Rating summary

Movie		1.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		1.0
Overall		2.5

Fifty Shades of Black Blu-ray Movie Review

No grey area: this parody film stinks.

Reviewed by Martin Liebman April 15, 2016

Fifty Shades of Grey, the movie based on the smash hit novel by E. L. James, wasn't particularly well received, mocked in many circles and derided as a cheap cash-in, suffocating from terrible writing and dreadful performances. Sounds like a parody film. If Grey did have anything going for it, it was name recognition, cultural awareness, and plenty of buzz, which are the only ingredients necessary to launch a parody. Fifty Shades of Black is that parody movie, and it shares much in common with its parent, including terrible writing. The movie plays out as expected, written, executed, and released with little creative awareness or flow. Shaped by thoughtless gags, repetitive rambling, unfunny jokes, and performances that can't squeeze out any humor from a vacuous script, the movie is practically as bad as one can imagine, though mercifully a little tighter and more focused than the randomized bottom-scraping drek that's overwhelmed the genre in recent years.

"I like..."

Hannah (Kali Hawk) is a fresh-faced college-age virgin who is interviewing the powerful and extremely wealthy Christian Black (Marlon Wayans), a man with an appetite for power and kinky sex. He was taught by the best. The two find themselves attracted to one another, and, um...hilarity ensues? Not much of a plot here, people...

"Forced." Fifty Shades of Black wrenches in some sort of gag in every shot, verbal or physical or both, in an effort to maintain a humor quotient that more often falls groan-inducing flat and repetitive rather than fresh and funny. The movie recreates key scenes from Grey with the intention of making them full-on lewd or over-the-top ridiculous. Precious little of it works. Most of the gags usually serve only to make the characters look bad -- Hannah cannot figure out that she needs to pull on office doors to open them rather than push -- or lead to overzealous sex scenes that include things like kissing an enlarged belly button or performing while singing. It's more cringe-worthy than it is gut-busting funny. A few jokes hit enough to elicit a smile, but the boredom of the whole is hardly worth the joys of a few fleeting moments.

Like most films of this sort, the story is spread thin and barely holds together. What little semblance of plot that exists serves only to transition the movie from one gag to another or allow for further pokes at the movie on which it is based. Thankfully, Fifty Shades of Black does stick mostly with Grey as its source, unlike other catch-all movies like Meet the Spartans that favor random, out-of-the-blue "gags" over a more identifiable focal point. But it's not exclusive to Fifty Shades. The movie cranks out a segment that depicts a Whiplash-themed sex-ed course, gets in a jab at Donald Trump, and covers all of the isms with blunt force comedic attacks, but the end product is a fairly focused send-off of its nearly-namesake but seems to exist more to play on words than to genuinely entertain its audience.

Fifty Shades of Black Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Fifty Shades of Black shows its colors on Blu-ray with a tight and precise 1080p transfer. The only major sore spot here is a sprinkling of noise that creeps in every now and then. Otherwise, it's good to go. The digital photography is slick and clean and reveals both a bright, accurate color scheme and well defined details. The image is home to an abundance of rich colors, whether a bright blue VW Beetle or Hannah's friend's colorful ensembles and pink, purple, and red-dominant hair, nails, and makeup. Some of the sleeker shades of gray, black, and white in the Black Enterprises offices sparkle, too. Details are accurate and robust. Facial textures are intimately revealing, fine clothing lines are tactile, and the image's natural proclivity to sharpness allows every background detail, whether little touches in offices or broad overhead skyline vistas, to shine. Black levels hold strong, evident particularly in an overhead nighttime exterior. Flesh tones are healthy and full.

Fifty Shades of Black Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Fifty Shades of Black's DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack is technically sound but sonically unremarkable. The presentation is very straightforward, yielding high energy music, basic support effects, and dialogue. Music is well defined and robust. Spacing along the front is wide, instrumental clarity is excellent, and the low end is potent when called upon. There's not a seriously heavy back channel presence, however. Small little sonic touches occasionally find their way to the back, but don't expect a steady barrage of surround goodness. Dialogue is the primary feature here. The spoken word enjoys natural center placement, flawless clarity, and consistent prioritization. All in all, this is a fine track but one that won't ever be a go-to reference listen if only for its lack of anything memorable or remarkable above and beyond the call of duty.

Fifty Shades of Black Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Fifty Shades of Black contains a handful of deleted scenes and a brief featurette. A UV/iTunes digital copy voucher is included with purchase.

• Deleted Scenes (1080p): Not the Man For You (1:02), Perfect Gentleman Montage (0:53), Penthouse Surprise (1:18), Christian's Confession (2:38), Unexpected Visitor (2:28), and Three's a Crowd (1:17).
• Meet Mr. Black (1080p, 1:31): Marlon Wayans runs through the gamut of what the movie has on offer.

Fifty Shades of Black Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Long gone are the days of the great parody films -- Spaceballs, The Naked Gun, even Hot Shots! -- but credit Marlon Wayans and Fifty Shades of Black with at least running with a line of attack and refusing to drift off course and entertain stale pop culture gags that have lost their relevance before the movie even hits theaters. Fifty Shades of Black is mostly unfunny and completely unnecessary, but it's not uneven. It makes light of delicate issues, such as race and sex, with an obvious and self-deprecating wink and a nod. Rarely is it funny, but it's at least focused on the task. Universal's Blu-ray delivers scant extra features and quality video and audio. Worth a rental on a really slow weekend and as an amusing side compliment for fans of the film on which it is based.