Fifty Shades Darker is a 2017 American erotic romantic drama film directed by James Foley and written by Niall Leonard, based on E. L. James’s novel of the same name. The second film in the Fifty Shades film series, it is the sequel to the 2015 film Fifty Shades of Grey. The film stars Dakota Johnson and Jamie Dornan as Anastasia Steele and Christian Grey, respectively, with Eric Johnson, Eloise Mumford, Bella Heathcote, Rita Ora, Luke Grimes, Victor Rasuk, Kim Basinger and Marcia Gay Harden in supporting roles.
So the first one was good, enticed me a bit with the scenes of sex amidst the banter of a love story. This one though – it seems like a bad Bollywood romance film with bits of fucking happening just because they don’t have enough scenes to fill out the film. After they split up, Christian has nightmares about his abusive childhood and hence goes to try and win Ana back. Ana begins a new job as an assistant to Jack Hyde, an editor at Seattle Independent Publishing (SIP) whose previous assistants all quit within the last eighteen months. Ana unexpectedly runs into Christian at the opening of her friend Jose Rodriguez’s photography exhibit. He says he wants Ana back and agrees to her no rules, no punishments, and no more secrets terms.
So they fuck and they have disagreements and in between Jack tries to molest Ana, so she fights him off and using his influence Christian gets him fired. At a meeting in SIP where Ana sits in, she gives an idea and is therefore asked to temporarily fill in for Jack’s post. That is the most contrived thing I have ever seen in a long, long time. Bollywood has better reasonings for promotions. In between we have a troubled young woman who looks a lot like Ana, who turns out to be Leila, a former submissive. After their contract ended, Leila wanted more, but Christian ended the relationship. Leila married a man who later died, causing Leila to have a mental breakdown. She has been stalking Ana and Christian. She busts up Ana’s car and approaches her at her home with a gun and it takes Christian to show dominance to stop her. Ana is disturbed by this.
Enter Elena, the older woman and close friend of Christian’s adoptive mother – Christian takes Ana to her saloon and Ana is furious when she finds out that she was the one who introduced a teenage Christian to BDSM and now she is a business partner of his. At a party Elena tells Ana to stay away from Christian. Christian submissively drops to his knees and confesses that he is not a dominant, but a sadist who enjoyed hurting women who looked like his birth mother. He insists he wants to change. During the night, Ana awakens Christian while he is having a nightmare. He proposes but she needs time before accepting. Christian leaves on a business trip, piloting his own helicopter. An engine failure forces Christian to ditch the craft in a heavily forested area, prompting a massive search and rescue effort. Ana and Christian’s family gather to wait for news. When Christian suddenly arrives home safely, Ana, realizing she loves him, accepts his marriage proposal.
At Christian’s birthday party, Elena accuses Ana of being a gold digger. Ana orders her to stop interfering in their lives. Christian overhears and dismissively tells Elena that she taught him, “how to fuck and not how to love.” Grace intervenes and, furious that Elena preyed on her teen-aged son, demands she leave for good; Christian also cuts all ties with Elena. Later that evening, Christian proposes to Ana, this time with a ring, and she accepts. As fireworks erupt in the sky, Jack Hyde watches the festivities from afar.
The movie was panned by critics and with good reason. It’s hardly a story – and I have seen better storylines in a soft porn film. Heck porn films have better storylines and even better sex. I give it a 5.5 outta 10! Atleast the women are gorgeous.