Review of Fifty Shades of Grey (2015) by Medilia — 14 Feb 2015

I did not read the books so I was not sure exactly what I was in for. I had heard mixed reviews of the books from people saying they were sexually liberating to it being a story of abuse. I am going with the latter if the movie is anything to go by. Christian Grey is a stalker and while I have loved Dornan in other work in this movie I found him flat, unappealing and impossible to connect with. Perhaps that is how Grey is supposed to be? I have not seen Johnson's other work but while she is an attractive young woman I found Ana a complete bore. I had really high hopes for this character hoping that she would be a strong woman who enters BDSM to further strengthen herself. Instead she is weak and I am surprised she resisted signing the contract and I am surprised she left at the end because in every other part of the movie she seems to give in to Grey's whims even when she has said she does not want to. I found it creepy that Grey did not take no for an answer and seduced her whenever she tried to resist him.

I was also disgusted in how they portrayed BDSM as some kind of mental disorder of Christians (Although I believe this is directly from the book).

Fifty Shades of Grey demonstrated how you can get two very attractive actors to perform a sex scene and yet have it not the vaguest bit arousing or hot. I am a huge lover of BDSM and yet found myself not even slightly amused, entertained or even aroused by the whipping or bondage. Is this not meant to be an erotic love story? Furthermore the lack of chemistry between Johnson and Dornan was so clear that I could not believe their relationship for a second.

The dialogue was laughable and cheesy. I can't even begin to express how hard it was for me to listen to the badly delivered drivel.

The movie lacked a climax (Unless the scene where he beats Ana is supposed to be that) and the best part was the ending. I wish it did end there because then I could live in the fantasy that Ana goes back to a life free from abuse and Christian gets therapy. But there are two more of these to come!

There were only two things I liked about this movie:

The soundtrack.

And the scene where they discuss the terms of the contract - for in that moment there was actually a glimmer that Ana could be a strong powerful woman.

However these two things could not even earn the movie one point in my opinion. I really felt as if I wasted two hours of my life and I have never seen a movie that made me feel that way before.