After so much hype about the movie, I was lured into reading all three series of the book, '50 shades of grey', by my ex who had not only read the books but also seen the stage show on Broadway. Finally the movie is released and I run to the theatre like a fat kid hungry for ice-cream. I commend the lovely job Sam Taylor-Johnson (the movie director), did with the book, as transforming a best-seller to the big screen is a huge gap to fill. Despite cutting off some scenes, there was smooth flow and transition between character dialogues and scenes, for a critic like myself who has read the book, my expectation for the movie was super high and I would say even if it wasn't met, Taylor came pretty close.

Most people who have read the book or seen the movie seem to focus more on the kinky, s3xual and graphic aspect of the story. Yes 50 shades is graphic, the novel alone tends to drive your imagination wild! I mean I found that I began to question myself how far I would go in the bedroom if I ever fell in love with a man like Grey. 50 shades is a fantasy, an er•tica and a lot of women have crazy fantasies which their overprized dignity prevents them from sharing/experiencing with their partners. And fantasies definitely come in thousands of shades of grey…50 is just mentioning a few.
However, this has not stopped me from being aware of the story behind the graphics, "a naïve college girl named Anastasia Steele (played by Dakota Johnson) met a ridiculously handsome billionaire, Christian Grey (played by Jamie Dornan) with intimacy issues. Greys issue can be attributed to his childhood experience, to sum it up, being abused as a child, both physically and s3xually. Grey meets Anastasia and is smitten by her looks, spoils her with luxurious gifts and presents his proposal about her being his submissive. Ana like any other girl would be was curious and mesmerised by Greys poise, eloquence, and handsomeness. She is torn between wanting a relationship with grey despite how ridiculous being a submissive is, or living life wondering what if.

Could Dornan and Dakota have done a better job playing Grey and Ana? Would the movie have had a better twist if a different actor and actress were used? Yes and Yes. The chemistry between Dornan and Dakota was questionable, and Dornan's ability to ooze s3xual aura could be better. I did find that the book portrayed Ana as one who blamed her inner-goddess for her s3xual urges around Grey, but Ana in the movie pretty much seemed to me like she was responsible for her decisions. Nonetheless, the soundtrack pretty much made up for the flaws of the movie, it added to the s3xual intensity and mood, lighting was great and the close-ups and wide shots framing of the movie also helped set the mood.
In all, Johnson has done a great job bringing 50 shades to the screen after a lot of criticism from some readers of the book who had questioned how such book could get transformed to a movie. His choices on scenes to cut off, use of detailed and eloquent set (furniture's), choice of soundtrack and the point to abruptly stop the movie (yes the end was abrupt, the lady in front of me at the theatre was about to start a fight), was all just enough to make the movie acceptable to the viewers while leaving them hungry…even begging for the other two parts to be released sooner than valentine's day next year.

Should you see the movie? Most definitely! Why? Try to enjoy the s3xual scenes, but I leave you with these questions as you do, "how far are you willing to go for the one you love? What would you do if you were Ana? And for the lovely guys out there, would you bend your rules if you found the one?"

My Naija people, sorry you can't see the movie in theatres, in my opinion, the pirated copy will not do the movie justice. Cheers to 50 shades of f**kery!! Much love, Mimi!

@blackboxupdate