Film Review: "Fifty Shades Freed"

            Director James Foley returns to helm Fifty Shades Freed, the franchise’s last installment. The film begins during Anastasia (Dakota Johnson) and Christian’s (Jamie Dornan) honeymoon. Despite Christian’s possessive and jealous nature, the pair appears to be happy until their vacation is cut short as a result of a break-in at Christian’s company. Camera footage reveals the culprit to be Anastasia’s former boss, Jack Hyde (Eric Johnson) and tensions begin to rise.

            As if having to worry that Hyde might be after them wasn’t enough, the newlyweds encounter a series of problems within themselves. For one, Christian’s constant hovering over Anastasia doesn’t sit well with her since it gets in the way of her job and personal life. Things become even more tense when Anastasia discovers that Christian isn’t really sure about wanting kids in the future (stuff you should really figure out before getting married). As things begin to unravel, and Anastasia becomes pregnant, their relationship begins to falter. All the while, Hyde’s presence looms in the background.

            If you are a fan of the first two films, then Fifty Shades Freed will be satisfying enough for you. If you are someone who already doesn’t care for these films, don’t expect Freed to be the one to reel you in. The acting is truly awful and is made even worse when paired with the terrible dialogue the characters are given. It is the perfect example of mailed-in performances. You can just tell nobody in this film cared to be there. Anastasia and Christian are so odd together and they do things that really make you wonder why two people like that would even be together. Christian, in particular, makes so very questionable decisions that make it very difficult to like him.

            The problems go beyond the performances, though. It is a film that never knows what it wants to be. At times it is a romance, then it tries to be a comedy and then a thriller, but it never succeeds in becoming any of those. The editing is very weird and seems like a collection of random scenes loosely tied together by intermitent sex scenes. For some weird, unexplainable reason, Fifty Shades Freed has car chases that has Anastasia doing her best Baby Driver impersonation. The film turns into a wannabe action thriller with a “final fight” that gets resolved in the blink of an eye.

            After three installments, the Fifty Shades series has officially wrapped up. While not a particularly good film series, it found an audience and catered to them. Despite its constant negative critical reception, the series’ supporters turned his franchise into a financial success and that deserves some praise. The film’s soundtrack isn’t bad, either. Overall, however, this is a film that should be avoided. I don’t doubt that somewhere in the source material, there is an actual compelling story to tell. If there is, then maybe someone can try re-telling them again in the future. For now, though, enough is enough. I’m glad to be done with this series and move on.