Elektra Fails to Electrify the Screen
Jake Pearson
IV Leader Movie Critic
2 out of 4 stars
Ah, a new semester. And with a new semester comes new
movies. Yes indeed, over the holidays we have been bombarded with movies. Some
good, some bad, but over all, they all share one characteristic: they’re
expensive. Considering that the average ticket price in the area is around
$6.00, the movie lover has to use caution in which movies to see. I faced this
problem last weekend as I searched for a movie worth my hard earned coin.
Ultimately, I decided on Elektra. Some of you may remember
the character as Ben Affleck’s tragic love interest in the movie Daredevil.
Instead of making a second Daredevil movie (which I had hoped for), Hollywood
decided to make a spin off featuring Elektra Natchios, whose name creator Frank
Miller took from the Greek tragedy. Jennifer Garner reprises her role as the
ninja-like femme fatale, this time becoming an assassin/mercenary. Resurrected
from the dead by the blind guru Stick, Elektra is trained to fight the dark
forces of the Hand, an evil group of ninjas. Unable to follow the Yoda-like
guidance of Stick, Elektra uses her skills as a top assassin for hire. The rest
of the movie is pretty straightforward from there: Elektra sees a ninja, the
ninja and Elektra fight, Elektra kills said ninja. While this was by no means a
bad movie, it wasn’t mind blowing. My suggestion would be to wait until it comes
out on DVD, especially since they plan on releasing a “R” rated Director’s cut.
For those who have seen the awesome “Daredevil” Director’s Cut, you can
understand why this might be a good idea.
Being a pretty big Daredevil fan, I could appreciate some of
this movie’s finer points. The introduction of Stick and the Hand was very cool,
as was the use of Elektra’s classic red costume. While some artistic license was
taken (the little girl assassin, the Croatian guy from “ER”), the movie stays
pretty true to the character. And I also have to congratulate the producers of
this movie for not forcing some dramatic and unnecessary love interest on
Elektra. True, there are some passionate moments between Mark Miller and
Elektra, but nothing out of hand. My one complaint about this movie would be the
numerous plot holes that occur in the script. For example, no explanation is
given as to how Elektra goes from training in Japan with Stick and then being an
assassin in the United States. I was also very disappointed that they did not
have Elektra finishing her training with the Hand, which is what happened in the
comic book. These shortcomings aside, Elektra is a far better movie than the
atrocious Catwoman movie released last year.
Elektra won’t win any awards for acting, but no review would
be complete without a mention of Jennifer Garner’s physical abilities. While
Jennifer Garner is far from the raven haired exotic beauty envisioned by creator
Frank Miller, it’s hard for me to think of a better actress to portray her.
Jennifer Garner is in amazing physical shape and performs the many fight scenes
with ease and grace. Plus, she looks amazing in that red leather corset. It’s
obvious that she is in her element in this movie, unlike her awkward comedic
turn in 13 Going On 30.
All in all, I give Elektra 2 out of 4 stars. It’s a pretty
good action movie, but lacks the pizzazz that made X2:X-Men United and
Spider-man 2 stand out amongst the onslaught of comic book inspired movies.