Fifty Shades Darker – movie review

The best way to get anything other than disappointment out of Fifty Shades Darker is to enter the cinema with extremely low expectations. Jamie Dornan and Dakota Johnson return as the young couple Christian Grey and Anastasia (Ana) Steele in this, the second chapter of the bestselling Fifty Shades erotic romance trilogy by EL James. The first film (in 2015) took more than half a billion US dollars at the global box office and the third, Fifty Shades Freed, will be released at this time next year.

The story continues as a wounded Christian Grey (Dornan) tries to entice a cautious Anastasia Steele (Johnson) back into his life … and she demands a new arrangement before she will give him another chance. As the two begin to build trust and find stability, shadowy figures from Christian’s past start to circle them, determined to destroy any hopes for a future together. Also returning from Fifty Shades of Grey are Marcia Gay Harden (Into the Wild) as Dr Grace Trevelyan Grey, Christian’s mother, Rita Ora (Southpaw) as Mia, Christian’s little sister and Luke Grimes (The Magnificent Seven) as Elliot, Christian’s brother. Victor Rasuk (Godzilla) is José Rodriguez, Ana’s close confidant, Eloise Mumford (Not Safe for Work) Kate, Ana’s best friend and Elliot’s girlfriend, and Max Maritini (TV’s Training Day) Taylor, Christian’s bodyguard.

They are joined by Kim Basinger (L.A. Confidential) as Elena Lincoln, a mysterious woman from Christian’s youth who won’t let him go. Bella Heathcote (Pride and Prejudice and Zombies) is Leila Williams, one of Christian’s former submissives and a threat to his new life with Ana. Eric Johnson (TV’s The Knick) is cast as Jack Hyde, Ana’s boss at her new job at a publishing house, who proves himself as untrustworthy as he is controlling.

Fifty Shades Darker is directed by James Foley (House of Cards) from a screenplay by Niall Leonard (whose previous writing work was for television). First up, I was certainly not convinced about the chemistry between the two leads, leaving aside the fact that it is particularly difficult to warm to Jamie Dornan’s characterisation of Christian Grey. Secondly, I thought I was watching a telemovie with some lavish displays of opulence as captured by some nice cinematography (John Schwartzman – The Founder – is director of photography).

And let’s not forget that the script seems like a potboiler with liberal lashings of Dallas, Dynasty and The Bold and the Beautiful. It even had the melodramatic ending that seems to be par for the course for most evening soapies. The sex scenes were tepid, at best. In fact, they appeared to me to be a step down from what we got in the first installment. The overtly effusive score couldn’t paper over Fifty Shades’ sensual shortcomings. In many of the outdoor scenes – most, in fact – it was raining. Fitting, for what I considered to be a very “wet” film.

The subject matter is worth exploring, but it could have been turned into something more worthy. In saying that, I am thinking of the Paul Verhoeven directed Elle, for which Isabelle Huppert was nominated for a Best Actress Oscar. Rated MA, Fifty Shades Darker scores a 5 out of 10.

Director: James Foley
Cast: Jamie Dornan, Dakota Johnson, Marcia Gay Harden, Jennifer Ehle, Luke Grimes, Rita Ora
Release Date: 9th February, 2017
Rating: MA 15+

Alex First