Rent Fifty Shades Freed (2018)

Overrated - Fifty Shades Freed review by CP Customer

Was quite slow and the plot was a bit obvious without giving any spoilers

And the end of the film was disappointing to.

Terrible, silly dreck which ran out of steam long ago - Fifty Shades Freed review by TB

The first Fifty Shades film was by no means a masterpiece, however there was a certain fun to be had watching it. It was very competently directed by Sam Taylor-Wood, had a half-decent script by Kelly Marcel & didn't take itself too seriously. However, despite the enormous creative control she already had with the first film, E.L James by all accounts hated it, as well as being stung by the criticism levelled at it.

So for the second & third films, she took over completely, hiring her husband as the scriptwriter & changing the director to James Foley, who seemed to have only turned up for the cheque. The 2nd film was not great, but there was still something about it which made it half-enjoyable, mainly it's campiness which sometimes raised a laugh or smile. However, all of that is basically lost in the third film.

After the events of the previous film, Anastasia & Christian have married and should be in matrimonial bliss, especially considering the obscene wealth Grey has. But the threats that were in the previous film have not gone away, plus there are some new additions to the villainy as well. Alongside all of this, Anastasia discovers she is pregnant & starts to have second thoughts about the relationship she is now supposedly committed to.

Everything here doesn't work, whether its the chemistry between Dornan & Johnson, the script which a first year screenwriter would have thrown back at them, or the weak attempts to create tension from laughable situations. For example, the main villain is Anastasia's ex boss Jack Hyde, who is basically a carbon copy of Grey (and who you feel was the actor originally cast as the lead role, then lost it, but was kept around in case Dornan flunked out.) The two men are meant to be alpha-males who constantly butt heads and have extreme prescence on screen... they end up looking like a couple of posh boys who decided to hit the gym to get stacked, but who would cry if their lunch money got stolen.

The story staggers on, with enough soapy emotions & situations to provide a year's worth of scripts on Corrie or Hollyoaks. But what is most staggering, continuing on a running theme from the previous two films, is how even incredible actors have their abilities lowered as soon as they step on the set. For example, Jennifer Ehle and Marcia Gay Harden are Oscar/Tony Award-winning actresses, women of staggering ability & talent. Here, they play barely one-dimensional characters and even that's being generous. The same goes for Dornan & Johnson.

The result is something which, like other products of Hollywood, made herculean amounts of money, filled up cinemas (never a bad thing,) and left probably most of the people leaving it wanting their money back.

For the final time, it has to be said: if you want to watch 2 good-looking but vapid people having sex in various plush surroundings, buy a porn film. At least the acting will be better and the sex real...