Mark:

Elektra follows in the weary footsteps of a long line of tired, uninspired comic book adaptations of recent years, showing neither inspiration nor interest. I wonder if Bowman truly had his heart in this, or was it just done for the money?

Taking up after Elektra’s fall at the hands of Bullseye in Daredevil, Elektra tells of her rising on a mission of revenge – becoming twisted and contorted by the rage, and eventually becoming something altogether different. The film then details how she rises out of this mire, to become a whole person again. Noble sentiments, but done so poorly, with lack of spark or imagination, this fails on most levels.

Garner is passable as the titular heroine, but so little is asked of her in terms of dramatic range, it is hard to tell if she can act or not. Were I asked to play a butt-kicking robot, I may put in a similar performance. Sonny the robot in I, Robot had more life. Visnjic had limited opportunity, a shame as he is an excellent actor. At least Kirsten Prout as Abby had some life and vim in her! What Terence Stamp was doing here is completely beyond me – and isn’t the ‘blind samurai’ trick a little old yet?

The plot is dull, the action is at times exciting, but too often falls back on jumpcuts and poorly made CG imagery. The ‘bad guys’ seem so weak, and their deaths so contrived, it was hard not to laugh. Tattoo’s creature effects were alright, but the animation of the lions in the forest was awful.

In spite of all of my complaints, this was still an ok film at times. I’m not sure why, but it wasn’t a complete waste, but certainly it does not need to cost you the ticket price to see this. Wait for DVD.