An almost-satisfactory attempt ruined by painfully false-scripted dialogues and repetitive scenes.

Rating: 5/10 (8 April 2015)

In screening Fifty Shades of Grey with no prior knowledge of the book whatsoever with the exception of its tag topic BDSM and the brief synopsis of a English literature student entering the world of Christian Grey, a sadist dominant pushing Anastasia Steele into the extremities of her imagination, one will require a mature attitude toward the idea of a fetish in order to view the film without bias.
Throughout the film, despite some of the scenes in which both leads could not save themselves from the fan-fictional language of the original book, entirely diminishing the built up dramatic tension, Dakota Johnson and Jamie Dornan does succeed in bringing their roles properly to life, especially Johnson who manages the on-screen transition from a virgin to woman which came as a surprise for me as her portrayal as Em in Date and Switch offered no significance. That being said, there are flaws, the all but gradual emotional growth and the rapid transition of her attitudes from playful naught to solemn anger and frustration against Grey was somewhat of a nuisance to audiences' eyes.
On the technical side of things, there were a few scenes in which sound mixing may come across as an over exaggeration, for example the helicopter scene which dramatically speaking was necessary however created no lasting impact but more of an annoyance as it pushes the story backwards when at that point, the script should have been pushed forward.
The progressive changes to the styling of Steele and also her roommate could be praised, depicting the sudden changes in Anastasia's life, and the never dismissed wardrobe of Grey, though expected, was done in a standard slightly above average. Another technical merit complimenting the characters was the makeup, as it was able to adjust between pre-sex and post-sex states of Anastasia, reflecting her inner emotions ranging from joy to fatigue to confusion to frustration.
To be frank, the directions given for the sex-scenes were done quite well as to create neither a complete soft core porno too embarrassing to watch in the crowd nor a total disaster unfaithful to the female readers of the original. Tastefully done neither Actor's genitals were fully exposed despite chances to do so, movements were subtle, camera works had been in a comfortable degree just between subtlety and explicitness. However both song selections almost completely ruins the atmosphere, offering not the expected hollowing beauty but more of a malice to the scenes. There were a lot less spanking involved as expected by the original readers what with most actions implied rather than shown, the only explicit scene was probably the ice-cube scene. And to tie the entirety together, Jamie Dornan's abs contrasting fragile flimsy body of Dakota seem to have done it for the audiences, One flaw, however was the excessive exaggeration of moaning, an 'immersive' mistake that could have been easily fixed and corrected by sound editing.
The progressive plot started off as entertaining, grabbing most audiences attention with low point jokes that usually doesn't run flat and keeps the story running, the humour supports the first half of the film nicely in compliment to the building up to the more serious parts. However in the second part as the movie loses its humorous supports, filled up with repetitive scenes and dialogues dragging the entire picture to 2 hours which looks much more serious as a drama but really is quite excessive when there's a trilogy planning to be made. The acting also drops off in the second half as Jamie Dornan, though successfully depicted the changes in his role from all controlling to almost tolerance, by toning down his sense of mystery, arrogance and air of danger to seem realistic on big screen, fails to bring the audiences home with the poker face when more expressions should have been seen. Which leaves mostly frustration and impatience for the audiences as they pray for the movie to end.
The ending appears all too drastic and sudden, which could be excused in a setup film in a large franchise for an ending of magnificence and epic, such as Mocking jay Part 1 or Harry Potter: The Deathly Hallows Part 1. However, as the introduction to the possible trilogy, the curtain falls way too soon conveying no cliffhanging and ruins the continuity of the story, as if the director herself had to be excused to the bathroom and her PA was forced finished the rest.
The overall plot seem to be headless as it does not rest on a focus, from Anastasia's struggle to normality to her curiosity in Grey to objectification of women to BDSM which intensifies the relationship of the leads to the said relationship being a fantasy of princess-in-a-tower. Which limps the movie to a dreadful two hours.
On an ending note, Fifty Shades of Grey offers almost competent technical support including makeup art direction to make it a visual film with decent casting, acting, and scripting and ultimately a controversial topic to lure audiences into its world, however fails to extract itself completely from the original Fan-fiction author therefore after the better half of enjoyable humour becomes a mind-boggling fest of none-happenings, leaving most audiences disappointed.
Scoring
Perfection 0/0.5
-Capable of sustaining through multiple viewing
-Deliver genre specific impact (high dramatic tension, emotional impact, stunt action)
-Satisfactory soundtrack
-Acceptably original plot containing originality even if the film itself is an adaptation
-Enjoyable as a standalone film even though it may be in a franchise.
Musical Composition/ Sound track 0.5/1.5
(Genre Specialties) Jokes, Drama, Sex 0.6/1.5
Makeup, Costume, hairstyle, Art direction 0.5/0.5 Combined as these are minor factors
Adapted Script 0.6/2
Acting 0.9/1.5
Casting 0.4/0.5
Technical works (Visual editing, Sound editing/mixing, Cinematography) 0.2/0.5
Production Design1.3/1.5
Overall: 5/10