Film Reviews

Elektra

• Rating:
• Director: Rob Bowman.
• Starring: Jennifer Garner, Terence Stamp, Kirsten Prout, Goran Visnjic, Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa, Will Yun Lee, Natassia Malthe.
• Details: US/ 96 mins / (12A).

After playing Ben Affleck's love interest in the one-dimensional Daredevil (and real-life) Jennifer Garner finally gets her dubious rewards with a spin-off movie of her own in the shape of Elektra. She, of course, plays our eponymous heroine, a kick-ass, wildly efficient assassin who is getting tired of her killing kind ways. Determined to pack it all in, primarily due to the fact that she is haunted by visions of her unfortunate childhood, Elektra decides to take on one last job before hanging up her switchblades and skin-tight leather outfit. A rather handy narrative convenience means that Elektra gets to know and like her intended targets - a widower and his daughter (Goran Visnjic, Kirsten Prout) - before she has to dispose of them. So when a nefarious group of super-duper criminals - trading under the moniker of the Hand - show up to whack the kid and her old man, our heroine has got to decide where her priorities lie. Films derived from comic books aren't usually noted for their depth when it comes to characters, plot development or plausibility, and Elektra, unsurprisingly, doesn't deviate radically from this trend. Although its limitations are rather predictable, the most fatal flaw is the lack of a sense of humour, with the filmmakers obviously under the impression that simply reversing the gender balance is enough for the audience. You may agree - especially if your only criteria for a satisfactory cinematic experience is seeing Miss Garner cavorting around in a figure-hugging costume with a couple of knives for company. But even that grows somewhat tiresome after a while, which is really saying something.

Review by Garreth Murphy