Elektra

The very memorable Jennifer Garner stars in this forgettable action-packed movie. Elektra is a spin-off of the recent Daredavil, starring Ben Affleck, which bombed at the box office.

Since Spiderman captured the audiences and ranked in the Top Ten Highest Grossing Movies of All Times, comic book characters have become the targets of big budget Hollywood. It worked with Superman decades ago, it worked with Spiderman – why wouldn’t it work with Daredevil, too?

Elektra is an assassin by choice. Rejected by her martial arts teacher because of anger containment problems, she lives a jet set life of murder and luxury. Until she finds the one man (with child) she can’t kill. It turns out that man and his child are sent by the martial arts teacher as a sort of test.
A cast of villains brings a host of special effects to the movie and serves as the only focal point. Jennifer Garner stalks through the movie in an eternal daze, pursed lips inviting, but never turning into more than a tease. Her romantic interest is played by Goran Visnjic, who adds nothing to the lack of warmth.

The movie’s heroes and villains tend to prefer martial arts for combat, which gives director Rob Bowman a chance to do a bit of a wuxia. Still, there is none of the emotionality and intensity that is to typical of the Chinese genre. In this case, all the fighting is cold, distant, not memorable.

Just like the movie.