One could argue that we are currently living through a golden age of unnecessary sequels. It seems that there’s a constant effort to revive and reinvigorate IP of varying degrees of dustiness; why make something new if you can make something familiar that people have already told you that they like?

Of course, that leaves us in a world where we’re surrounded by not just the ongoing blockbuster franchises that are the box office’s foundation, but also movies that continue stories that audiences believed had reached their conclusion (note: for the most part, audiences were fine with that).

And so we get something like “Magic Mike’s Last Dance,” the third installment in the adventures of Channing Tatum’s charming and unlucky male stripper. Did we need another “Magic Mike”? Almost certainly not – especially nearly a decade after 2015’s better-than-it-needed-to-be sequel “Magic Mike XXL.” But hey – Steven Soderbergh came back (he directed the first film) and he’s always had a sort of quasi-muse thing happening with Tatum. Maybe it’d work?

Reader, it did not.

Look, the choreography is great – it’s always great in these movies – but that isn’t enough to carry the day. Particularly when you’re dealing with a confusing and occasionally bordering on nonsensical narrative. Soderbergh knows how to make this stuff look good – and there are stretches when this movie looks phenomenal – but when the story unravels upon even a cursory examination, it isn’t enough, despite the efforts of the director and his stars.

Remember when Steven Soderbergh announced his retirement?

You’d be forgiven if you didn’t, if for no other reason than the fact that he never actually, you know, stopped making stuff. He said 2013’s “Side Effects” would be his last, but he almost immediately helmed a number of TV projects along with directing Off-Broadway and some fascinating recuts on his website.

Since returning to feature filmmaking with 2017’s “Logan Lucky,” Soderbergh has spent the past few years cementing his reputation as one of Hollywood’s most progressive and experimental mainstream filmmakers. He’s been unafraid to try different methods of filming (such as making 2018’s “Unsane” entirely on an iPhone) and distribution models (self-distribution and fully embracing streaming services).

That tradition continues with his latest, the period heist/caper movie “No Sudden Move,” currently streaming on HBO Max. It’s a convoluted thriller featuring a typically dynamite Soderbergh ensemble cast, all of it presented through the skewed lens of the director’s unique perspective. While it occasionally threatens to collapse under the weight of its own narrative complexity, the film largely holds up thanks to the considerable talents of those both behind and in front of the camera.

Few filmmakers are as habitually freewheeling as Steven Soderbergh, constantly willing to move in different directions and try new things. He’s unafraid to shift creative gears, trusting in his abilities and the abilities of those around him to make it work – and it usually does.

Take “Let Them All Talk,” his newest offering now available via HBO Max. Shot in a quasi-indie manner, it’s an amiable and chatty dramady that takes place on a trans-Atlantic cruise. The kicker, of course, is that it was filmed during an actual crossing, with all that that entailed. Soderbergh assembled an incredible cast, led by Meryl Streep, and kept it simple, using mostly natural light and minimal equipment to film.

The end result – ostensibly written by noted short story writer Deborah Eisenberg, though much of the dialogue was improvised by the cast – is an extremely watchable, albeit light, story of renewed and new connections. It’s not a film where a lot actually happens, but the people to whom stuff isn’t happening are engaging enough to get you to stick around. A good hang.

Leave it to Steven Soderbergh to make a sports movie with hardly any sports action in it.

The auteur’s latest offering is “High Flying Bird,” released direct to streaming via Netflix. It’s the story of the game behind the game in the world of professional basketball as one agent, in an effort to do right by his client during a lockout by the owners, threatens to upend the entire model and throw the league into chaos – and one could argue that he’s right not just in economic terms, but ethical as well.

Soderbergh’s malleable ideas with regards to what it means to be an upper-echelon filmmaker in the 21st century continue on their merry way with this one. Following experiments both successful (shooting last year’s “Unsane” exclusively via iPhone) and not-so-much (the self-distribution effort to sidestep the system with 2017’s “Logan Lucky”), he’s keeping what works – the iPhone – and tweaking what doesn’t by letting Netflix wrangle the eyeballs.

The end result works – not surprising considering you’ve got Soderbergh directing a script from Tarell Alvin McCraney. It’s an insightful look behind the curtain of pro sports that feels genuine, a compelling illustration of how the sausage is made.

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Steven Soderbergh has spent the past twenty years as one of the premier directors Hollywood has to offer. He has directed over 30 films, including award season darlings like 'Traffic' and 'Erin Brockovich' and popcorn fare such as the 'Ocean's' trilogy. He made an action movie with an MMA fighter in the lead, a two-part biopic about Che Guevara and a movie about strippers.

His latest is 'Side Effects,' and according to him, it's also going to be his last.