I was lucky enough to see this year’s most highly anticipated movie before the rest of the country and I’m happy to say the experience didn’t disappoint.
While many critics have slammed 50 Shades of Grey for being a bit on the dull side, I found there was more than enough excitement in the film to keep most entertained.
The sex scenes made up roughly 15 minutes of the two hour feature film, and they were hot! The sexual tension between Christian Grey (Jamie Dornan) and Anastasia Steele (Dakota Johnson) at the beginning of the movie is riveting. ‘Just kiss her already’, I kept urging. And when they did get it on, sparks flew.
However, if you’re expecting something similar to soft porn, you may be a little disappointed. While you do get a good glimpse of Dakota’s whole body throughout the movie (yes that includes pubes and boobs), Jamie kept his jeans on a lot more than we would have liked. While the actual sex screen time was sizzling, it was constantly cut short, leaving much to be desired. And, there wasn’t nearly enough of it considering that’s basically what the trilogy is about.
While I do believe director Sam Taylor-Johnson managed to create a film that was better than the badly written books – most of the worst dialogue was cut – it’s hard not to wonder if she played it too safe. The appeal of 50 Shades is the steamy, raw lovemaking between Anastasia and Christian, however the movie seemed to focus more on their relationship and Christian’s inability to let Anastasia in emotionally.
The exploration of bondage, domination, sadism and masochism (BDSM) was interesting and also highlighted an important issue a lot of women face: doing something you don’t want to do just to make your partner happy.
The entire film seemed to focus on Anastasia’s struggle to regain her power, and draw firm boundaries with her ironically being the dominant one when the flick ends abruptly.
In a nutshell, if you liked the books or didn’t even bother reading them you will be entertained. The movie has its moments and is riveting in parts. It’s obviously not Oscar-winning stuff but it’s two hours of your life you won’t necessarily mind giving up…
Rating: 3.5 stars