In this Daredevil spin-off, Jennifer Garner returns to the role of tortured-soul-turned-assassin Elektra, in which Elektra must protect a father and daughter from the Hand while also trying to conquer her own inner demons.
I have to say that Jennifer Garner should get most of the praise for this movie and in bringing Elektra alive on the screen. She maintains the same physical prowess that Alias fans love while juggling with the range of emotions Elektra stumbles through in the course of the movie, though she does retains enough of her usual good-girl image that makes her less believable as a cold-hearted assassin iat the beginning of the film.
I have to praise Terence Stamp who really makes an awesome Stick, the blind mentor of Elektra and Daredevil. Other obscure Marvel characters who appeared in this film are Stone, one of the Chaste, who is now a bad guy with similar powers, and Typhoid Mary who bears little resemblence to her comic book alter-ego, Daredevil's multiple personality/telekinesis foe. And let's not forget everyone's favorite clan of evil ninjas, the Hand.
I like the "homages" at the beginning of the film to various issues/themes from the now-canceled Elektra series. The scene when Elektra defeats the security team and kills the man in the chair seemed to come almost straight out of one of Robert Rodi's first stories. The movie also attempted to capture Greg Rucka's idea of Elektra's restlessness between jobs.
But this movie's anything but perfect. The whole idea of kimagure seemed vaguely explained and just an excuse to give Elektra a "super power." The movie doesn't seem to care to explain how Kirigi and his gang got their powers or how Elektra contacts him for their final fight. (Ninja telepathy?) It also brings up this idea that Elektra has OCD, but does nothing with this which could have put an interesting slant on the character.
Like its predecessor, movie cliches and sloppy writing mar an otherwise promising film. I don't know exactly what Elektra fans will think of the film, but Jennifer Garner fans will love this movie. C
1 comment:
I have to admit I was a bit worried about this spin off. I did really like Jennifer's acting in the movie, though heartless assassin lasts for the first part of the movie, and then seems to vanish. I haven't read many of the comics, so I am not sure how tortured she is between jobs. Was really expected some sort of DD appearance, but none-- not even in flashbacks!
Terrance Stamp does seem to fit exceptionally well as blind-samuari-master. I wish he were in the movie more. I am not sure why the plot really focused more on a special girl who the two ninja clans were fighting over. I thought that detracted from Electra's role and made it more about a kid.
The movie didn't give in to some cliches- Electra falling for the said special girl's widowed dad- but on the other hand, gave in to many others- the final showdown with bad ninjas are the ones who killed her father, she's the assassin with a heart of gold, silly lines which I could guess-- it's too bad that these things weren't work out.
I would have liked to see more about Electra- a job where maybe she was an assassin instead of a superhero. More fighting and ninja scenes would have been good.
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