Christian Grey (Jamie Dornan) looks to draw Anastasia Steele (Dakota Johnson) back into his life but the only way he'll return to him is if there is a new arrangement in their relationship. As the two rebuild their relationship, former figures from Christian's life come into play, creating new problems.
Film is a very subjective media platform. What may be a film that I love may be one that someone else despises and vice versa. At times it may be hard to understand why someone likes or dislikes a film but with their opinion, you can maybe see their point of view. With '50 Shades Darker', I cannot understand why anybody could like this garbage and there's nothing anybody could at to change my opinion.
To start off, I know that I am 100% not in the targeted demographic for this film, I knew that from the start and was only confirmed when I was only 1 of 3 men in the screening. Due to this, many may say "well it isn't meant for you" or "you shouldn't have seen it then". These statements although slightly true - I really shouldn't have wasted my time with this atrocity - does not make the film immune from standard criticism. Unfortunately for the film, it deserves a whole lot of criticism as it is the worst film released in 2017 so far.
It's been made a common knowledge fact that the 'Fifty Shades' book series started off as 'Twilight' fan fiction and as been criticised for poor writing. It would seem that the ultimate downfall of the film is within its screenplay, bringing terrible, cringey dialogue as well as a terrible narrative. For 'Fifty Shades Darker', Niall Leonard - the husband of the original author of the book - takes over to bring one of the worst and poorly constructed scripts you may ever see. The film follows a formula of the lead character Anastasia telling Christian to not do something, then proceeds to have Christian to do that very thing and then for the two to argue, make up and then have sex. At first, you don't realise the laziness but after the 5th or 6th time, you start to realise that this is all the film is. What makes it worse is that the dialogue is so unrealistic that you can't imagine anyone actually speaking like that. It doesn't seem authentic at all, making it hard for you to take seriously. For events other than that formula, there are some very odd moments that feel extremely out of place. For the most part, this includes a former beau of Christian's who seems to be stalking Anastasia but there is a moment late on surrounding a helicopter crash that is one of the oddest moments I have ever seen in a film. I don't know what went on in Leonard's, author E.L James' or the studio's heads when a decision was made to include this in the film as it is one of the mot stupid scenes in a movie. It has absolutely no purpose, it has no setup and it has no payoff. It's was a total waste of time and only hurt the film even more, although that didn't seem possible.
What makes the film even more unbearable is how terrible these characters are in the film. Everyone with any focus on them is just an awful person and none more so than Christian Grey. The character is a pretty awful person and is so especially to Anastasia, the one he supposedly loves. You can have flawed characters for sure but Grey is awful in all aspects and when he is the protagonist and I guess a "good guy", it's almost impossible to root for him or want to like him at all. I guess that it shows that you can be good looking and people will still adore you no matter you do. Dakota Johnson's character Anastasia seems to be a fairly clever person but it doesn't make sense to why she's with Christian. The film constantly shows him going against what she says and there's no reason for him to stay, the only thing is that he's good looking. And is this really the kind of message that you want to send out to a female dominated audience? Is this the ideal situation for those looking for a lover? Johnson's performance as Anastasia is incredibly boring as she shows very little range throughout the whole movie, with her character not doing much at all of interest in the film. Anastasia is one of the worst female characters in Film history and the fact that more people are going to see this female-led film over others is an absolute travesty.
Of course, the main draw of these films is the sexual nature and action. Due to this, you'd expect it to be something extraordinary but it really isn't. It isn't sexy, it's just awkward. There isn't really anything that is done that is exceptional or much different to anything seen before. When your film I based on a gimmick or offers something like this and ultimately, it fails to deliver, then you have a clear problem. It's like if a comedy wasn't funny or if a horror wasn't creepy or scary, you'd be disappointed with what you got. Due to this, I cannot see why this is enough of a draw for many people but I guess its just the sort of fantasies many people have. If that's the fact, I couldn't imagine a more awkward experience in a cinema.
I really don't understand how anyone could possibly think this is an adequate film. There are problems all over the board and most of them have to do with the writing in the film. The performances are uninspiring with the actors being very disposable. I didn't expect much from 'Fifty Shades Darker' and I got even less from it. One of the worst film I have ever seen and it'll take something special to overtake this film as the worst of the year.
Final Verdict =
What makes the film even more unbearable is how terrible these characters are in the film. Everyone with any focus on them is just an awful person and none more so than Christian Grey. The character is a pretty awful person and is so especially to Anastasia, the one he supposedly loves. You can have flawed characters for sure but Grey is awful in all aspects and when he is the protagonist and I guess a "good guy", it's almost impossible to root for him or want to like him at all. I guess that it shows that you can be good looking and people will still adore you no matter you do. Dakota Johnson's character Anastasia seems to be a fairly clever person but it doesn't make sense to why she's with Christian. The film constantly shows him going against what she says and there's no reason for him to stay, the only thing is that he's good looking. And is this really the kind of message that you want to send out to a female dominated audience? Is this the ideal situation for those looking for a lover? Johnson's performance as Anastasia is incredibly boring as she shows very little range throughout the whole movie, with her character not doing much at all of interest in the film. Anastasia is one of the worst female characters in Film history and the fact that more people are going to see this female-led film over others is an absolute travesty.
Of course, the main draw of these films is the sexual nature and action. Due to this, you'd expect it to be something extraordinary but it really isn't. It isn't sexy, it's just awkward. There isn't really anything that is done that is exceptional or much different to anything seen before. When your film I based on a gimmick or offers something like this and ultimately, it fails to deliver, then you have a clear problem. It's like if a comedy wasn't funny or if a horror wasn't creepy or scary, you'd be disappointed with what you got. Due to this, I cannot see why this is enough of a draw for many people but I guess its just the sort of fantasies many people have. If that's the fact, I couldn't imagine a more awkward experience in a cinema.
I really don't understand how anyone could possibly think this is an adequate film. There are problems all over the board and most of them have to do with the writing in the film. The performances are uninspiring with the actors being very disposable. I didn't expect much from 'Fifty Shades Darker' and I got even less from it. One of the worst film I have ever seen and it'll take something special to overtake this film as the worst of the year.
Final Verdict =
So have you seen 'Fifty Shades Darker'? If so, what did you think of the film? I hope that this review was useful for if you were planning on seeing the film or not! Once again, thank you for taking the time to read my review, it is much appreciated!
By Angus McGregor
