Where’s the heat? Where’s that spark of electricity between Jamie Dornan’s Christian Grey and Dakota Johnson’s Anastasia Steele? The fire’s nowhere to be seen in Fifty Shades Darker, the R-rated romantic drama hitting theaters on February 10, 2017. The Fifty Shades of Grey sequel based on E.L. James’ bestselling mommy porn book series is surprisingly restrained, even more so than the first film of the franchise.
Fifty Shades of Grey grossed $570 million over its 2015 theatrical run, however Fifty Shades Darker will have a much more difficult time generating that kind of cash at the box office. The first film wasn’t what fans of James’ book series expected, with the overwhelmingly female audience shortchanged on nudity when it came to the male lead. Look, Dakota Johnson has a fantastic body but the audience you’re targeting with these films is female so why is Johnson naked and Jamie Dornan rarely more than shirtless? Feedback from the first film was obviously ignored; know your audience and serve them or lose their interest in the film series.
The Fifty Shades audience isn’t forking over money to buy a ticket for any film of the series because the plot is complex and riveting. It’s the passion, the fire, the thrill of a film that ventures into sexually risqué territory that pulls in a specific audience. It’s not for the dialogue which in Fifty Shades Darker is unintentionally comical and jarringly unrealistic, with Johnson’s Anastasia barely adding more than one simple sentence to any conversation. It’s almost as though placing words in a row and then uttering them is too much of a struggle, so lip biting and pouting serve to convey much of what the character’s thinking. It’s definitely not the conversations or the supporting characters, all of whom are one-dimensional and disposable, that turned James’ books into bestsellers. It’s all about the sex and Fifty Shades Darker simply doesn’t deliver the titillating goods.
The fact there’s nothing of substance to work from in adapting the second book put screenwriter Niall Leonard at a disadvantage. Leonard was forced to follow the novel and its ludicrous plot while tossing in a sex scene every so often, more because it’s required by the source material than because it benefits the plot. Without going into specifics, I’d be remiss not to mention a scene that takes place at Ana’s work that’s so meta, so ridiculously unnecessary and distracting that people in the preview audience actually began talking about it during the screening. During the screening! I guarantee this is not the reaction either director James Foley or screenwriter Leonard were hoping for when they came up with the idea to introduce Melanie Griffith’s most famous movie line into one of her daughter’s scenes.
As for the film’s heroine in this second outing, Anastasia is a magnet for men who take advantage of her naivete and inability to distance herself from harmful relationships. Her photographer buddy has an exhibit featuring oversized posters of her face and body for sale without her permission. Her boss, Jack, assaults her after he learns she has a boyfriend, and said boyfriend is a sadist who rarely opens up and wants to own her. Why does she allow herself to be so manipulated and how did she make it into her 20s without developing any sense of self? Fifty Shades of Grey’s Ana was simple and virginal, Fifty Shades Darker’s Ana is just dumb.
Screenwriter Leonard and director Foley provide mostly-to-completely naked Dakota Johnson and mostly shirtless/pants barely down Jamie Dornan sex scenes sprinkled throughout the 120-minute running time to satisfy the requirements of being a Fifty Shades film, but they can’t create a chemistry onscreen between Johnson and Dornan that’s simply not there. There will be a third Fifty Shades film but this second film doesn’t contribute anything toward making that third film a must-see.
GRADE: D
MPAA Rating: R for strong erotic sexual content, some graphic nudity, and language
Running Time: 118 minutes
Release Date: February 10, 2017
