Film Review: Fifty Shades Freed

Fifty Shades Freed
Starring Dakota Johnson, Jamie Dornan, Rita Ora, Marcia Gay Harden, Jennifer Ehle and Kim Basinger
I couldn't very well list all the stars now could I? I got the bulk of them. Are you sensing a bit of reviewer hostility? Of course you are and now you're going to find out why. *There are spoilers so if you haven't seen this film, you've been warned.
The film opens with Ana and Christian's wedding. The vows were unfeeling, emotionless, a mere delivery of a line. I don't feel a love between them; It's more of a lust and obsession than love.
Christian shows his childishness during their honeymoon in "boobland" or France. He gets controlling when she wants to be like the French girls, sunbathe topless.
Christian is like a jealous little boy. That's what he acts like. In the club scene, a man walks up behind Ana, grabs her hips and tries to dance with her. He tries to hit on Ana when she slaps him. Christian immediately steps in beating the tar out of the guy. It must have turned them both on because they immediately embrace and kiss . I am very disappointed because this scene portrays Ana and Christian as an overly dramatic couple who always needs attention. Meanwhile Ana's best friend Kate and Christian's brother Elliot have just gotten engaged but it seems that all is forgotten almost immediately. It would have been nice to see more of a celebration of the engagement. I wanted to shout, "Not everything is about you and Christian, Ana!"
From day 1 (Fifty Shades of Grey), Christian has effectively commanded Ana to "do this" or "don't do that." Far from the empowering of women the cast claims in the first film.
The character of Christian loses all credibility when Ana tells him she's pregnant. Not only does he lose his marbles claiming he doesn't want to share her with anyone else but he runs to his ex-mistress because he can't handle the news.
He then gets angry with Ana for seeing Elena's texts. He feels he owes no explanation to his wife. He answers as he did once before, "We're just friends." I'm sure we've all heard that at some point of our lives.
Speaking of Elena, did she really have a purpose in this film? No. We see Kim Basinger twice; no dialogue just facial expressions. Her presence was merely a waste of time and to promote more conflict than what was needed.
Christian doesn't stand down from his controlling behavior however I must commend Ana for actually defending herself, threatening to leave Christian, and raise the baby on her own if she has to. It's truly one of the only times Ana displays her so-called strength.
The main threat to their "happiness" is really Jack Hyde played by Eric Johnson. Remember him? The perverted boss? It's ironic really because Christian became Jack's boss yet Jack is the creepy, perverted one. Christian says that Ana got her position from her own hard work so why is that so hard to believe knowing that he is the boss's boss?
Anyway at the end of the second film, Jack holds a family picture, burning out Christian's face. It is suspected up to this point that the only connection between Jack and Christian is Ana however we find in this final film that it's not. Jack's hatred goes much deeper than that. It's interesting how 1) this is brought up in the final film, close to the end of the film, 2) Jack is never confronted about his connection to Christian, and 3) the hatred is left where it was assumed before, with Ana. I feel that the story is very broken and disorienting. There is a lack of consistency whereas before it was a lack of buildup and suspense which was the original problem. These characters did not grow since the first film. I feel that the minor characters such as Mia, Kate, Elliot, and others were merely there from preventing this film from being an actual porn. It is not a love story, it is not any kind of story. As I've said before, if the author would have truly worked on the story it would've had some kind of potential but instead it has become a story of mere sex and sexual pleasures that has rarely been discussed if at all.
The only tasteful and satisfying portion of the story was the final scene where Christian and Ana are enjoying family life. Christian is playing with their son as Ana relaxes with a book, obviously pregnant again. It is the only real scene in this entire story and I feel that it is a glimpse of what could have been. I have no interest in reading the books and I feel that re-releasing the story in Christian's view was a waste. Ana's view was enough. Furthermore the ending of the film with Ana on her knees in the red room wanting to play was simply disgraceful. This was a love story? Really? Before she enters the red room, Ana watches Christian playing the piano having her flashback with the soundtrack of Ellie Goulding's "Love Me Like You Do" from the first film. The funny thing is it was identical to the flashback Bella granted Edward at the end of the Twilight series. This shouldn't be surprising really since this story began as a Twilight fan fiction. Very disappointing. The only light from this series is the jump started careers of Dakota Johnson, Jamie Dornan, and Rita Ora. The characters were severely underdeveloped and truly served no purpose. I urge you not to waste your money on this film. If you are to watch it, borrow it from a friend or make sure you watch it for free. It's not even worth a penny. The soundtrack is better.