The box-office smash “Fifty Shades of Grey” was a better movie than E.L. James’ “Twilight” fan-fiction deserved. The romance novel about an S&M-loving billionaire who falls for a bookworm was replete with cringe-worthy prose, but the adaptation was saved by a good dose of winking. This is supposed to be ridiculous and fun, the movie assured the audience, and for the most part it was.
With the arrival two years later of “Fifty Shades Darker,” the secret ingredients to the original’s success are clear — especially now that they’re gone. Director Sam Taylor-Johnson and screenwriter Kelly Marcel didn’t return. According to the rumor mill, Taylor-Johnson and James often didn’t see eye to eye.
The author probably didn’t have that problem with “Darker,” since the screenwriter is her husband, Niall Leonard, and director James Foley is no stranger to tawdry love affairs.
The movie picks up not long after the last one ended as Anastasia Steele (Dakota Johnson) ditched her boyfriend Christian Grey (Jamie Dornan), after his love of spanking became more than she could handle. A few weeks on, the recent college grad has landed a job at a publishing house, but she can’t seem to get Christian out of her head — probably because he still sends her roses and shows up at places where he knows she’ll be. She relents the moment Christian asks for a second chance, and this time he promises to keep his kinky toys in his “playroom,” unless she gives him the OK. (Spoiler: She does.)