Fifty Shades Freed Movie Review (Spoiler Free)
Less sex, more story but still a terrible movie. Fifty Shades Freed doesn’t aspire to become better than its predecessors but at least this trilogy comes to an end!
Genre: Drama/Romance/Thriller
Director: James Foley
Cast: Dakota Johnson, Jamie Dornan, Eric Johnson, Eloise Mumford, Rita Ora, Victor Rasuk, Luke Grimes, Max Martini, Arielle Kebbel Amy Price-Francis & Marcia Gay Harden.
Run Time: 105 min.
US Release: 09 February 2018
UK Release: 09 February 2018
German Release: 08 February 2018
We reached once again that time of the year when one of E.L. James’ book adaptations is released in cinemas. There is also a silver lining in the dark horizon though, as we finally reach the end of the road and that alone is a reason to celebrate. That is right ladies and gentlemen, no more Fifty Shades, it is done and over! I am still amazed at the fact that this became a successful cinematic franchise, since the story or characters did not evolve one bit, along all three films. In other words, this third part is simply more of the same crap we obtained since 2015.
After his proposal at the end of Fifty Shades Darker, Christian and Anastasia get married and spend their honeymoon travelling through Europe. As she starts embracing her role as Mrs. Grey, a shadow from their past appears and threatens to destroy their new life as husband and wife. Can Christian put his dominant personality aside and can Ana truly grow in her new role, as one of the most powerful women of Seattle?
There is nothing I haven’t said about the previous two movies that don’t apply to this one. The franchise is still boring, with the plot simply showing 140 minutes of a newlywed's life, who fly to their honeymoon, or drive a weekend to Aspen with their friends. The story depicts an unhealthy marital relationship and plasters it on the silver screen, including dull sex scenes that aren’t lustful. Then there is the fact that an important plot point, concerning one of the characters, is wrapped up in the last five minutes before the screen fades to black. And yet, although still being the biggest garbage, these flicks keep getting surprisingly “better” with each instalment.
As for pros; at least something is actually happening in the last act that could be described as exciting, though, silly in the way it is executed and of course, it is once again involuntarily comedic. The dialogues themselves are still absolutely cringeworthy, adding extra layers of cheese with each scene and the sex talk is, once again, one of the worst I have heard in cinematic history. At least the actors had fun with it, knowing that the script was terrible.
Just as with the plot, none of the characters managed to evolve in the course of three films.
Anastasia Steele, played by Dakota Johnson, is still naive and a hopeless romantic who expects to be able to change her husband, Christian Grey, to become emotionally more accessible. She is the worst female lead I have seen in a motion picture and a terrible role model for young women, as her actions speak false messages to the audience, about abusive relationships and how there is a chance to change violent partners if you stick with them.
Christian Grey, is still the controlling psychopath he was in the last two features, with the slight exception that he included lying to his resume. He promises Anastasia that there would be no secrets and that he would change for her, but he never does. He even puts her job in jeopardy, as he trespasses a business meeting of hers, simply because she did not change her work mail with her new surname. That is not a healthy behaviour! He persistently tries to control what she wears and where she goes on her free time, ignoring her pleas to stop as his jealousy is drowning her. This is not a man to date and least of all to marry!
Jack Hyde, portrayed by Eric Johnson, is an absolute expendable character. His presence and actions have no outcome on the story whatsoever, and his true motivation to hurt the Greys comes out of the blue and is not relatable at all. The character is a one-dimensional villain with no depths or personality.
I am aware that I keep repeating myself, believe me, it is not easy to review a series of films that don’t change. Still, it is also true for Fifty Shades Freed that its best segment is the camera work, lighting and picture. Both montages at the beginning and end, however, were creatively lazy and visually uncomfortable. The soundtrack for this romantic thriller consists again of more pop songs, to enhance “action” scenes or “set the mood” for sex scenes.
Verdict: It comes as no surprise that even the last installment of this pseudo-romantic flick is a disappointment but it was even more depressing to see how full the cinema was, during the screening. I simply don’t understand what it is that draws women of all ages to see these stories. Is it the lazy writing? Because there is nothing of interest happening throughout its runtime. Or maybe it is the BDSM and lovemaking segments, which lack absolute sexiness? It would be great if somebody could answer the question below. The dialogue is terrible and the characters are naive, as well as stupid. Christian tends to have a psychopathic personality but that is already well documented. The only reason why I didn’t lose my mind in the theatre was the knowledge that this franchise would end with this feature. Fifty Shades Freed might be a little bit better than Darker, but it still gets a 2.5 out of 10.
If you enjoyed the previous movies, you will probably like this one. For all others, stay away from this horrible want-to-be romance. Thank you as always for reading my review!
Want to read my other Fifty Shades reviews? Scroll down to view my related reviews.