The new director, James Foley, previously made Glengarry Glen Ross, a sexier film than this turns out to be. But both of them have moved on, and the script for this one was written by James’ husband, Niall Leonard. On the first film, director Sam Taylor-Johnson and screenwriter Kelly Marcel had creative differences with James, as they wrestled her popular erotic romance into something filmable, and even cinematic. James’ second novel faithfully, which is unsurprising given the changing of the guard behind the scenes. Other shades are unavailable, but we get to watch this one dry for two hours.
The film almost reviews itself on these terms, but the pageant of blandness that follows in this sequel is vanilla deluxe.
RENT 50 SHADES OF GREY NETFLIX TV
Watch Fifty Shades Darker online in the UK: Netflix UK / Apple TV (iTunes) / Prime Video (Buy/Rent) / TalkTalk TV / Rakuten TV / Google PlayĮarly on in Fifty Shades Darker, Anastasia Steele (Dakota Johnson) and Christian Grey (Jamie Dornan) resolve the cliffhanger of the first film by annulling the terms of their previous BDSM contract and attempting to have what Christian calls a “vanilla relationship”. Cast: Dakota Johnson, Jamie Dornan, Eric Johnson, Bella Heathcote, Kim Basinger