50 SHADES DARKER (2017)

50 SHADES DARKER (2017) Jun 1, 2017 12:05:50 GMT

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Post by Vits on Jun 1, 2017 12:05:50 GMT

Normally, I'd admire a director who avoids melodrama by telling the actors not to exagerate. However, that only works if the plot and the dialogue have the potential to overcome that. No one could've turned the script for 50 SHADES DARKER into a deep drama, so the movie feels badly-directed. There are so many scenes where it would be natural for a person to scream but, instead, the characters... talk. There's even a conversation between ANASTASIA & CHRISTIAN (the protagonists) after he has been rude to her boss. Not only is she too calmed for a girlfriend of a man who's being too possessive (especially considering that was one of the reasons why they broke up); there's even a hint of laughter when she says "You gotta calm down." As I said when I talked about 50 SHADES OF GREY, there isn't enough material for a trilogy so, this time, there's an unnecessary subplot about one of CHRISTIAN's exes who wants to kill ANASTASIA. It gets solved very quickly and (for some reason) the movie continues for another 1/2 hour. There are also things that I can't even call subplots involving ANASTASIA being sexually harassed by her boss (to be fair, this will clearly become a real subplot in the next installment) and being kind of threatened by the woman with whom CHRISTIAN lost his virginity. Dakota Johnson didn't show that much talent in the 1st installment, but she showed some. This time, her performance, Jamie Dornan's and Kim Basinger's are bad. There's no romantic chemistry. Erotic movies are always repetitive since there's constant sex but, as long as the sex scenes are well-done, they don't have to feel repetitive. This one does, because those scenes are so unimaginative that they feel too similar to one another. I like I DON'T WANNA LIVE FOREVER by Zayn and Taylor Swift, but NOT AFRAID ANYMORE by Halsey is unmemorable.

1/10

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50 SHADES DARKER (2017) Jul 23, 2017 8:20:12 GMT

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Post by Chalice_Of_Evil on Jul 23, 2017 8:20:12 GMT

I watched this a few weeks ago and I think the first one’s actually ‘better’ (strange as that may sound). While Fifty Shades of Grey certainly wasn’t ‘great’, at least it felt like Dakota Johnson was allowed to make Anastasia feel like an actual real person (whereas she’s just written so unbelievably in the books). She also had some humourous moments too. I think the best scene was her drunk-dialing Christian.

That^ was probably the most enjoyable scene in the whole movie. Having said that, I think the best-looking scene was the contract negotiation scene.

The use of lighting, shadows, and silhouettes really made it stand out.

I liked Kate Kavanagh the best, as she was Ana’s level-headed friend who actually cared about her best friend and questioned the bizarreness of everything regarding Christian, so I was bummed that Eloise Mumford didn’t get much to do in the first movie...though at least she got a few scenes (unlike the second movie, where it felt like she got hardly any scenes at all). I've only watched the extended cuts of both films, so considering what was left out of them, I don't think I'd ever want to check out the theatrical cuts which are missing even *more* stuff than the extended cuts (all of Jennifer Ehle's scenes were cut from the second movie for example, whereas they're included in the extended cut).

The biggest disappointment with the second movie was they stripped Kate of her one really important scene where she discovers what’s going on with Ana and Christian and confronts her about it. This was a strong character scene for Kate and they took it from her. What a waste of the actress. Actually, most of the other actors in the movie felt wasted too, as their characters had very little screentime (except for Kim Basinger, who should never have been cast, as hers was easily the worst performance in this film). I hope Eloise Mumford gets more substantial roles in movies. I think Dakota Johnson will be fine, as she’s quite funny/endearing as an actress, and she’ll do well once she’s done with this franchise.

I like I DON'T WANNA LIVE FOREVER by Zayn and Taylor Swift

I do too.