Fifty Shades Darker - Movie Review (2017)

Who would have guessed that, when he was a boy, Christian Grey, the controlling, sexually sadistic bazillionaire at the center of E.L. James’ "Fifty Shades of Grey" juggernaut, was a "Chronicles of Riddick" fan? In a scene in "Fifty Shades Darker," the sequel lớn "Fifty Shades of Grey," Christian (Jamie Dornan) sits in his childhood bedroom và tentatively opens up to lớn his girlfriend Anastasia (Dakota Johnson). Looming behind his head on the wall is a gigantic "Riddick" poster. Did the set decorator put the poster there to địa chỉ cửa hàng texture? Backstory? Whatever the intent, having "Riddick" loom as the background image in a desperately serious, post-coital conversation was inadvertently hilarious. There"s a lot of inadvertently hilarious stuff in "Fifty Shades Darker," directed by James Foley (and he"ll be directing the final installment too, "Fifty Shades Freed”), with Johnson & Dornan back as star-crossed lovers Anastasia and Christian, respectively. These films take themselves extremely seriously, which makes them very easy targets.

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“Fifty Shades Darker” starts with Christian waking up from a nightmare of the abuse he experienced as a child. This is the main thrust of the movie (puns are unavoidable): Christian’s unresolved trauma from his Dickensian past and whether or not Anastasia can help him heal. I don’t judge other people’s fantasies. But what works for E.L. James as fantasy fodder makes for tiresome viewing. Christian và Anastasia have subtext-free conversations, where Anastasia murmurs howlers such as, “So you pick women who look like your mother?” with a straight face. (Hats off, Ms. Johnson.)

2015"s “Fifty Shades of Grey” (directed by Sam Taylor-Johnson) was a ponderous affair showing the prolonged foreplay before the actual foreplay. Would Anastasia sign Christian’s Byzantine contract of sexual consent? Would she agree khổng lồ “anal fisting”? Tune in next week! That film ended with a sex game gone wrong, & Anastasia realizing that S&M actually involved, you know, pain. Learning this, she fled into the night. “Fifty Shades Darker” picks up shortly after that. Anastasia now works as an assistant editor in a small publishing house. Her boss khủng (Eric Johnson) is a leering entitled predator who makes Christian look manageable by comparison. (Side note: another assistant in the office is named “Hannah” and so we are treated khổng lồ multiple scenes with variations of: “Good night Anna.” “Good night, Hannah.” “Hannah, how are you?” “I’m fine, Anna.” etc. Was Hannah the only name available?)

Christian wants Anastasia back. He’s even willing to go “vanilla” if that’s her preference. It is, so they have vanilla sex, & everything is going great—with boat rides và masked balls & makeover montages—until … well, until all kinds of things, so many, many, MANY things—old lovers, a shady business deal, PTSD flashbacks, an attempted sexual assault, a helicopter careening out of control—intervene. (Screenwriter Niall Leonard had his work cut out for him adapting the book.) These two lovebirds cannot catch a break & “vanilla” cannot withstand such unbelievable pressure. Anastasia is drawn back into the web of Christian"s desires. And she has fun with it, for the most part. Good for her.

The thing about Dakota Johnson—and it’s very important—is that she is unable khổng lồ suppress her clear intelligence and, even rarer, sense of humor. It"s so evident that it becomes a defining characteristic, as well as an important anchor for a film that desperately needs it. The dialogue is so silly và so repetitive that it could sink a far more seasoned actress. But she survives. There’s a goofiness about her, a charming awkwardness that feels organic; Foley was smart enough lớn realize how much Johnson"s sense of humor helps the film. She was wonderful in Luca Guadagnino"s “A Bigger Splash,” one of the best films of last year, playing a manipulative little sexpot who enjoys messing with the heads of the men in thrall lớn her. Up against some serious competition in “A Bigger Splash” (Ralph Fiennes, Matthias Schoenaerts, Tilda Swinton), she more than held her own. Here, she"s at the center. Johnson doesn’t quite make Anastasia distinctive or unique, but she does come off onscreen as reactive, and impulsive. She is not afraid of the material và also not afraid to lớn show how absurd she finds some of it, how absurd she finds him. This is no small feat. She"s fun to watch.

Kim Basinger shows up as Elena Lincoln, the oft-mentioned “Mrs. Robinson” in “Fifty Shades of Grey,” the older woman who initiated Christian into all the joys of bondage play, at the very same moment she was committing statutory rape. Basinger shows up as a Cassandra-like figure, hell-bent on warning Anastasia off. Bella Heathcote plays Leila, Christian’s “sub” before Anastasia, who is now out of her mind, stalking Anastasia through the streets, wearing raggedy clothes that make her look like an extra in “Les Miserables.” Marcia Gay Harden returns as Christian’s mother, overwhelmed with joy that her bizarre adopted son is involved with someone so normal. It’s a weird mix. There’s so much going on that the sex scenes are incidental, rather than the whole damn point. Và that’s the worst sin of all.

There have been so many “think pieces” about “Fifty Shades,” the books và the movie, because whenever millions of women go crazy about something en masse, it becomes a National Concern. What does it MEAN that women respond to lớn this? Both men & women participate in the concern-trolling. Why is a woman submitting to lớn a guy’s misogynist demands considered sexy? Well, maybe because this is a fantasy, and fantasies don’t make sense. You can have a fantasy about being abducted by pirates và have no desire in real life to lớn be abducted by pirates. Both Anastasia and Christian consent lớn the sex they have. This is not to say that Christian is not a nightmare. He is, but not because he wants to lớn tie her up và spank her. He’s a nightmare because he blows a gasket when she has khổng lồ go on a business trip. There are so many real things to lớn worry about in this world. What people get up lớn behind closed doors, if they’re both into it, is not one of them.

However, when sex is presented as this serious (as opposed to a normal thing that consenting adults choose to vày with one another—and the kinks here aren"t all that "out there" anyway), you want everyone to lớn just admit the absurdity of it. Sex can be—and often is—hot và absurd. The 2002 film "Secretary," also about a dom-sub relationship involving a Mr. Grey, portrayed fear, desire, humor, simultaneously. In other words, “Secretary” had its ball-gag and ate it too. But “Fifty Shades Darker” is less interested in exploring how the power nguồn plays of S&M have to be negotiated (a rich topic), và more interested in the conventional narrative of a damaged man terrified of intimacy & a loving woman waiting for him to lớn transform into the wonderful boyfriend that she knows is inside of him. “Fifty Shades Darker” may wear leather and chains, but it’s still a retro bore.

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Sheila O"Malley received a BFA in Theatre from the University of Rhode Island and a Master"s in Acting from the Actors Studio MFA Program. Read her answers lớn our Movie Love Questionnaire here.

Lacking enough chemistry, heat, or narrative friction lớn satisfy, the limp Fifty Shades Darker wants lớn be kinky but only serves as its own form of punishment. Read critic đánh giá

Rating: R (Some Graphic Nudity|Language|Strong Erotic Sexual Content)

Genre: Romance, Drama

Original Language: English

Release Date (Theaters): Feb 10, 2017 wide

Release Date (Streaming): May 9, 2017

Box Office (Gross USA): $114.4M

Runtime: 1h 58m

Distributor: Universal Pictures

Production Co: Universal Pictures, Perfect World Pictures, Michael De Luca

Aspect Ratio: Scope (2.35:1)

Cast và Crew

Dakota Johnson

Anastasia Steele

Jamie Dornan

Christian Grey

Eric Johnson

Jack Hyde

Eloise Mumford

Kate Kavanagh

Bella Heathcote

Leila

Rita Ora

Mia Grey

Luke Grimes

Elliot Grey

Victor Rasuk

Jose

Max Martini

Taylor

Bruce Altman

Jerry Roach

Kim Basinger

Elena Lincoln

Marcia Gay Harden

Grace Trevelyan Grey

Andrew Airlie

Carrick Grey

Robinne Lee

Ros Bailey

Amy Price-Francis

Liz

Fay Masterson

Mrs. Jones

James Foley

Director

Niall Leonard

Screenwriter

Michael De Luca

Producer

E.L. James

Producer

Dana Brunetti

Producer

Marcus Viscidi

Producer

John Schwartzman

Cinematographer

Richard Francis-Bruce

Film Editing

Danny Elfman

Original Music

Nelson Coates

Production design

Jeremy Stanbridge

Supervising Art Direction

Peter Bodnarus

Art Director

Craig Humphries

Art Director

Carolyn "Cal" Loucks

phối Decoration

Shay Cunliffe

Costume design

Laray Mayfield

Casting

Julie Schubert

Casting

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