2023 - IN REVIEW: WORST FILM OF THE YEAR

 Normally at this point I would go through my top ten “worst” films of the year, but whilst I was going through the list of films I watched and rated during 2023, I discovered just how incredibly strong a year it was from a cinematic perspective. Normally, my “worst of” list is saved for films that I give two stars or less to, but for the entirety of 2023, I only gave four films two stars or less. As such I didn't feel comfortable writing a full list of ten films, as that would mean including titles that weren't necessarily “bad”. I thought about maybe getting rid of this category entirely, but then for traditions sake decided to just list the one title that stood head and shoulders above all the rest to be named.......

THE WORST FILM OF 2023

MAGIC MIKE'S LAST DANCE

Out of all the films that I saw in 2023, this film stood out amongst them all in regards to it being a film that I thought did not work on any level. As I often say during my “Worst of”lists, when I hate a film so much, it doesn't stay around in my head for very long, so my reasons for disliking it may come off as rather shallow or in-considered. The biggest problem I had with “Magic Mike's Last Dance” was that the love story felt so false, forced and unbelievable, which is primarily due to the fact that Channing Tatum and Salma Hayek have no romantic chemistry at all. The fact that Hayek's character falls for Mike so quickly during his dance is just ridiculous, but from this point on when the two of them are together as a couple, they never feel connected or as one. It always feels like a business transaction between the two of them. I understand that during the making of the film, that Thandie Newton was originally cast in the role that Hayek plays in the finished film, and actually filmed for at least a week before she dropped out, so Hayek stepping in as a replacement at the last second would not have helped with the chemistry factor, but it really took me out of the film because I did not believe in it's reality. Chemistry is clearly an intangible thing; what creates great chemistry? Why do some people have it whilst others do not? I am not sure but it isn't as simple as putting two beautiful people together, which Tatum and Hayek no doubt are.

You may be saying to yourself that I am clearly not the target audience for this film, and that may be true, but I will say that I was a fan of the original “Magic Mike” (not so much the second film, although it had some good dancing in it), and I watched this new film with my wife who is very much the target audience and she too thought “Magic Mike's Last Dance” was dreadful and worse, extremely boring.........and she adores Channing Tatum!!!

Sadly, the whole film is as dull as dishwater, with an overwritten script (which has some of the most eye-rolling lines in it), very poor acting (Salma Hayek is terrible as Max), and almost a complete lack of dancing (!!). I mean, come on, the dancing part has to be a pre-requisite for a Magic Mike film. When we do finally get the “big” dance sequence at the end of the film, it is so underwhelming, and sees Mike dancing with a girl we barely know and who only shows up for the end of the film. Did I mention that there is also a ridiculous revenge plot that Max has conceived in a bid to get a one-up on her ex-husband? Man, this film is embarrassing. It honestly felt that no one was invested in making this film, because the whole thing lacks energy and it felt like Mike's story came to an end at the end of “Magic Mike XXL”. What is worse is that this is the first theatrically released film directed by Steven Soderbergh for years (at least in Australia), and we got this dreck?!? Soderbergh clearly has a love for the Magic Mike character, as he was the director of the very good first film, and even returned to do cinematography duties on the second film (during his “retirement”), but even his heart doesn't seem to be in it here for the third film. The cinematic energy that was so evident in his recent films, “KIMI” and “No Sudden Move”, is totally absent here, which instead gives way to a plodding, sputtering, and ultimately boring film, that drags for its entire two hour run time. For mine, it is Steven Soderbergh's worst film of his career so far, and was far and away the worst film I saw in 2023.