Beneath the gloss, it’s Fifty Shades of soap
The dialogue is cheesy at best, and it often feels like an expensive soap opera – with a bit of (but probably not enough) kinkiness thrown in.
Fifty Shades Darker (R18) Directed by James Foley Starring Dakota Johnson, Jamie Dornan, Kim Basinger 118 mins IF you’re planning to see Fifty Shades Darker, it’s probably not because you’re interested in the plot.
That’s good – because you won’t get much of one.
The second film in the series, based on EL James’ insanely popular Fifty Shades of Grey books, wastes no time in bringing the tortured billionaire Christian Grey (Jamie Dornan) and the naive Anastasia Steele (Dakota Johnson) back together. Because this time, you see, things will be different – there’s no rules, no punishments and no more secrets.
But oh, if only it were that easy. It seems Christian can’t quite give up his controlling ways, whether he’s finding out Ana’s bank details or forbidding her to go on a work trip with her new boss. And when some of Christian’s crazy exes (including a sadly underused Kim Basinger) turn up, Ana is left wondering whether they can ever be a normal, ‘‘vanilla’’ couple.
And, well, that’s pretty much it. Aside from the sex scenes, of course, and there are plenty of those, from a bit of hanky panky in the shower to some fun in the good-old red room.
Yet for a supposedly ‘‘erotic’’ drama, there’s not much heat coming from these two. Dornan, though beautiful and extra buff this time around, is just plain bland. Johnson is the only saving grace, once again bringing plenty of spark to Ana, even though you want to smack her (no pun intended) every time she goes back to this bossy, S&M-obsessed arse.
So what you get is a glossy film under new director, James Foley, full of beautiful people, beautiful clothes and beautiful places, but not much else.
The dialogue is cheesy at best, and it often feels like an expensive soap opera – with a bit of (but probably not enough) kinkiness thrown in. – Christina Kuntz