Rating: 2.5/5
This saucy flick follows the ridiculous relationship of Anastasia Steel/Ana (Dakota Johnson) and Christian Grey (Jamie Dornan). James Foley deserves half a clap on the back for accomplishing the, not very hard, task of making this film slightly better than the last. I couldn’t watch until the end of the first movie, but apparently it ends with Christian whipping Ana and Ana being like wtf, Imma gtfo of here.
Fifty Shades Darker begins with Christian realising that he needs Ana more than he needs to torture women, so he says he’ll engage in a “vanilla” relationship if that’s what it takes. She’s intrigued and says she’ll give it a whirl, this time sans rules or punishments. Dating ensues, along with many sexy times. It gets pretty steamy, pretty frequently. It’s not just sex, sorry. Ana has an awful pervy boss, but won’t quit because she loves working, so there’s that tension to deal with. Christian buys the company Ana works for, which makes her realise that maybe he is still just as possessive as he always was. The ghosts of submissives past pop up to stalk Ana, and we meet Elena Lincoln – Christian’s dominant who welcomed him to the world of BDSM (not that ‘Fifty Shades’ is necessarily an accurate representation of BDSM). This orgy of issues makes for plentiful drama. Ana must decide whether sexy sadist Christian Grey is worth the work, and Christian has to figure out how to tame his demons and open up emotionally.
This movie was nothing special. There was lots of beautifully filmed glitz and glamour if lavish masquerades and sparkly jewellery tickle your fancy. Alas, both Ana and Christian are hugely lacking in personality, which makes it hard to root for either of them. That being said, the soundtrack was luuush. Big names like Nick Jonas, Tove Lo, Zayn Malik and Tay Swee created yummy ambience for those raunchy scenes. It was awesome to hear from Corinne Bailey Rae again—remember ‘Girl Put Your Records On’? I feel bad not mentioning all the other equally groovin’ artists; please just look up the soundtrack if you’re into sexy jams. In sum, I wasn’t as disappointed as I thought I would be. See it if you want, I guess.