Sex, drama and dresses: A female perspective of ‘Fifty Shades Darker’

The second installment of the Fifty Shades trilogy had the promise of Anastasia Steele and Christian Grey’s relationship contract free with more sex, more drama and a beautifully upgraded wardrobe. It didn’t keep all of its promises, but it did make for an interesting date night with my boyfriend.

Let’s get the sex out of the way first. The kinky sex is toned down in the sequel as the couple works to figure out their relationship, but that doesn’t stop them from getting busy in the first 20 minutes. While there aren’t many toys in the movie, and they stay out of the red room, Anastasia does make it known what she wants in bed for a change, which is great to see.

I was expecting a few more steamy scenes, but it was pretty vanilla compared to the first movie. Christian kept his pants on most of the movie, even during intimate moments and once during shower sex.

As for the drama, “Fifty Shades Darker” brings an outline of drama but none of the juicy details I was craving. Sure there is a pervy boss, a suicidal stalker with a gun and the older “other woman” who should probably be behind bars, but none of it really connects.

Anastasia and Christian’s relationship is too intense to take seriously. He is so controlling that he won’t let her have a drink with her boss, or go on a weekend work trip because he wants to keep her all to himself.  Anastasia’s half-hearted attempts to stand up for herself always end up with her agreeing to whatever he wants. While every relationship is different, I have to admit that at times it was almost annoying to see how Christian had all the power.

Throughout the movie, it becomes clear there are some deep-rooted issues that need to be worked out with more than just sex. Ana tries her hardest to break through, but Christian stays silent about his past, offering only that his mother was a crack addict and tells Ana to ‘fill in the rest.’

Then, all of the sudden, there is a marriage proposal after what seemed like a week of them being back together. If sex can’t fix a relationship, marriage definitely can’t. There is that promised drama for the next sequel.

Finally, Anastasia transitioned from the virginal college student to the girlfriend of a billionaire and her lingerie, gowns and makeup were all impeccable. If only her confidence would grow with her sense of style. Even Christian gets an upgrade in this movie with bigger muscles and better facial hair.

All and all, “Fifty Shades Darker” was not exactly what I was expecting. The plot was ridiculous and at times laughable, but that is what made it fun to watch. I might tune into the next movie just to see how this twisted love story ends.