Following
the events of Daredevil, Elektra Natchios (Jennifer Garner), sai enthusiast and
assassin-for-hire who dies at the end of the film, is brought back to life by
the Order of the Hand - a group of assassins who helped train her before her temporary
demise. Upon her reincarnation she gets her old assassin-for-hire job back - quickly
distinguishing herself as one of the best in the biz. Soon she is assigned by
“The Hand’s" current leader, Kirigi, to kill a man, Mark Miller
(Goran Visnjic), and his 13-year-old daughter, Abby. After getting to know these
folks, she chooses to defy her Ninja peers, (due mostly to the fact that Miller’s
grandfather was an ally of her former mentor, Stick -Terence Stamp). Together,
they must take on Kirigi's lethal quartet (which includes Tengu and Typhoid) and
in the process Elektra begins to question the choices she’s made in her life
and begins to wonder if there might be a slightly less-demanding occupation she
might pursue.
The
movie is more mystical and magical than most of the other comic books recently
adapted for the big screen. It was more like watching Crouching Tiger, Hidden
Dragon than a Daredevil or a Hulk. This is not necessarily a bad thing, but, at
times, it did water-down the films effectiveness. Much of the film focuses on
her enemies particular super-powers and how Elektra might best counter them, which
she manages to do quite flawlessly. I enjoyed the rich and captivating cast of
villains and would have liked to see these characters further developed. Instead
the film makers chose to focus on Abby and this is where the movie became derailed
and never quite gets back on track. Abby just didn’t fit well into the flow
of the film and the nature of her mystical fighting prowess was never satisfactorily
explained. The Abby subplot is my biggest complaint about Elektra and it certainly
held the film back.
Jennifer
Garner has proven that she can be a strong heroine, which plays well with the
recent trend of women who can kick some serious ass (see Kill Bill) She really
is believable as an action star (a fact that is well evidenced by her weekly heroics
on her TV series Alias). She manages to slide some mighty comely flesh into her
sexy Elektra outfit, and I think sells the tough-chick persona much more effectively
than Halle Berry did in Catwoman. I suppose there will be plenty of detractors
who will disapprove of the films’ magic and mysticism bent, but I found myself
enjoying the film, in spite of the flaws that I mentioned above. And that’s
pretty much what I look for in any film - did I enjoy it? In the case of Elektra,
I have to confess that I did.
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