WARNING! This article contains SPOILERS for Magic Mike's Last DanceMagic Mike's Last Dance features a voice-over narration that ultimately ruins an important element that was key to Mike Lane's story throughout the Magic Mike franchise. Magic Mike's Last Dance begins with a voice-over that reflects on the meaning of dance, a theme that continues throughout the film. Now set in London, the new Magic Mike takes a very different tone from the previous films of the franchise. Similarly, the only character returning in Magic Mike's Last Dance is Mike himself, but all the other characters in the film are introduced in the latest Magic Mike.
In fact, in Magic Mike's Last Dance, Maxandra convinces Mike to move to London, where she lives with her now ex-husband and their daughter, Zadie. Throughout the film, Zadie appears to be critical of Mike and of his relationship with Max, played by Salma Hayek. As Magic Mike's Last Dance goes on, it becomes clear that Zadie is the one narrating the voice-over. As she explains to Mike that she is writing a book, the audience can safely assume the narration in Magic Mike's Last Dance is the outcome of her writing.
Zadie's Narration Unnecessarily Spells Out Magic Mike's Dance Symbolism
However, Zadie's narration was not necessary to the film and even ruins the story of Magic Mike's Last Dance. The voice-over does not add anything to the story: if anything, it feels redundant. The question of dance bringing people together has always been a key point of the Magic Mike films, which did not need to be spelled out for the audience. In fact, the symbolism behind dance is not a new theme in Magic Mike's Last Dance but has been something the Magic Mike franchise has analyzed and commented upon ever since the first film of the series.
Magic Mike's Last Dance ending also makes the relevance and symbolism of dance evident. Moreover, this explanation given to the symbolism behind dance and the dancing sequence does not come from Mike. If anyone was to explain the value and meaning of dance, it would have been better to have a character who actually dances in the franchise do so, such as Maxandra, given her ion for putting on the show, or even Mike himself. Having a new character come into the story to provide this much exposition feels odd, especially one who is a teen and has not danced even once throughout Magic Mike's Last Dance.
Magic Mike 3's Narration Makes The Movie Less Of His Story
Moreover, the Magic Mike films have always revolved around Mike himself, as proven by the fact that Mike is the only character present in all the previous films of the franchise, and perhaps would be present in a possible fourth Magic Mike film. In fact, if there had to be a voiceover in Magic Mike's Last Dance, it would make more sense for it to be Mike's own narration as the Magic Mike films have always been about Mike's story, as suggested by their very name.
Having Zadie narrate the film makes it feel less like Mike's story and more like Zadie's, taking the story away from Mike and putting it in the hands of a character that the audience does not know and may not be particularly attached to. As such, it seems as though Magic Mike's Last Dance betrays a key theme of the franchise, that of centering the story around Mike and letting the main character tell his own story. In Magic Mike's Last Dance, Mike seems to be relegated to a secondary role, as it tells someone else's story that simply happens to include Mike in its narrative.
