Fifty Shades Darker (C- or 1.5/4 stars)
‘Fifty Shades Darker' (directed by James Foley) is the 2nd installment in the Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy, movies based on E.L. James' best-selling erotic romance novels. Ding, ding, ding!!! Folks, we have a winner for the 1st film - in a while - that I can say is SO bad that it actually boasts some entertainment quality. This film picks up shortly after 50SoG leaves off: pretty-but-mousy Anastasia Steele (Dakota Johnson) & dashing-but-tormented Christian Grey (Jamie Dornan) have broken up, & she's starting a new job at an independent book publishing company. But that doesn't mean Christian's not keeping an eye on her; managing to woo her back by saying that he wants a 'real' relationship, not just his typically dominant-submissive contract.
As Christian & Ana attempt a 'regular' romance {love scenes abound}, Christian has trouble stopping his compulsion to control her. As a result, he's wildly jealous of her handsome-if-prickish boss, Jack Hyde (Eric Johnson), & introduces her to the older woman who first seduced/abused/dominated him as a teenager, Elena Lincoln (Kim Basinger). All the while, a troubled young woman seems to be stalking Ana. Melodrama with a capital M ensues.
This movie is sooo bad, haha. That said, it's highly watchable, provides unintentional laughs, & is fun to watch spin out of control -- it's not a completely lost cause. Although Jamie Dornan delivers more nuance in his performance here than the last movie, this sequel offers practically NO plot other than providing excuses for our leads to have sex. There are very few 'plusses' to mention. I suppose I enjoyed the love-making scenes here more so than the 1st film because a) there are less of them, b) they're more sensual and not so painful, and c) because their relationship deepens, so to are the ramifications of their relationship; so you're sliiiightly more invested in them, but not really, haha. That said, there will be millions of people who wanted more sex, more S&M (at least there are ben wah balls here), more nudity, etc. -- that IS what these boos/films are mostly about, no? Other plusses? Well, like the 1st film, it's a polished movie-going experience. The cinematography, luxurious sets {Christian is a billionaire, after all}, & costumes are fun to see.
Having said all of that, none of the positives can wash away the inept writing, poor character development, flimsy supporting characters, ZERO dramatic tension. There are 3 possible sources of villainy in the plot of this thing: Elena, the statutory rapist who got Christian into the world of BDSM; Jack, the prick publisher with a hidden agenda for Anastasia; & the mysterious young woman who has a problem with Anastasia & Christian. 3 sources! And yet, none of them provide a heartbeat of tension or suspense in the story. Neither the banal dialogue nor the characterization builds the requisite drama to care. Gosh, so many scenes are laughably bad ...
There's a home invasion scene that felt SO phony that I couldn't believe it was an actual part of the narrative and not some sort of dream sequence. There's a helicopter crash sequence that leads to a reunion scene that is so full of sh*t that I couldn't believe it -- a character assumed dead (from TV news), magically appears 2 states away in an apartment to rapturous applause & tears; they have a scratch on their forehead, but is completely fine ... and nary a tear-filled family member even asks if they are alright. Like ... what!? There's another laughably bad moment near the end when a soap opera-like scene ends in one character getting a martini tossed in her face, followed by a bitch slap across the face by a second character -- and there is NO context whatsoever for the second character to have strolled up with tears in her eyes to slap the woman across the face; it comes outta nowhere! And the final scene includes a certain sequel-intended 'villain' looking on at a party with a cigarette dangling from his mouth and rage burning in his eyes... he might as well have been twirling a moustache.
Unlike the 2015 film, which was at least directed & adapted by women, this sequel is helmed by men. The problem there is that since the series' fandom is mostly women, there will be a certain disconnect btwn. filmmaker(s) & the audience. Furthermore, there is an entire subplot devoted to Christian's past (which would explain some of his psycho-sexual issues) that is shamefully neglected. You know, while there are certain outlying components of this film that I enjoyed more than the prior film, I don't expect audiences to go gaga for this. Kudos to Dakota Johnson & Jamie Dornan for putting themselves out there. He's better this time around; more at ease. And Dakota Johnson has that 'something' that makes me believe she can do much better work in much better films. I will see Fifty Shades Freed next year, but can only anticipate a woeful outcome. 'Fifty Shades Darker' is watchable garbage. If you're not turned on by the sex, at least you'll laugh at the absurdities.
As Christian & Ana attempt a 'regular' romance {love scenes abound}, Christian has trouble stopping his compulsion to control her. As a result, he's wildly jealous of her handsome-if-prickish boss, Jack Hyde (Eric Johnson), & introduces her to the older woman who first seduced/abused/dominated him as a teenager, Elena Lincoln (Kim Basinger). All the while, a troubled young woman seems to be stalking Ana. Melodrama with a capital M ensues.
This movie is sooo bad, haha. That said, it's highly watchable, provides unintentional laughs, & is fun to watch spin out of control -- it's not a completely lost cause. Although Jamie Dornan delivers more nuance in his performance here than the last movie, this sequel offers practically NO plot other than providing excuses for our leads to have sex. There are very few 'plusses' to mention. I suppose I enjoyed the love-making scenes here more so than the 1st film because a) there are less of them, b) they're more sensual and not so painful, and c) because their relationship deepens, so to are the ramifications of their relationship; so you're sliiiightly more invested in them, but not really, haha. That said, there will be millions of people who wanted more sex, more S&M (at least there are ben wah balls here), more nudity, etc. -- that IS what these boos/films are mostly about, no? Other plusses? Well, like the 1st film, it's a polished movie-going experience. The cinematography, luxurious sets {Christian is a billionaire, after all}, & costumes are fun to see.
Having said all of that, none of the positives can wash away the inept writing, poor character development, flimsy supporting characters, ZERO dramatic tension. There are 3 possible sources of villainy in the plot of this thing: Elena, the statutory rapist who got Christian into the world of BDSM; Jack, the prick publisher with a hidden agenda for Anastasia; & the mysterious young woman who has a problem with Anastasia & Christian. 3 sources! And yet, none of them provide a heartbeat of tension or suspense in the story. Neither the banal dialogue nor the characterization builds the requisite drama to care. Gosh, so many scenes are laughably bad ...
There's a home invasion scene that felt SO phony that I couldn't believe it was an actual part of the narrative and not some sort of dream sequence. There's a helicopter crash sequence that leads to a reunion scene that is so full of sh*t that I couldn't believe it -- a character assumed dead (from TV news), magically appears 2 states away in an apartment to rapturous applause & tears; they have a scratch on their forehead, but is completely fine ... and nary a tear-filled family member even asks if they are alright. Like ... what!? There's another laughably bad moment near the end when a soap opera-like scene ends in one character getting a martini tossed in her face, followed by a bitch slap across the face by a second character -- and there is NO context whatsoever for the second character to have strolled up with tears in her eyes to slap the woman across the face; it comes outta nowhere! And the final scene includes a certain sequel-intended 'villain' looking on at a party with a cigarette dangling from his mouth and rage burning in his eyes... he might as well have been twirling a moustache.
Unlike the 2015 film, which was at least directed & adapted by women, this sequel is helmed by men. The problem there is that since the series' fandom is mostly women, there will be a certain disconnect btwn. filmmaker(s) & the audience. Furthermore, there is an entire subplot devoted to Christian's past (which would explain some of his psycho-sexual issues) that is shamefully neglected. You know, while there are certain outlying components of this film that I enjoyed more than the prior film, I don't expect audiences to go gaga for this. Kudos to Dakota Johnson & Jamie Dornan for putting themselves out there. He's better this time around; more at ease. And Dakota Johnson has that 'something' that makes me believe she can do much better work in much better films. I will see Fifty Shades Freed next year, but can only anticipate a woeful outcome. 'Fifty Shades Darker' is watchable garbage. If you're not turned on by the sex, at least you'll laugh at the absurdities.