minutes of laughter and Hamza attempting to dance along to scenes that had no business being danced to.

“Magic Mike: The Last Dance” centers around Mike (Channing Tatum), a former adult entertainer turned bartender and Max (Salma Hayek), a rich London socialite that seeks his help in directing a new

Eujayl said that RASA helped her find community at Rice.

“It really helped me … realize my Africanness, my Blackness,” Eujayl said. “I grew up in a place where there’s not a lot of Black people, not a lot of African people, so RASA was really important to me.”

Sean Nyangeri, a dancer and RASA committee lead, expressed a similar sentiment and said that it has been amazing showing his pride for African culture to the Rice community.

“The community is small, obviously, being at a [predominantly white institution], but it’s so close-knit, and everyone that’s involved in the organization is just very nice and willing to help out,” Nyangeri, a McMurtry College freshman, said. “There are a lot of people who have helped me along.”

Eujayl said that while the decision to host Africayé at Stude Concert Hall for the first time was primarily in anticipation of the Rice Memorial Center being torn down, she has always dreamed of having Africayé at Shepherd since it has a larger seating capacity. She said that the showcase will version of the play “Isabel Ascending.” She flies him out to London with her, which doubles as revenge against her cheating exhusband, and proceeds to promise Mike $60,000 (or perhaps pounds, currency is never specified). In exchange, he must turn this classic theater show into a strip delight, centered on women’s wants and needs. What ensues next is, of course, sexual tension, lots of stripping and the narrator, the couple’s daughter, getting kicked out of the theater for the water portion of the show. Any technical analysis of this movie will reveal the same sad and undeniable truth — this is not a great movie. From cheesy dialogue to an underwhelming ending, “Magic Mike” isn’t quite as enchanting as we hoped it would be. However, it is still very possible to have a good time watching this movie, and we did. Laughing, cringing and letting our mouths hit the floor, we still enjoyed use dynamic structures within the concert hall to tie into the theme.

“RASA as a club is always very ambitious, looking to be bigger and better every single year … It’s probably one of the first times the Shepherd School of Music has collaborated with a student organization on campus, particularly a Black student organization on campus … We’re hopefully able to host more people.” Eujayl said. “Last year, unfortunately, we had to turn some people away … It was kind of insane.”

Nyangeri is excited to celebrate African culture and hopes that viewers can see parts of it in a new light rather than with a one-sided view.

“Africayé’s not really just a cultural showcase, it’s a story about an African Student Association at a random college trying to come together to put on a cultural watching — no, experiencing — this movie, flaws and all. Unfortunately, it is still our solemn duty to perform a critical analysis despite that.

We know we shouldn’t expect a Stephen King-esque plot here, and we (mostly Hamza) were not watching this movie for the plot. Still, we were both very invested in the story until the second act. Despite our attempts to suspend belief, the plot begins to unravel under pressure, like a STEM student would in their first humanities class. However, the first dance was sensual showcase,” Nyangeri said. “It’s a musical showcasing a story, taking you through the lives of many different characters and how they’re trying to work together. You’re truly immersed in a story.”

Crystal Unegbu, a dance director and actor in Africayé, said that one of the main goals during the showcase’s creative process was to be inclusive and authentic to the different talents the RASA and Black community at Rice have.

“It was just a small group of us … writing the script, wanting to fit in everything … It was definitely a challenge, but we really try to incorporate everyone’s talents in the show through the little scenes in the musical,” Unegbu, a Hanszen College sophomore, said.

“Africa is one huge continent with different regions and so many distinct differences that