[yasr_overall_rating]
Anastasia and Christian get married, but Jack Hyde continues to threaten their relationship.
One and a half hours into this film and I’m still trying to figure out exactly when, where, and how the heck Christian Grey (Jamie Dornan) became a pushover instead of the fierce and highly sexual beast of a control freak that both Anastasia Steele (Dakota Johnson) and I had become accustomed to. Three installments of one of the most anticipated sex films of our time that we didn’t have to view under a massive disguise and this is how it ends? No way!
So what does any highly respectable person like me who has been scorned three-times over by this masochistic-induced world of greenbacks and safe words do? I backtrack by reviewing each installment in its entirety and when I can no longer articulate the disconnect between the oh so gullible Ana and the ne’er to be tied down Christian in “Fifty Shades of Grey,” I succumb to the kinship that develops as the two explore the confines of working together in the business world and gaining exclusivity with one another while allowing us to cosign to their most heinous sexual desires in “Fifty Shades Darker,” and then I am just speechless with the adrenalin pumping profusely and then stopping midstream in my veins while I anticipate the disruption of wedding vows via the next argument or disagreement which can only be settled through the application of leather, chains, hot bodies, and wet kisses, and dare I say friendly verbal reminders to keep the communication lines open in the midst of juggling new authors, business ventures and the pitter patter of tiny feet.
This is madness and rightly so. Director James Foley did an excellent job of changing the landscape in “Fifty Shades Freed” by allowing Anastasia to rebel against everything Christian had ever done and still come out in beast mode. The happily-ever-after, sex-driven fairy tale was truly not achievable for both parties until Christian was able to forgive his mother for all the pain she had inflicted upon him, and Anastasia was able to gain the trust she needed from Christian in order to resolve issues outside of foreplay and to have a totally meaningful life. While I don’t totally agree with the morally complicated conclusion, I’ll have to admit that, the physiological compensation offered throughout the Fifty Shades conglomerate ride, was worth the fall. In this final installment, all the elements of seduction, betrayal, mystery, and redemption come together for the good of the Grey family and the element of sexual expression and its defining role in relational parameters.
In theaters Friday, February 9th
