Trailer- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n6BVyk7hty8
Rating- R
Genre- Drama/Romance
Warnings- Sexual situations/Nudity/Inappropriate language
I'm sure a lot of people were looking forward to seeing this movie, that or looking forward to my opinion on it. Let me tell you, I have some comments to make. So, if you're curious to read on further, go right ahead.
The movie adapted sequel to E.L. James' "Fifty Shades of Grey" delves deeper into the complex relationship between characters Anastasia Steele (Dakota Johnson) and Christian Grey (Jamie Dornan). However, is it a story that audiences enjoy viewing for their pleasure, or is it rather a punishment to their poor eyes?
The story begins with Grey attempting to win back Steele after their dispute at the end of the previous film. As the story progresses, it quickly brings Grey's secrets to life-including the women who have come before Steele- and we get to see how Steele will manage to handle the scars from Grey's past.
The movie had potential to be something great, because certain plot points involving Grey's past perked my curiosity and they could've been expanded upon in greater depth. However, there were other side plots that interfered with any possible greatness this film could have achieved.
The story was crowded with material from the book that I could tell the director was trying to cram everything in within the running time. This leads me to another thing that I noticed: the movie's tone.
In the beginning of the film, I almost thought I was in the wrong theater with how sudden and drastic the tone of the story started of compared to what I remember from the first film. I could tell right away this would be a movie that would try and make the audience have sympathy for Grey and understand why he treated Steele the way he did. It doesn't help your audience to show us an emotional backstory of a character only to then re-introduce that character's flaws in the most obvious ways possible in a span of 15 minutes.
Additionally, this movie wanted to introduce character motivations way too soon. I don't know if it happens the same way in the book, but one antagonist in particular appears too early and too often in the story for my taste and the audience even sees her face several times before the big "face off" near the end of the movie. Other antagonists-whether you read the book or not- you just know they're up to some bad things. You can tell from the moment they appear on screen that they're detrimental to Steele and Grey's relationship. I was looking forward to a little mystery, because not everyone makes their intentions that clear in real life.
The main characters felt the same from the first movie, which I suppose is a good thing. Steele is still the awkward and shy young woman who got lucky enough to steal the attention of a rich billionaire, and I kept having a back-and-forth with myself about this actress because I didn't know if she was acting bad or just acting like Steele. I tried to find out how and why Grey would work so hard to keep a girl like Steele, because when it comes to him, he can drop her anytime he wants.
In fact, I even rewind my memories back to "Fifty Shades of Grey" and I can't for the life of me confidently say that Steele is different from other girls because of a certain trait. She comes off too shy that it's like she's never had sex with Grey before. Her soft, hush-like tone is constant throughout the movie during the erotic moments. I can't recall when she have inflections in her voice to represent excitement or tenseness, it's always this monotonous level with her.
"I want all of you..."
"Are you just going to stand there gawking?"
I'm sure you read that in a slowed down, sultry voice, right? Well, it didn't seem that way when Steele said them, it felt more like she was reading off lines and just wanted to put her clothes back on because the room she was in was too cold and she needed a fuzzy sweater.
To be fair, everyone is different. There are people who behave like Steele and probably don't express their attraction to their lovers the way I would predict. Therefore, I wouldn't call this an complete flaw because people can act this way.
Also, Johnson does succeed in making me like Steele a lot. Though her choices are certainly questionable, Steele still acts close enough to a human being: arguing with Grey about his possessiveness, objecting to ideas and so forth. Steele in this movie is not a puppet and I think the movie tried to make a point of that, that what Grey does is not okay and I actually liked that they pointed it out. They had Grey and Steele admit that what Grey does sometimes isn't healthy in a relationship and doesn't make him a dominant, but a sadist. That definitely took me aback that this movie which seemed to pride itself on control and obedience is rejecting that idea.
Grey's character has more depth but does that justify his actions? Despite whether it does or not, I don't think the movie shows Grey in the best light to have more people on his side by the end of the movie. I can tell they softened him up a bit, but then I would think back to all the stuff he said and acted upon in the sequel alone.
First movie aside, if I heard of the things Grey did, I would seriously consider leaving him instead of comforting his dark past. No matter what he went through, he's still old enough to understand right and wrong and is the movie just going to let that slide without saying, "That's screwed up"?
I don't know, just because a main character did something wrong doesn't mean it's a bad movie. Yet something about how they try to villianize other people going against Grey while making him to be something to sympathize with doesn't sit well with me.
I don't think I'm explaining this part too well honestly, because there are times where Steele and Grey himself admit that what he did was wrong...I just think the biggest issue is when it comes to that is how quickly the problem is resolved. After it's mentioned, it's never brought up again. It's as if Steele completely accepted the fact that Grey like to control her in any way possible and was attracted to her for a very eerie reason.
Something I've yet to touch upon that's a huge component to the story is it's sex scenes. Does it bring the sexiness to screen? Aside from showing a boob here and there, it's like I was watching a lifetime movie for most of these scenes.
This is Fifty Shades DARKER, bring on the heat and primal actions: biting, growling, choking, hitting. There was none of that! The only thing that's darker in this film is Grey's past, because it wasn't talking about the sex. Sure, a few sex toys were introduced but that's really it. Most of the sex scenes were done in one position; Steele's reactions to Grey's seduction is pretty much the same with the soft and loud moaning. For everything done to her, she's gives the same exact reaction and I was expecting more variety. There were times when Steele would get hurt (playfully) where I wondered, "Wouldn't it hurt to be touched like that?" and get confused at seeing Steele moan over it.
I mean, to each his own, if someone loves getting hurt then that's fine, but if we're going for continuity, Steele couldn't handle spanks in the previous movie so how are you going to expect me to believe she'll be completely fine with getting more than that? Okay, she's probably more comfortable with Grey, but it would still hurt, right?
Yet even with all that is done in this movie, the most intense thing to happen to Steele is much tamer than what I expected. I mean, the movie introduced nipple clamps and they didn't use that on her. Wasteful.
Plus, there's way more foreplay than actual sex going on screen. I took notice, because every time the pair would finally start doing it, it cut to a different scene and for those looking to get turned on, I'm sorry to say but this movie will probably tease you till you're blue.
In the end, "Fifty Shades Darker" wasn't as fun to watch as the first movie of the series due to its drastic shifts in tone, weak chemistry and too many stories going on at once. I was checking my phone near the end of the movie to see when would it end because it felt like it was just dragging on too long, ironically different to the first film where it felt like it ended too soon.
I will give the movie it's credit though, it did address certain controversies about the story like what it really means to do BDSM and how a dominant/submissive relationship should work. If the story angled more towards that direction, then it could've been saved. But since Steele was so easy to forgive and forget, it makes her come off as weak-willed and too easy to please. The resolutions with the villains seem too easy to do, maybe they'll bring it up again in the next film but as of right now it shows that Steele and Grey's life won't be affected by anything as long as Grey has that money in his pocket.
I am going to give "Fifty Shades Darker" a 1 and 1/2 out of 5 stars.
SPOILERS AHEAD!!!
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Scared child, abusive family...What movie is this? Did I enter the wrong theater?
Ugh, are you really going to do this movie? Throw in the, "he was from an abusive family that's why he gets to abuse woman" trope?
Steele's friend is away from the majority of the movie? Good excuse to have sex in her apartment.
Why is Steele still friends with José? Wasn't he the one that try to hook up with her when she said no? You could make the excuse that he was drunk, so I guess it's fine...no, no it's not fine! Don't justify bad behavior!
Wait, if Steele didn't know José was taking those pictures then why is she staring directly at the camera?
You just started talking to Steele again and you're already pre-ordering her meal for her? Great first impression, Grey.
Wow Steele, you haven't even hung out with Grey the whole day and you're making out with him. Where was that strong will you were boasting about? Speaking of making out, are you guys doing that outside the door? Isn't that awkward?
Why are they showing Grey's ex this early? Look, one blurry sneak peek of her is fine but she's been shown about 4 times in the first half of the movie and you clearly show her face and let her talk.
Also, Grey's ex and Steele look similar. Grey's got a type, I see.
Steele looks cross-eyed when she looks up at Grey after he asks, "What do you want?"
I didn't like the transition between the sex scene and them being in bed
Steele's middle name is Rose? Of course it is.
The lipstick scene almost made me laugh.
The scene with Steele in the lingerie asking, "Are you just going to stand there gawking?" couldn't have been more awkward if I tried it myself. Johnson looked so scared in her face.
I'm still not entirely sure what the silver balls do, Grey
Steele wasn't wearing the lingerie underneath that dress? Then why was she wearing it earlier?
So the silver balls replace the tampon from the book version of the "Fifty Shades" series. Got it.
Did Grey seriously have that lipstick on his body the whole party? Also, why didn't you ask about the cigarette scars earlier, Steele? They were in your face before and you guys were talking about his boundaries. Come to think of it, did Grey have those scars in the other movie? I'm too lazy to check, can someone research for me?
How is every guy Steele comes across attracted to her? What is her appeal?! I'm not saying she's unattractive or unlikable but she doesn't seem to have any striking qualities about her.
Grey, you so got Steele that job because her argument in the board meeting wasn't confident at all.
Hannah and Ana. Like that won't get confusing.
Even though I was expecting it, that gunshot still made me jump in my seat.
Leila has an interesting accent.
3 minute montage walking in the rain made it feel like Steele was walking for days.
I'm with Steele on this one. You made a woman kneel for you, Grey. You still have control over her and you are using it without signaling me about what you're going to do. Her eyes were closed, you could have mouthed it at least or have your chauffeur tell Steele when they left. Grey says Leila went to a psychiatric ward after that, but how does Steele know he didn't sleep with her? We as an audience legitimately don't know if he did either. I think if they showed his interaction with Leila, I'd be more comfortable with this.
I can forgive a man for spanking me too hard. I can even forgive him for knowing my bank account and sending me money. But do you expect me to believe that a woman would stay with a man who openly admits that he wanted her and other women because they looked like his mother? Well, some might, but dude...
(It was at this point, that I was bored of the movie)
It's not over? What more is there to tell?
What was that helicopter crash about?!
I thought in one of the trailers, Grey proposes to Steele around a bunch of flowers.
Elena Robinson is getting owned!
There's the scene with the flowers. It feels like the two proposal scenes were separate ideas and the writers didn't know what to keep so they somehow added in both while still making it make sense.
This ending is kind of a similar ending to Twilight's: Breaking Dawn. Then again, this story was a Twilight fan fiction.
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