Comic Book Movies 101: Elektra

• 2nd Mar 2011

Oh sweet Jesus. What’s this that’s fallen at my door? Daredevil was a half-decent character from comic book lore and like Batman and Spider-man he had a host of reliable and likeable supporting characters, as well as a gallery of villains (some shared with Spidey) that were memorable and impactful.  Elektra (Jennifer Garner) was one of the characters from this universe. Film-wise she first appeared in Daredevil and was cut down in her tantrum-spouting prime by Bullseye. Not only did he impale her with her own weapons, but he slashed her throat open too. She was dead.  She should have stayed that way.

Elektra is a poor excuse for spin-off film.  We’re given a ludicrous excuse for her resurrection (I won’t explain it here because it’s over in like ten seconds and it’s enough just to tell you that she came back to life) and now, instead of getting back together with Daredevil, she’s let her former life slip away and is now living as, er, a hired assassin (like Bullseye)? So much for being a good guy.

The film opens with Jason Isaacs doing a cameo spot and delivering a huge amount of exposition to help make Elektra seem scarier. But anyone who’s seen Daredevil knows she’s a bit of a crummy fighter with daddy issues who likes to pull stern glances whenever someone tries to get close to her. Elektra really isn’t a character worth our time or energy as she her motives and nature seem very textbook.

But before she gets a chance to really drive those point home to annoyance, a teenage girl arrives on the scene and takes rudeness to new levels. She and her dad turn out to be targets but Elektra eventually decides to protect instead of assassinate them.

Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa (also in The Phantom, but better known for Mortal Kombat) shows up briefly as the leader of The Hand to send his son after Elektra. Terrence Stamp also shows up as the best thing in the film. We’re then treated to a bunch of random fights in woods which is where the film starts to show its true colours. It becomes far too obvious that the film is more influenced, not by Daredevil or comic books, but by Asian culture and the likes of Hero and Crouching Tiger.

It isn’t that the stunts and fights are rubbish, they just aren’t really new (and very bloodless), and are cowering beneath the superior work they’re trying to ape. Garner isn’t bad as Elektra, but has little to work with in such a two-dimensional role (though by this time she should be used to playing action leads with daddy issues who don’t seem to know what the hell they want out of life).

Avoid at all costs unless you’re a comic book completist. Elektra is worth checking out in book form though as there’s much more depth and interest. Here it’s all wasted on style over substance.

Steven Hurst