Okay, so where to begin is the question. I have a lot of thoughts on this movie, I feel like I should have a slideshow going so I could just point them out to you as they come, but I can't do that so I'm going to try and organize my thoughts as much as possible. I have a lot to say so I hope your prepared. I don't believe I gave any spoilers. You can read my pre movie review I did after seeing the trailer here.
So I went to see this with my mother-in-law. Rico wants nothing to do with the books or the movie, his statement was your going to watch porn with my mother, I laughed, he said no and I laughed some more. Now my mother-in-law was more excited to see this movie than I and yet she kept falling asleep. I asked her how many people she thinks will buy this movie and she said she would and then I asked her how many times she'd watched it once she had it and she drew a blank. Okay I'm not saying it was terrible or unwatchable, though if you love the books won't want to see the movie like the usual book to movie scenario, however, it didn't seem like the people in the theatre with us read the books and they seemed content.
Alright, so this movie did not meet my terrible expectations, though it is not something I would recommend to a friend, however, if I had to watch it again I doubt it kill me. The soundtrack and humorous bits were the best things about the movie. I'm still not sure if I have the capacity to sit through two more movies though. I think people don't give enough credit to the editing process of a movie because this being a two hour movie it felt like 45 minutes. That being said it shouldn't have felt like 45 minutes I'll explain later.
So, I'm still unsatisfied with the casting. I don't want to sound like a mean girl gripping about how people look but when you have a book that gives you such a vivid visual image you need to get picky with your casting, even if it takes longer. I'm not as upset with Anna's casting anymore but she does come off very teenager and her turned on face had a rather calculated quality that didn't sit quiet right with me but she does have a nice pair of legs going for her. Christian oh Christian, if only they let him use his accent it would have been a way more believable Mr. Grey. I could hear it on certain words and it was kind of like damn when he kept speaking without it he sounded very tense like it was holding him back from fully expressing himself as Christian Grey in the confines of the movies restraints. I've got to say I think the male casting is what was lacking apart from Anna's step dad's and Taylor even though Taylor looks like a Joe but that's just a matter of opinion plus I pictured Taylor to look more like Joe from the princess diaries haha.
Anyway, the entire first half or more of the movie and some parts toward the end were extremely rushed and some of the changes in dialogue to make the transitions smoother did not accomplish that, they only added in making things stiffer. I shall forever stick to my original opinion of this would have made a better theatre piece. I do think that if the two short stories at the end of the 3rd book could have been made into short films instead and then called it a day, in terms of actual movies, I think they would have accomplished much more depth and quality. With majority of the scenes being rushed chemistry was lost and so were characters backgrounds. Yes, important facts that play apart in the progression of the story were stated but they were very stiff and felt out of place and the mark was missed in some key scenes. I think they should have pushed for a three hour movie so they could have better utilized important interactions it also would have put some slack on the editing restrains so the movie wouldn't feel so rushed and then even paced and back to rushed and then so on.
Now I can tell that the other movies are going to be filmed in the same way which is why I think I'll try and find them on Netflix in the future unless you'd like me to review the other two. The first movie in a trilogy in my opinion is the most important because it set's the stage for what will follow and it also pulls you in or turns you off. I'm somewhere in between with this movie because the humor was very cute and the soundtrack was nice and fitting but when you take things from books it can be very hit or miss and this while not falling flat, kind of missed the mark.
Oh, and the sex scenes because I know that's what you really want to know about weren't anywhere near as detailed as the book, I guess it was around HBO level. The red room scenes were done well the vanilla and I guess intense vanilla scenes were where the most detailed shooting was done and the music during the sex scenes was a perfect fit. Oh and kind of a side not but a necessary one, you know in the trailer of twilight how everyone was anticipating the sex scene to see the bed break and then we were all terribly disappointed, the scene where Christian takes Anna's virginity can be inserted there, just saying.
So let me know if you'll buy it or even watch it and tell me what you think because I'm sure there are plenty of opinions on this movie and you may jog my memory if I forgot to mention something. I hope I was informative enough to help you make a decision because I suck at numerical rating systems. There were some pretty good previews so let me know if you'd like movie reviews more often because I do enjoy the writing.
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