Saturday 3 December 2011

Elektra

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Year:2005
Country of origin:Canada / USA
Director:Rob Bowman
Genre:None 'super' hero
Starring:Jennifer Garner, Goran Visnjic, Kirsten Prout, Terence Stamp
Rating:2/5
IMDB link:http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0357277/
Tagline:She's the last thing that stands between good and evil.
Favourite line:None worth mentioning

Here's the thing:
All of my knowledge of comic book superheroes comes from movie adaptations. Though a raging geek as a youngster (and to this day), comic book appreciation passed me by. Indeed, I had no idea a character called Elektra even existed in the Marvel world until this movie was announced and, truthfully, if I had gone to my grave in ignorance, I don't think I'd have missed much.

Jennifer 'Alias' Garner plays the eponymous heroine, a woman with a troubled past and a heavy heart. She is an assassin, willing to work for the highest bidder, though she seems to have some form of moral code. Hired to protect a father and his teenage daughter from a ruthless group of fellow assassins, the father / daughter team have a few surprises of their own.

And here lies the problem: Elektra herself doesn't seem to have any extraordinary powers of her own, apart from the ability to fight really well. Granted, that may well be pretty useful, but it's hardly extraordinary.
Amir Khan can fight pretty well.
Jackie Chan can fight pretty well.
Christ, my mate Gaz can fight pretty well when he's got a few beers inside him, but that doesn't make him a superhero. Elektra's only claim to the superhero tag seems to be her shock-red costume, specially designed to maximise cleavage.
And it's dull, too.
Feeling more like a TV episode than a genuine cinematic event, this is something of a damp squib all round and, in Rob Bowman, they have a director on board who is more than adept at shooting TV shows, but the step up to the big screen seems too much of a stretch.
Forgettable and tedious, one to avoid superhero fans.

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