Ahoy, squirts! Quint here with a pair of ELEKTRA reviews. I see this one tomorrow, I think. I hope it's what the second review says it is because I want every movie I see to be cool, especially if that movie has a Marvel movie tag before it, but I have a nagging feeling this flick is going to fall somewhere in the vicinity of THE PUNISHER. Anyway, the pissed off review is first! "Elektra has been fucked, gang raped by the low brow idiots of Hollywood." Ouch.
Hi Harry,
Just caught a press screening of Elektra over here in the UK and wanted to let you know my thoughts on it...
Can I point out that Elektra: Assassin, the original by Frank Miller with artwork by Bill Sienkiewicz is my all time favourite comic book / graphic novel.
Elektra - the film does not I'm afraid live up to the amazing potential of the source material - at all... In fact Elektra has been f*cked, gang raped by the low brow idiots of Hollywood if you will - the film is Elektra in name alone. This is why: Elektra of the comic is nasty, cool, efficient, sexy and rock hard. Elektra in the film is sexy, sweet, emotional and wimpy... I lay a lot of blame at the festering feet of Rob Bowman - he is the master of taking potentially explosive material (Reign of Fire and now Elektra) and working his 'average' magic on it until the film comes out looking like an identikit 12 year old's dream...
The original comic was for 'mature readers' - the film should have a reverse age check with nobody over 13 allowed in!!
Why? The "action" is bloodless and weak, the tone and style are vapid, the baddies are laughable and the script sucks ass more than any in the history of cinema...
I could let all this go if it was just some new and doomed to fail action effort - but NOT when it's based on the awesome Elektra source material. Yes it may be worth seeing just to be pleasured at the sight of Jennifer Garner in her "so tight I couldn't wear panties underneath" outfit but this film has ruined a thing of beauty and unbelievably made Daredevil look half decent!!
If you use this please call me Dark Matt.
Now on with JinXy Chaos and his very in-depth review of the film. It's also the most positive review we've gotten for the film. Don't say we ain't fair!
Hey Harry, Just got back from the screening of Elektra.
just me, no Smeagol this time out (and NO I did not name my boy Smeagol....the kid just loves Smeagol and does one hella of an impression to boot...so it's nickname)
I'm sure you'll be flooded with reviews of this latest Marvel outing in the next few days, but here's my take on it anyway. spoilers ahead.
As a Fan of Elektra's comic book appearances her film start in Daredevil was disappointing to say the least and having never seen an episode of Alias I'm not huge fan of Jennifer's so I took my lumps with the rest of the fans...She had no real character in Daredevil other then a wannabe tragic love interest for Matt Murdock. So when news of an Elektra spin off surfaced I began to feel as if the comic movie genre was headed back for the dark pit of the abyss it sat in since DC tossed it in there back in the 90's.
I ignored news of it's making, which I think turned out to be a good thing for this film. I knew zero about what I was going to see....and I was pleasantly surprised by the treats this movie has, sure it's got problems in spades but it's enjoyable to watch.
First a nice choice from Rob "Dude where's my dragons" Bowan in that not one flashback piece of footage from D.D is used for set up purposes, instead they give you an illustrated cliff notes of sorts about the hand, the war of good versus evil and "The Treasure" not one mention of Matt or Bullseye. Rob's two for two right now.
Elektra shows up for business and who's she out to kill Jason Issacs??? How did they get him in this?? Did they have blackmail pics or just a dump truck full of cash?? either way...Rob your now three for three.
After which we meet Elektra's agent and quasi conscience/Side kick, it's the first groan of the film. He's annoying and doesn't fit. He's a death merchant with a heart of gold.
Anyway She takes a new gig and it's off to to hunt new prey while we take the tour of the Hands HQ which seems to be a giant shack or sorts on the outside and an advertising office inside....uhhh do ninja's need cubicles and corner offices? maybe they do I've never met a ninja. Ok no points for that Rob.
Meanwhile Elektra is forced to sit around and wait, and wait and wait this where we get a small glimpse into her restlessness. She's got a form of OCD and clearly sitting around doesn't suit her well.
A girl and her father who live nearby. it's a pretty easy guess since not one other person shows up during this waiting period that she's going to have to kill one or both of these people.
Meanwhile get little flashbacks of Elektra's past her training, her mother death by what could be "The Beast" who runs the hand. Once the flashbacks start seem to happen a little too often and it gets old after a bit. We also see her training with...Stick played by General Zod?? One of Daredevil biggest flaws was it had no mention of stick or his training. Ok another nice touch.
sure enough the orders come in to whack her new neighbors, and Elektra grabs her gear and gets ready for work. And as I read in another review on your site....It looks like She might actually do it, you kinda hope she does....what a dark twist that would be, oh yeah PG-13...that ain't gonna fly. Elektra's blown the deal and the payday.
I do so love ninjas...we need more ninja's in film again minus Michael Dudikoff that is. She kicks ninja ass and it's good. The hand ninja's even vanishes like they do in the comics....much like a self cleaning oven. Have to wonder what that smells like...burning dog hair? a tire fire? I dunno but I'm guessing a series of Burning Hand scratch and sniff stickers is not in the works.
From there we meet The Hand's back up team, which is where I get surprised again with Typhoid Mary strolling in..and she's a hottie!! Sad news is that She's got few lines and nothing to say Mary deserves better then this, but since D.D 2 is not going to happen I guess better to be seen then unseen. The rest of the crew (which includes Stone??) is decent enough and full of nifty tricks.
Elektra's on the lamb now and goes to Stick for help, She tries to unload her good deed and quick, but finds herself stuck for the duration. With the ninja's nipping at their heels She goes back to her Agent. Who despite the fact that She's just screwed him out a huge payday seems happy to see her and is more than happy to take everyone into his house and help plan their escape over tea and cookies later he even sacrifices himself for the good of all...ain't that sweet? But hey he's dead and out of the film now.
Somewhere out of left field Dear old dad falls for Elektra and gives her a snog, does she rip his throat out? nope. Curses PG-13!! Why does every movie need a love interest? it's a cheap trick to try and convince you that she's got more at stake...and it's so out of place here.
There's confrontation between Elektra and Mary which kinda seems like a rip off on Hero...but's it's done well enough to be cool....that fact that there's girl on girl action helps too.
Soon after we learn the reason the Hand is after snog happy pops and the girl, and stick arrives with the Calvary.
The end battle feels rushed just when the film seems to be headed for a different sort of build up, perhaps an all out Ninja on Ninja battle...nope. PG-13 remember? The end fight is a bit chaotic at parts but it does pay off enough to make you happy if not wanting a little more.
There's room for more Elektra in the future should this film do well.
the pace of the film was been decent and not too much lag, so it's enough to make you think there's more footage to be seen on DVD later. The score was par or better..and unlike D.D the soundtrack only gets in the way once or twice.
If your fan of Elektra, Go see this. If your a Alias/ Garner fan, see this.
like most I thought Jennifer wasn't right for the part to start with, Now that Elektra has a bit more to do and say She's does hold her own even if she doesn't own the role.
Robb Bowman 2 Mark Steven Johnson 1 . (he gets a point for the D.D Directors Cut)
sometimes Mark your second life is even better then the first.
