0 shades of entertainment

Rating: 4/10 (19 February 2015)

So , first things first , i was not going to watch this movie. I had no plans at all. People told me that the book had some pathetic writing ( understandable since it's a twilight fan fiction ) and i didn't bother much about the movie too. But it was close to the release date when a lot people around me were super excited about the movie and couldn't stop about how good this movie was going to be , which is when i changed my mind , and boy , it was a really bad decision.
First of , this is an ambitious project with little to no context trying to build up a story arc and cash in some money from the fans of the book and i guess the only thing that helps the movie stand on it's feet is Dakota playing the lead as Anastasia Steele who is a student of literature trying to get a few stories and roundabouts of famous personalities. There are specific reasons why the movie has got a very bad rating from me and I will also explain why it has received any rating at all .
1 ) Story :- Now the movie's plot is kiddish and mediocre. If you thought Jupiter Ascending was a linear plot wait till you get a load of this. The story revolves around a literature student Anastasia Steele who gets a golden opportunity to interview a millionaire business tycoon Christian Grey, all because her friend ( who was supposed to do the interview ) fell sick, such convenience. So the plot continued , giving exposition on it's way , spelling out Christian's life piece by piece , telling us about his character which gradually evolves into a rude and self obsessed sex addict who wants to play a dominant role during his sex play. The movie is a perfect " how to make cliché " book. The plot is extremely linear as it progresses and i must say the director had the courage to give a stupid cliffhanger at the end of the movie teasing a potential sequel in the near future. And as you watch the movie you can easily draw the similarities between this story and that of twilight. Nearly every character in this universe can be associated with the Twilight one. Christian with Edward , Anastasia with Bella and there are lot of parts in the movie which seem like it's completely ripped off from twilight. ( which is a bad thing )
2 )Casting and Characters :- Casting in this movie is bad , downright stupid. The only character i guess who stands out in the whole movie is Anastasia ,who is played brilliantly by Dakota. Dakota's acting is perfect and she does her best to portray herself as a dynamics et piece in this rather dumb plot. It can be clearly witnessed how Dakota's performance though good didn't flesh out well as the character she was playing was shallow and had absolutely no proper introduction, depth of realization or even a subtle back-story or motive. On the other hand is the man of the movie Christian Grey played by Jamie Dornan, who manages to single handedly bring Dakota's performance down to the ground. Let me be serious about this fact here. This movie is about relationships , and if you expect any kind of chemistry between them you would be surprised to see none here. Christian tries to be dominant and acts the way the script tells him to making him look like he is forced to act out the actions he does. His character is more of a burden for a viewer over the already burdened plot. There is absolutely no connection between the two characters and the couple didn't resonate their vibe perfectly the way the audience would have expected. On a whole Dakota yes, others , hell no.
3 ) Direction :- To be frank I had absolutely no clue about the director of this movie Sam Taylor Johnson. I haven't watched any of her previous projects nor have I heard of her works. And for the very first viewing of her film , I can say with complete assurance that she has her own artistic angle to her direction making nearly every shot as vibrant as possible. Every single scene of this movie ( though named fifty shades of Grey ) was vibrant in every aspect. Colours were overflowing on the screen with lighting captured perfectly with a subtle touch of minimized lens flares. Sam Taylor has the ability and talent I can say to create beautifully shot moments in a movie but can fail terribly to create an atmosphere suitable for the characters to evolve and grow with the plot. One of the best examples of other talented but snubbed directors i can give is Steven Shainberg who directed the movie secretary. It had more or less the same plot as this but the direction allowed the characters to grow on the audience making them understand and feel for them.
On a whole Fifty Shades Of Grey is nowhere close to the hype it was building up. The story is mediocre and cliché in many levels with blunt protagonist Christian Grey, and a relationship that feels forced with no context from both ends. There are only 3 reasons according to me why one should watch this movie.
a ) Dakota's performance
b) Recognition of the director Sam Taylor Johnson who has the ability and talent subdued by this movie
c ) Some sleep