Quick Review: Magic Mike

It took me over a week after it opened until I finally got to see the much-hyped "Magic Mike."  After hearing so much about it, being somewhat loosely based on star Channing Tatum's experiences as a male stripper before he hit it big in Hollywood, and with Steven Soderbergh directing a cast that also included Matthew McConaughey, there was an expectation of a really intriguing tale -- while not skimping on the nudity, of course, given its "R" rating.

Unfortunately, there was no intriguing tale. Tatum's Mike, who strips and does odd construction jobs and such, is saving up to start his own business making custom furniture. He helps out a young slacker (Alex Pettyfer) by getting him work at the strip club (McConaughey plays the club's manager) while trying to get a relationship going with the guy's sister. Among the subplots is one involving drugs that plays into the main story, but none of it was very compelling.

I give full credit to Tatum for how his career is progressing. He's proven he can act some, and not just look pretty. His movies are now big hits at the box office. And he can dance, and not just for purposes of getting naked: the man can really move. McConaughey is fine as well, but Pettyfer's just a blank and the rest of the guys (including Adam Rodriguez, Matt Bomer, Joe Mangianello and wrestler Kevin Nash) are completely wasted, with nothing to do except dance. And the worst sin? The hyped nudity wasn't all that. The club scenes kept getting cut off just as they got good, or else there were just brief glimpses of performances. This entire movie was, after all the hype, a real letdown. My grade: C-minus.

Quick Review: I Am Number Four

The premise of "I Am Number Four" is this: the planet Lorien was destroyed by alien invaders called the Mogadorians, but nine children (along with guardians) were able to escape to Earth. These kids have special powers and at some point in the future will be able to defeat their enemy, so the Mogadorians are hunting them down. For reasons that aren't clear they have to be killed in order, and at the beginning of the film we see Number Three meet his maker. Hence the title, and the teenager in question (Alex Pettyfer) is in hiding with his guardian (Timothy Olyphant) in Ohio. They had to leave Florida because his powers began kicking in. With faked ID, etc. he enrolls in high school and falls for a girl (Dianna Agron from "Glee"), deals with a bully -- her ex-boyfriend -- and befriends a fellow student whose father disappeared years earlier, and things happen that draw the attention of the Mogadorians. So it's sort of like "Twilight" with a Superman-like twist (alien kid's home planet destroyed, he survives by being sent to Earth, develops super-powers) and a girl from "Glee" who isn't much of an actress. Not horrible but not in any way special. My grade: C-minus.