Burlesque, which featured female strippers, had Christina Aguilera’s incredible singing and Cher’s attitude. Magic Mike offers a peek at the seemingly perfect lives of men who strip not out of desperation as in The Full Monty, but for its rewards.

Channing Tatum is Magic Mike, the Star Show at the Xquisite Club.

As for authenticity, this is based loosely on babyfaced star Channing Tatum’s real-life experiences as a Chippendale before he became an actor of recent movies as The Vow and 21 Jump Street. In fact, Academy Award winning director, Steven Soderbergh even set the movie in Tampa, Florida, where Tatum actually worked. We’re not complaining, since the beautiful seaside scenery provides an alternative backdrop to the ridiculously muscled men who could make the topless Abercrombie & Fitch welcome line up any day.

The men from Magic Mike putting on a show.

With Alex Pettyfer who plays Adam a.k.a The Kid, a 19-year-old dropout Tatum takes under his wing, by his side, the 2 of them continue to prove that they’re not just pretty faces with their commendable acting chops. Tatum especially, segues neatly from flashy male stripper-dancer to the average American man trying to achieve his dreams in just a matter of frames.

While playing Mike allows Tatum to milk his good looks, sculpted body and dance moves for all their worth, he also convincingly portrays a man trying to make his mark in society. He may be “Magic Mike”, the star attraction of his club, but he isn’t able to secure a loan for his dream business of furniture making, even when he presents stacks of dollar bills to the bank. His situation underlies a sad and uncertain reality that unveils itself slowly.

5 other beefcakes, including Matthew McConaughey as their boss, complete the ensemble at Xquisite Club. They also provide the chemistry and the laughter, mostly using typical locker room male humour.

Dallas (Matthew McConaughey) takes a break after a long day of work.

The strippers, reversing typical gender roles, represent the fantasy husbands/boyfriends of their female audiences, but being directed by Soderbergh, who counts the Ocean’s Trilogy among his works, there’s more depth to Magic Mike. It tries to shine the light on the less glamourous and illegal sideline of peddling drugs that some of these exotic dancers get drawn into.

The inevitable love story to drive the plot forward comes in the form of Adam’s sister, Brooke, played by newcomer Cody Horn. Upright and stern, she disapproves of the stripping-for-money lifestyle, or possibly is jealous of all the feminine attention Mike is getting, but can’t help but be charmed by him. But when he fails to shield her brother from the drug taking temptations of the job, he threatens their budding relationship. Like her or hate her, she acts as an anchor to reality in their sex-filled, drug-crazed world.

Brooke (Cody Horn) is Tatum's love interest in the film.

Rated M18 in Singapore, the film was, as expected, sordid in parts. While there wasn’t any full-frontal nudity from the actors, the film was redundantly speckled with topless women and excessive behaviours. The male strippers’ enactments of sexual intercourse with their female customers also require quite a liberal mind to accept. You will either love it or frown in disgust.

While entertaining, the film, despite being nearly 2 hours long, also ended rather abruptly. There was no clear conclusion to what will happen to the young and once-directionless Adam. UrbanWire can only hope that he doesn’t go back to dealing drugs after incurring a debt of $10,000, paid off by kind-hearted Mike.

In all, watching Magic Mike is like making a visit to Xquisite Club. It’s good for groups of girls and hen nights to invoke some harmless screams and squeals. Tatum has also confirmed that a sequel is in the making so keep your eyes open, girls.

Movie: Magic Mike
Rating: 3.5/5
Release Date: Aug 9 (Singapore)
Duration: 110 mins
Language: English
Age Rating: M18/Coarse Language, Sexual References & Nudity
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Director: Steven Soderbergh
Cast: Channing Tatum, Alex Pettyfer, Matthew McConaughey\

Photo credits to http://www.hitfix.com

As the follow-up to the 2010 New York Times bestseller I Am Number Four (made into a 2011 movie starring Alex Pettyfer), The Power of Six has a reputation of otherworldly proportions to live up to. And with a gripping, fast-paced plot and genuinely fascinating glimpses into a highly-advanced society far removed from our own, it clearly stands up to the legacy of its predecessor.

For newcomers to the series, here’s a quick summary of the premise: when their home planet is invaded by another alien race, the Mogadorians, the entire Loric race is wiped out except for 9 children with latent special powers, called the Garde, and their 9 Cêpan, or mentors, who flee to Earth. Relentlessly pursued by the Mogadorians, the Garde are numbered from 1 through 9 and are protected by a charm that prevents them from being killed out of order. By the time I Am Number Four begins, 3 have already been killed, leaving Number Four (alias John Smith) vulnerable.

The Power of Six focuses on Seven (alias Marina) and her Cêpan Adelina, who’ve managed to find shelter at a convent in Spain after their ship landed on Earth. As Seven struggles to discover her Legacies and find a way to fight back against the Mogadorians, she finds her greatest adversary in Adelina, who’s been lulled into doubting her mission and turning her back on the Lorien prophecy by long years of peace and stability within the cloisters.

Legacies are the special powers members of the Garde develop in adolescence. One of Four's is lumen, the ability to produce light and heat from his hands

A parallel narrative follows Four’s life on the run after the death of his Cêpan, Henri, in the first instalment of the Lorien Legacies series. Accompanied by his human best friend Sam Goode and another member of the Garde, Six, he has to juggle keeping the police off their trail, honing his combat prowess, and dealing with his feelings for his girlfriend Sarah – and his deepening crush on Six.

Six, probably the most powerful Garde, has the power to control the elements.

With such an out-of-the-world premise, it’s no wonder the novel scores high on suspense and intrigue. From car chases and sinister stalkers to battles with bizarre, grotesque monsters and, of course, the vicious Mogadorians who haunt the Loriens’ dreams, The Power of Six is tautly plotted and wonderfully readable. It’s clear the writers – James Frey and Jobie Hughes, under the pseudonym Pittacus Lore (one of the elders of the Lorien civilisation) – are masters of creating and sustaining a reader’s interest.

Where it falls flat, unfortunately, is in characterisation. Many are 2-dimensional and fit easily into common archetypes – the femme fatale, the religious zealot, and the sidekick who’s constantly overshadowed by the hero. The dialogue feels stilted and unnatural, the love triangle is unconvincing, and character motivations are often left up to your own imagination.

Despite these flaws, The Power of Six is still an enjoyable read, and no matter how little you may care about the characters themselves, their overall fate and the mysteries of their civilisation are more than enough to draw you in. Definitely unmissable for fans of the series, The Power of Six will probably make you one too.

The latest victim of his own inner beauty, or rather ugliness is 17-year-old Kyle (Alex Pettyfer) in Daniel Barnz’s latest modern fairytale, Beastly.

Being attractive, charismatic, wealthy and hence God’s gift to pubescent girls, Kyle is the prince of his high school kingdom. But as his narcissism draws him to new levels of self-obsession, he abuses his popularity by victimising the weaker students. This incurs the wrath of Kendra (Mary-Kate Olsen), a witch disguised as a student, who becomes the target of his public ridicule. She punishes him by stripping him of his good looks and turns him into the truly ugly person that he is.

As with all fairy tales, the only hope for the curse to be broken is to find true love in a year, lest his fate be made permanent. Lindy (Vanessa Anne Hudgens), a girl he never paid attention to in class, seemed destined to be his candidate for love.

Fans of the book written by Alex Flinn, that Beastly is based on, will notice a few differences. In the book, the witch Kendra also doubles up as the unsuspecting housekeeper, Magda (known as Zola, (Lisa Gay Hamilton) in the film). She serves Kyle while he stays at the apartment his dad bought him. What Kyle doesn’t know is that Magda is spying on his every move. At the end of the book, she reveals the truth by transforming from sweet, innocent Magda to the cynical witch, Kendra. However, in the movie, Zola and Kendra are separate characters.

Another deviation from the book would be the extent of Kyle’s transformation. In the book, the beast had hair, claws, and sharp teeth, as depicted in Disney’s Beauty & the Beast. But in the film, Kyle is a far more palatable human baldie, with disfiguring scars and tattoos. One of the tattoos is a tree that signifies how long he has left to break the spell.

What we appreciate is that, Will (Kyle’s blind tutor who home schools him and is his love guru) portrayed by the comical actor and awards show host Neil Patrick Harris, gives a surge of wacky humour to the movie. He makes not-so-subtle references to Barney Stinson, a character he plays on the hit TV series, “How I Met Your Mother” in the film.

In one of the scenes, he goes “Whatzzup” in his Barney tone and this cracks the audience up. Also, he never fails to return Kyle’s skepticism with wit and a touch of class that is, iconically, Neil Patrick Harris. When questioned about his ability to play darts, Will replies, “I went to this dance and this emo chick gave me a dart hex.” On top of that, in the scene where he introduced himself to Lindy and made a lame joke, he apologised and “restarted” their introduction by rewinding his words until it was “Hi, I’m Will” again.

One of the most important things in a movie is the soundtrack. In this case, the songs selected for Beastly were apt and they enhanced the overall enjoyment of the film. Indie songs like “Garden Of Exile” by Toby Martin and Mat Kearney’s “Breathe In, Breathe Out” helped set the gloomy mood for certain scenes. Another song that highlighted Lindy and Kyle’s sadness was Pixie Lott’s “Broken Arrow”.

However, there were other downfalls to the movie.

The beginning of the movie played out really quickly, giving the actors little time to develop their characters. Furthermore, scenes changed too quickly, again offering less opportunity for the story to expand to its full potential.

Pettyfer’s portrayal of Kyle seemed immature. When he was trying to get Lindy to like him by giving her gifts, he threw a random fit of punches in the air out of sheer frustration when she rejected them, making his character seem like an angsty schoolboy, which definitely made me cringe in my seat. Pettyfer also didn’t seem desperate enough even when he was trying to plead with the witch to undo the spell. Vanessa, on the other hand, fit right into her role and was perfect at playing the ‘girl-who-slogs-for-studies-and-family’ role, which was reminiscent of her High School Musical role, the “geeky beauty”, Gabriella.

In a nutshell, the movie paled next to the book, which was a #1 New York Times bestseller. It could have been developed further so that the actors would have more time to build on their characters. Without Neil Patrick Harris’s sense of humor, the movie would have barely survived with its cheesy lines like “Love is never ugly” and “I’m worthy for you”, along with its shallow characters.

Movie: Beastly
Rating: ★★✩✩✩

Opens: 12 May
Duration: 85 minutes
Language: English
Age Rating: PG
Genre: Drama, Romance
Director: Daniel Barnz

Cast: Alex Pettyfer, Vanessa Hudgens, Mary-Kate Olsen