Saturday 14 February 2015

Fifty Shades Of Grey Film Review! - A Valentines Post

Hola people!

***Happy Valentines Day!***

As a Valentines gift, my partner Scott took me to the cinema yesterday to see Fifty Shades of Grey. It was a fab date! 
I have indeed read the books. In fact, I read them before all the major hype began, when they went practically unnoticed. I've since read them another 3 times! I really enjoyed them. I will admit, it does annoy me when people assume it's all about sex. The primary plot is of love. It's a love story. It just so happens that the Hero has particular tastes in the bedroom and said tastes are (as he says) very singular. He finds a woman he's intrigued by and introduces her to his tastes. As we all do with our favourite things! When we meet people, (either as friends or more) we shares likes and dislikes and putting it bluntly...it's the same with sex! We all know people have different preferences when it comes to sex and Fifty Shades is the epitome of that. 
The fact that Christian Grey has secrets and a guarded heart is due to his childhood. This, also, is a big factor in his and Anastasia's story. Traumatic events and major influences from certain people in his past have made him behave a certain way, thus ensuing his particular lifestyle. 
While all this is quite a deep part of the story, their love is so encompassing! The passion they have for each other (outside the bedroom ;)) is lovely to read. It may be fiction, but it's intended to draw you in and make you fall in love with Christian and his love for Ana and for me, that absolutely happened! I enjoyed reading how they overcame emotional turmoil and how their relationship grew.

I understand that Fifty Shades isn't for everyone. Totally. Each person has individual tastes! However, this whole "abuse" malarkey that has come about lately has really ticked me off. 
In. No.Way. Is there abuse in Fifty Shades of Grey. I've seen rants online from strongly religious people stating it's the work of the Devil as it highlights domestic abuse and glamorises it! I've even seen some women rant online, claiming that he rapes her into submission. Even after these women have admitted that they have NOT read the books! This is all buuuuuuull-crap! It's a case of, one man, showing a woman he fancies, a particular lifestyle he's adopted. Throughout the books and throughout the film, it is constantly mentioned that her consent is needed for anything sexual to happen and that she is free to say "no thanks!" to what he is showing and offering to her. If it were abuse, he would have forced her into doing something she didn't want to do...this does not happen. If he raped her, I'm pretty sure the series wouldn't be considered a bloody romance and y'know what? The books wouldn't have then been allowed on the shelves!! If he abused her so obscenely, E.L.James wouldn't have sold over 100 million copies of her series. Enough said.


So! Enough of the ranting! (Got a tad carried away there!)
Onto my thoughts of the film...
I, seriously enjoyed it! I think Director Sam Taylor-Johnson should be proud of herself. Considering many book-to-film adaptations don't have a good reputation, Fifty Shades Of Grey, does stick closely to the books and gives us loyal fans something to compare to our own imaginings of the erotic tale.
I personally, don't picture Dakota Johnson (Anastasia) or Jamie Dornan (Christian) as my perfect representations of the characters, however they did a great job on screen and really did bring the love story to life. There were plenty of laughable moments! Dakota did bring a fun side to Ana! She didn't take herself too seriously and as someone who had the immediate attention of a famous business mogul, she certainly keeps him wanting more! ;)
The sex scenes were HOT. No doubt about it. Of course, there are plenty of sex scenes in the book and they need to be portrayed on screen so us as the audience can gather what their sex life is all about. BDSM or no BDSM. In fact, Christian Grey's Playroom may look daunting considering it's filled with a luxurious bed and furniture, toys (no not Lego! :P) and BDSM paraphernalia, but the sex between them is really quite tame considering there is much heavier content out there in other romance books. Believe me, I've read it. ;)

Seeing the camera pan up to Escala (the building where Christian lives) was awesome! I was doing a proper fan-girl squeal inside. That moment when he takes Ana out in Charlie Tango (his private helicopter) for the first time made me a little bit giddy as I knew what was going to be proposed to her by CG. When he first showed Ana his Playroom, it slightly took my breath away! I personally think it looks quite beautiful! Lol!
Their passion. Oh, their passion. It was captured in such a beautiful yet deeply erotic way.
As someone who's read the book repeatedly, it's hard to not sit there and compare the movie to the book constantly. So many of the most iconic and memorable quotes are all there and delivered in the way they should be! 

The only things that I had a slight problem with were:
Jamie Dornan didn't seem as completely dominant as CG is in the book. I felt he was a little softer, or maybe tamer is a better word? I appreciate that some things have to be toned down to be fit for cinema screening. Though in the books, (I say that too much!) I feel Christian is slightly more controlling (not in an abusive way) and more focused on Ana's life.
There's also a part where he explains something crucial to his life when Ana is sleeping. Part of me thought...woah, that doesn't happen til book 3?! How come they've shown the audience now? That particular part I thought would have had more of a build up to it as it's what draws you in to wanting to find out what makes CG tick. I don't want to explain what he says right away as it's a slight spoiler, but if  you get what part I'm talking about, let me know in a comment below and tell me what you think too!
Lastly, one teeny tiny nitpick....she didn't have a Blackberry phone and nor did he. LOL!
If  you've read the book, you know that Christian sends Ana a new phone, new laptop, new car among various other gifts and you also know how E.L.James' writing is a product placement companies wet dream! With frequently mentioned brands like Blackberry, Audi and Apple, I expected to see those small details in the film. Though, Ana has a regular American flip-up cell and Christian has an iPhone 5 ;) hahaha!
Like I say, I'm really nitpicking with that last one, but I thought I'd mention it. :P

The soundtrack is absolutely BEAUTIFUL! I'm in love with it. Most frequently played are Love Me Like You Do - Ellie Goulding & Earned It - The Weeknd (correct spelling). 
I can't actually begin to describe all that is right with these two songs! They're just truly perfect!!
The soundtrack sticks true to the books also, by featuring songs such as Witchcraft - Frank Sinatra which is played when Christian is taking Ana to meet his parents. In all honesty, if the songs mentioned in the book weren't in the film, it wouldn't create the full atmosphere.
Finally, one last brilliant thing about the soundtrack...Danny Elfman! One of the best composers (one of my faves) in the world and he himself has composed two songs for the film. YES! :D
Awesome work Danny E! <3


So there you go! My long arse review (and slight rant) of Fifty Shades!
I can't wait until the next installment comes out...in a years time...*cries*
If you've read the books, seen the film, done both or neither and want to chat about it, leave a comment below! Let me know what you think of it, even if you hate it entirely. ;)

Until the next post, Rock On!



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4 comments

  1. I love Danny Elfman! Great review!

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    1. Thanks Kristin! Danny is pure awesomeness ;) xx

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  2. Lovely review. A lot of people are going to see this at the weekend, it seems like it will be a huge film. Rebecca | rebeccamariee.blogspot.com xx

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    1. Thanks Rebecca! It seems to have such mixed reviews online, but if the box office sales are anything to go buy, I'd say people must be loving it! Have you seen it at all? xx

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