Fifty Shades Darker

Director: James Foley

Screenplay: Niall Leonard

Cast: Dakota Johnson, Jamie Dornan, Eric Johnson

Strength: Story

Weakness: Screenplay, Chemistry 

Duration: 118min

Rating: 4.5/10

Plot: The story begins shortly after Anastasia and Christian break up. Ana is terribly upset, but has just acquired a job as personal assistant to Jack Hyde (Eric Johnson), who is the editor at Seattle Independent Publishing. Wounded Christian convinces her to resume their romance under Ana's conditions. As the couple begins their normal relationship, Christian's past threatens the couple to tear them apart.

Review: "Fifty Shades Darker" is basically an erotic romantic movie based on the E L James novel series. The basic premise includes a damaged man terrified of intimacy and a loving woman waiting for him to transform into the wonderful boyfriend that she knows is inside of him. Stories of rich men and poor women are already in our culture and the sadomasochism of this movie actually demystifies the subject.

"Fifty Shades Darker" has some structural issues within it. The movie could not maintain the spirit of the book, therefore missing a lot of details and some iconic parts of the book. The movie focused too much on Ana and Grey, which ruined other elements. When it came to the acting, there was little to no chemistry between Dakota Johnson and co-star Jamie Dornan, and that's unfortunate because this was supposed to be some sort of a love story. Dakota Johnson showed her improvement in this movie as a mature Ana. Johnson once again stole the show, but Dorman had nothing to work with character-wise. Taylor Swift and Zayn Malik's "I Don't Wanna Live Forever" actually lightened up the movie and was refreshing to listen to. Overall, "Fifty Shades Darker" may wear leather and chains, but it's still a must watch for romantic movie lovers.

Reviewed by Saqiba Nawshin Junnurine