Elektra Review

Maybe it's just because I'm a rabid comic book fan, but this movie is nowhere near as bad as the 7% it's pulling in on Rottentomatoes. Yes, there are glaring plot holes, most notably explaining why the hand killed Elektra's mom, why Stick brought Elektra back from the dead, what exactly the young girl's background is and what exactly her abilities are. In fact, the whole "war between good and evil" idea is not really filled in much, if at all. Elektra is not as good as the theatrical cut of Daredevil, and definately not as good as the Director's Cut. But damn it, I enjoyed this movie, and not only because Jennifer Garner looks good in red (and anything else she wears).

For me the movie works because they did a good job with Elektra's character. Garner is excellent, exuding confidence and cool in the assassination scenes and indecision when she's not killing someone. But this character was always going to depend on more than a good performance, and I like how the director showed her ability to operate in the shadows. The supporting cast is not bad, and Terrance Stamp certainly does a fantastic job as the enigmatic sensei Stick. The action is not fantastic, but it is passable and it moves along at a pretty good pace. The movie is lacking a good bit of backstory, but I did like the fact that it zips over Elektra's revival. It gets a grand total of something like 2 or 3 minutes of screen time, and then it's a flashback. Although a few more explanitory flashbacks that dealt with some of the questions I listed above would have been good, I liked how they dealt with the backstory that they had.

This is definately not one of Marvel's better films, and the ending gets a little sappy, but I enjoyed the journey. I'd put it on about the level of The Punisher, although with less edge. It's certainly not as bad as most critics would have you believe. If you give it a chance and go in with reasonable expectations, you might have a good time.