Elektra [2005] [DVD]

This is one well cool movie, starring Jennifer Garner as the title character from the Marvel comics. Full of simply breathtaking martial arts, special effects and drama, along with a touch of cool romance and more than an effort for Elektra to hide her deeply disturbed past, "Elektra" basically tells the story of a woman whose childhood was stained with blood and who, as a result of this feels an overwhelming desire to get back at those who blighted that past life, blood for blood, and even more so after she herself had died in the film "Daredevil". This is marked by some pretty dark flashbacks for her, particularly when as a child she found her mother dead and also saw a dark, demonic shadowy figure, which turns out to be a significant tyrant intent on hunting her down. Jennifer Garner is just amazing as Elektra; she pulls off every single stunt (such as walking straight up a tree as it falls to the ground) effortlessly, she kicks butt with no problem whatsoever and, with her assignment to kill Mark Miller (played by the simply gorgeous Goran Visnijic) and his daughter Abby (played wonderfully by Kirsten Prout), shows every single sign that they have a staggeringly painful effect on her and her feelings about killing anyone at all.I also love Terence Stamp as Stick since he is the one who, in Elektra's flashbacks during her martial arts training, tells her that she is too full of a need to exact violence on others and must leave, and also gave her another chance at a second life after she'd died in the film "Daredevil". I know that the character of Elektra is seen as a heroine for being completely nasty and therefore famous for her blood lust, however, by making her acknowledge the pain of her past and therefore to find more motivation to have revenge (and also to defend herself as well as Mark and Abby whom she's trying to save from her pursers) Stick is showing absolute compassion. He basically forces her to struggle, which she does hugely and with such horror at how she had her mother taken from her and how she herself had died before her revival, so that she is much more of a heroine given that she was training under him to be the fully fledged assassin that she becomes in the comics, and yet does not kill that vital part of herself which would render her heartless. Basically, if Stick had trained her there and then to do just that, she wouldn't come across as one who grips and provokes the viewer's sympathy, which Jennifer Garner does so well that by the end of this film, she convinces one that her character has got a heart and that it's not merely made of steel and hatred, but is also full of grief and pain that enable her to connect with, and feel strongly about Abby and become all the stronger for it.The four villains in the film are absolutely fantastic; Typhoid is a very darkly glamorous, deadly woman played by Natassia Malthe, while Will Yun Lee simply leaps out of the screen as Kirigi with all of the energy of a martial arts master. Bob Sapp also packs a punch as the rock hard Stone, and Chris Ackerman is incredible as Tattoo who, like Typhoid, possesses some truly evil powers, courtesy of the tattoos on his body along with some seriously cool visual effects, like the bird that spies on Elektra for him. Just like Jennifer Garner as Elektra, Kirsten Prout simply shines in the martial arts department as Abby, and this, along with the choreography, is shown in "The Making Of Elektra" in the Special Features as well as the other stunts (it's well worth watching)! The deleted scenes are also brilliant, and "The Elektra Incarnations" is great; the pictures shown from the comics are very impressive and it's informative as well to anyone who's never read the comics, like myself. I do remember having seen Elektra as a sidekick in "Daredevil" but much prefer this film for the fact that she shows real heart in both her strengths and her weaknesses throughout; "Daredevil" was just way too dark and bloody for me when I watched it, and I really couldn't bear to see Elektra die; it's a horrible death even if it is made up. That's not to say that the sneak peek of "Daredevil" Director's Cut isn't worth it though, because of course it is, considering it comes before "Elektra" chronologically. It's also a lovely treat to watch the Inside Look: "Fantastic Four", I just love that film and the sequel "Fantastic Four: Rise Of The Silver Surfer" that follows it!Overall I am very happy with this film; it came in excellent, brand new condition and well on time and I will definitely be watching it over and over again!

Although this enjoyable and underrated film is meant as a sequel to  Daredevil - Single Disc Edition [2003] [DVD ] it stands up well on its own. It is not necessary to see the previous film to appreciate this one.`Elektra' is a self-contained story, although it begins with the character disturbed by previous events and working as an assassin. The story of this film is of how she recovers her human warmth and morality, but with several action scenes at which Jennifer Garner playing Elektra excels, doing many of her own stunts.It is also unnecessary to have read the original Marvel comic books, from which the character derives, to like this film. If you want background about those there is an informative DVD special feature with many pictures from the Daredevil and Elektra comics (showing Elektra in more brazenly revealing costumes than in the film) and interviews with several of the people who created them about what they were trying to achieve.Superhero stories of course do not attempt strict realism and the characters' strange names and costumes make it all a little weird. Here the strangeness of all that is muted because Elektra spends most of the film `undercover' in an assumed normal identity. Only at the beginning and end does she dramatically reveal her striking flame red costume.Jennifer Garner has become particularly known for action roles (see  Alias: Complete Season 1 [DVD ], of which the Seasons 1 & 2 are the best) but I hope she will not become typecast only for jumping about and kicking bad guys. She is a very good actress for other kinds of parts as well (see  Juno [DVD] [2007 ]).Ms Garner was the best thing in the original Daredevil film (in which her husband Ben Affleck starred). The scene in that original film in which Daredevil, a blind superhero who relies on enhanced senses other than sight finally `sees' a picture of Elektra's face, from the sound pattern made by rain drops falling on her, was especially striking.Ben Affleck and the Daredevil character do not appear in this sequel, except a brief, unmemorable `deleted scene' as a DVD `extra'. I do not really miss them as, while the idea of a blind superhero is an interesting one, Jennifer Garner is frankly a livelier and more charismatic screen presence than her husband .A small annoyance in this film is the `Stick' character, a master of martial arts played by Terence Stamp, who does little but say earnest and clichéd things like "You may study the Way for many years but still you do not understand the Way"Kirsten Prout is good as the child Elektra ends up protecting.Overall a good and under appreciated film, especially due to Jennifer Garner.

A slightly different Marvel superhero movie from the mid-2000s.Plenty of martial arts action, and Jennifer Garner is great as the slinky assassin with a troubled conscience. Just like Daredevil (watch that first to understand this properly), Elektra tries to be a bit arty and a bit other-worldly. It's not just guys-n-gals thumping each other (although there's a fair bit of thumping going on), but we also get to see Elektra using her intriguing gift to foretell / pre-live future events.When it first came out, a lot of people didn't like the touchy-feely side of it, and felt it had lost the comic's brutal edge.It feels much more in keeping with current superhero flicks - I enjoyed it every bit as much as Wonder Woman, tbh.Plus, Terence Stamp makes a great sensei !8/10

Very Good and watchable