Film review: Fifty Shades of Great?

Not quite. My first thoughts when embarking on a cinema experience with Fifty Shades of Grey were that it would be Fifty shades of crap. Rated somewhere near another loathed film like Twilight, which I was forced to see by a girlfriend against my will.

However, I can honestly say that once you get past the ridiculous storyline it's not as bad as its book's bad reputation implies.

It actually holds a lot of the charm commonly found in the love//hate genre that is the rom com, and a good dose of sexy scenes tastefully done, i.e. no below the belt shots.

The play room

For those who want to spice it up in the bedroom (play room) but aren't sure how to tell their other half, or for those who are dating but can't quite get past hand holding, this film will surely have you both going there.

The lead character Anastasia Steele (Dakota Johnson) has been cast as a cross between the innocence of Katniss from the Hunger Games and Anne Hathaway in The Devil Wears Prada.

Now picture Ms Bookish and innocent meeting Mr Handsome with a dark secret past, Christian Grey (Jamie Dornan). It's the stuff of many films we've seen before.

I could liken Christian Grey to any character, such as James Bond or Batman, both with many untold very, very dark secrets. The only difference is that what is probably supposed to be VERY serious stuff comes out as rather comical when uttered from Mr Grey's lips.

There are some definite soft-porn-intro cringe moments but you and the rest of the movie theatre will all cringe and laugh together at all the very bad bits.

Aside from the sniggering, Anastasia's more realistic character is what makes the film, including drunken phone calls and general relationship woes.

Its downfalls are the over exaggerated moments between Ms Innocent and Mr Dark Past.

What about the controversy?

The only really controversial moment was the last scene (so yes you have to watch the whole film to get that part), and I can see why women everywhere are up-in-arms, as this is where the sensual fun ends and a darker topic of the non-comical kind is addressed.

So to summarise, go and see this film if you miss Sex and the City and love watching shows like The Bachelor. You can take your boyfriend but don't expect him to like any of it, apart from the naked bits (which there are a lot of). Don't go if you are any type of realist and definitely don't go with your parents.

3/5