‘Fifty Shades Freed’ Review
It seems unlikely that the Fifty Shades franchise would course correct in its final act and so the cringe-worthy dialogue, awkward sexuality and near-abusive dynamics are all still present in Fifty Shades Freed. Yet in spite of everything one can’t help but felt a little bit of sentimentality for the odd coupling of Anastasia and Christian and their bizarre relationship which might find marriage an empowering enough institution for them to have a happily ever after. Find out more in the review.
Fifty Shades Freed begins with the long-awaited marriage of Christian and Anastasia yet as they begin their married life. It soon becomes clear that threats from within and without threaten to destroy their new union.
Review of Fifty Shades of Grey
It would seem a tad bit repetitive to repeat all the obvious flaws that are now part of the Fifty Shades film franchise in more than a cursory way. But know that it attempts eroticism and fails, its dialogue while occasionally self-aware is usually cringe-worthy and usually poorly acted. It also suffers from having an abundance of sex to hide the fact that it doesn’t actually have much of a plot.
Surprisingly though the weirdly possessive behaviour of Christian Grey shifts in this movie. It’s still awkward and ugly. Yet an inability to control everything begins to shift his absolute deplorable behaviour. Whether it be pregnancy, the threat of enemies or even Anastasia resistance to it all it makes a ‘believable’ attempt at actually creating something that is less unhealthy than had existed in the previous films.
The other thing I found strangely drawing me in, was that despite a constant mockery of the central relationship I was more than a little bit sad to see it go. It’s quite an effective beat when the closing moments of the film are filled with the smash hit song from the first film and a montage of the highlights from the film. The Fifty Shades films don’t exactly rate amongst the great love stories of cinema history but you might be surprised by the sadness of seeing them go, especially if you’ve stuck around this long.
Acting ranging from competent to terrible, whilst directing is both equal part effective and cold and disinterested. This is also no jumping in point for those curious about how it all ends. There is also a whole bunch of plot that goes no where. The architect from the trailer serves no purpose despite being a point of tension not in one but two relationship.
Fifty Shades Freed Review Cheat Sheet.
In the end, Fifty Shades Freed is a competent finish to the trilogy. It however probably not a competent film, doing nothing to address any of the major flaws of the previous films. It manages to move the relationship along slightly and even reminds you that maybe you will miss Christian and Anastasia but, in the end, its awkward and empty sex, its equally uninteresting plot only serve to remind us that the Fifty Shades trilogy went for sexy and just made us feel awkward. The door on the playroom is finally closed. See if you must but there probably little reason other than your completionism tendency to see something through.
+ Manages to remind you of the few things that were good about the Fifty Shades franchise.
+ Move the relationship of Christian and Anastasia beyond the weird healthy dynamic of previous films.
-The expected laundry list of complaints and flaws from the previous film still exist.
-Probably only about 30 minutes of plot in a two-hour movie.
– Lots of pointless plot threads.