Part history but definitely part hagiography, this documentary has a few delightful formal interventions, including the opening montage in which negative comments about RBG are paired with shots of statues of old men from prior eras. That supports the general argument of the film, which posits a generally upward model of progress, in which women's rights followed the success of the civil rights act. Of the people interviewed, almost none are people of color, lending an uncomfortable flavor of #WhiteFeminism…

Unlike "Magic Mike," which was a fundamentally conventional romance narrative about a stripper with a heart of gold (albeit gender reversed), the sequel is split between two more unique impulses, both constructed for and constructing heterosexual female spectatorial pleasure. On the one hand, the film fully develops the homosocial/homoerotic energy between the central male cast members that was latent in the original, showing emotional and sexualized bonds between the men who are simultaneously confident enough and vulnerable enough to get…

It should not be surprising that this film is stultifyingly -- even mind-numbingly -- conventional, for despite its supposed reversal of the gaze, the film participates in all of the cliches that propel movies about strippers with hearts of gold. Despite the film's apparent hedonism, its moral compass is clear and strict: monogamy with the right kind of girl is the ultimate goal, sex work is a dangerous gateway to drugs and violence, and smart capable women should be endlessly…