It may be the scene in which brooding multimillionaire Christian Grey shows his softer side by playing the piano and singing Paul McCartney’s Maybe I’m Amazed in a private mountain lodge when Fifty Shades Freed jumps the shark.

Or perhaps the whole film is one big exercise in shark-jumping – and maybe that’s kind of the point?

The film franchise based on EL James’ famously kinky books concludes this year with this latest instalment (in cinemas February 8), which sees sadomasochism fiend Grey (Jamie Dornan) settle down with sweet-natured book editor Anastasia Steele (Dakota Jonhson).

Often regarded to be soft porn dressed up as romance, the third film in the blockbuster series careens wildly from sappy, sugar-coated romance, to fairly explicit sex scenes, to violent car chases and fights.

See our full movie review below

As far as the plot goes, consider it one big combination of cliches – combining an orphan sob story with a home-invasion scare, a fairytale wedding, a hostage situation, a surprise pregnancy and a montage of flashbacks from the two previous films. Yes, that’s all in the one movie.

It’s Johnson who is responsible for what little levity and tongue-in-cheek playfulness the film possesses – she delivers her cringe-inducing dialogue with a wink at the audience, clearly enjoying the ride despite herself.

“Finally, the Fifty Shades phenomenon has yielded a disarming comedy that makes this ridiculous material fun to watch,” IndieWire aptly summarised.

“Johnson, radiant and committed, gives Ana a certain confidence and ease that she’d never had before.”

Dakota Johnson is at least enjoying herself while playing newlywed Anastasia Steele. Photo: Universal Pictures

Meanwhile, Irish-born Dornan, particularly in the aforementioned piano scene, looks like a particularly handsome hostage forced to feign an American accent and pretend he cares about his character’s incredibly convoluted backstory.

You get the sense that after this franchise has wrapped he’ll take his money and run. You should too.