Rating: 2/5 Stars

Cast: Dakota Johnson (Anastasia Steele), Jamie Dornan (Christian Grey), Jennifer Ehle (Carla), Luke Grimes (Elliot Grey), Marcia Gay Harden (Dr. Grace Trevelyan), Eloise Mumford (Kate Kavanagh), Max Martini (Jason Taylor) and Rita Ora (Mila)

Director: Sam Taylor-Johnson

Synopsis: Anastasia Steele is a naïve college undergraduate student whose path crosses Christian Grey’s, a very wealthy, handsome man who desires to use Anastasia as the object of his excessive needs for rough sex. As Christian begins to shower her with expensive gifts, it does not take long for Anastasia to sign the sadomasochistic agreement between them. Will she be able to change Christian knowing her want for romantic relationship?

Review:

Fifty Shades of Grey, as millions of people have heard, is a 2015 erotic drama based on E.L James’ novel of the same title. It tackles the life of a wealthy businessman named Christian Grey and his endless desire for sadomasochistic relationship. Christian soon finds the object of his desire in the presence of Anna, whom he met for the latter’s school paper interview. As the movie runs, it doesn’t actually explain on what the hype is all about. More importantly, it weaves a tapestry of controversies that more and more people are debating on, even now as you read this.

Can you really expect a good film from a poorly written material?

The film had a worldwide release on February 13, just a day before Valentine’s. Now, for most romantics, that could be the perfect movie. The problem lies on whether Fifty Shades of Grey is a material that could delight your fancy or it is just another worthless entertainment designed to burst your bubble of expectation. In fact, it is disappointing to fall into this trap especially in our age when we should all be wiser to discern quality in movies.

Unfortunately, if the box office record speaks the truth, we have more reasons to be worried about today’s generation.

Fifty Shades of Grey is not a romance story. It tells about the ridiculous glamorisation of violence and stalking. Since when do people find these issues sexy?? Never, until Christian Grey walks into the scene and makes most women swoon at the first hint of his manipulation. Meanwhile, Anastasia Steele’s naiveté reminds us of a hump that feminists have been trying to crack for a long time now.

If there is anything praise-worthy in this film, it is the actors’ portrayal that really saved the critics’ rating from completely plummeting. Johnson and Dornan effortlessly work on their chemistry together. Unfortunately, this is too little to compensate for the film’s massive lack of creativity. The sex appeal is considered too boring that staying on your seat until it rolls the credit spells the true torture. It lacks passion but it is filled with disappointments that too many people have overlooked based on the film’s $410 million earning.

Is it worth your time? For now, let’s say, it’s all about the meaningless hype.