Fifty Shades Darker

When we last saw Anastasia “Ana” Steele (Dakota Johnson), she'd brusquely walked out on domineering Seattle billionaire Christian Grey (Jamie Dornan), after the latter turned her into his personal sex slave. Now, she's an assistant to the editor in a publishing house. Still, when Christian buys an entire art exhibit of her photos, gullible Ana returns to his kinky red room, which has been sensuously redecorated, and their arrangement is renegotiated: this time, no pain (unless you count nipple clamps). In addition to a creepy, spurned stalker (Bella Heathcote), there's also a pivotal woman haunting Christian's twisted psyche: his mother's (Marcia Gay Harden) best friend, Elena (Kim Basinger), a cougar who taught Christian all about obedience and sadomasochistic sex. “He needs a submissive—in life as well as in the bedroom,” she tartly informs skittish Ana. Complicating matters further, Ana's smarmy editor, Jack Hyde (Eric Johnson), loses his livelihood when Christian buys the publishing house, and Hyde is determined to wreak revenge. Adapted from E.L. James's bestselling novel with steamy Harlequin-esque dialogue, Fifty Shades Darker is ineptly directed by James Foley, featuring simulated, stylized sex scenes that are laughably ludicrous. Not recommended. [Note: DVD/Blu-ray extras include the behind-the-scenes segments “Dark Reunion” (8 min.) and “Writing Darker” (3 min.), deleted scenes (2 min.), and a brief teaser for the upcoming sequel Fifty Shades Freed. Exclusive to the Blu-ray release are the production featurettes “New Threats” (9 min.), “The Masquerade” (7 min.), “Intimate with Darker” (7 min.), and “A Darker Direction” (5 min.), and bonus DVD, UltraViolet, and digital copies of the film. Bottom line: a solid extras package for a silly sequel.] (S. Granger)