★★
There is nothing sane about the existence and popularity of the Fifty Shades franchise. What’s weirder still is that it’s a trilogy that genuinely isn’t totally irredeemable. In Fifty Shades Freed the story ‘climaxes’ with a meta-twist: what was originally Twilight fan-fiction has become Fifty Shades fan-fiction. Bizarre.
★★
Remember when Disney spawned a film out of their Haunted Mansion theme park ride? Well, now there’s a version for grownups. We know it’s for grownups because this one’s a 15 and inspired ‘eerily’ by ‘actual events’, namely the real Winchester Mystery House in San Jose. Being no better, a barbershop quartet of busts might actually have improved this one.
★★★
What an odd film this is, wholly befitting of its quirky central character. A backroom lawyer, Roman J. Israel, Esq. is an empathetic super-computer, exceedingly well versed in law and awkwardly inept in society. In the hands of Denzel Washington, here is a commanding and thoroughly engaging performance. Unfortunately, the film itself lies in the less sure hands of writer-director Dan Gilroy and is a much more unwieldy construct.
The Film Blog 