Retro Review: Elektra

This'll be my first retro review. I was going to make the first one a movie that I held near and dear to my heart, but since I just watched this movie yesterday, I figured I should go ahead and review it while it was still fresh in my mind. Several of these will contain spoilers, but this one will be spoiler free, so feel free to read and enjoy. 

A sequel/spin off of Daredevil, Elktra Nachios (Jennifer Garner) was able to survive the events of Daredevil, and live to fight another day. Since then, she's become a mercenary. Killing people to make a living, and she doesn't care who they are or what they did to make someone hate them. But one family changes her point of view, and causes her to rethink what's right and wrong. She must even face what could be her greatest enemy, herself.

When I first began watching this movie, I didn't have high expectations. I wasn't THAT big a fan of Daredevil, and I didn't see how this movie even could be any better. All of the reviews I'd seen said the movie was terrible, and I'd heard people who I really trust say it was terrible. I figured going in that I wouldn't like it, but I have a strong belief that every movie is at least worth watching once, even if it's just to say you've seen it. So, I put in the movie, and I turned my brain off

It wasn't too long before I realized that I didn't have to do that. I wasn't the biggest fan of Daredevil, but I remembered my favorite thing about the movie. Elektra. But I also found some other really cool characters in this movie. Kirsten Prout played Abby Miller, a young girl with some decent fighting skills of her own, who Elektra sees a lot of herself in. Mark Miller (Goran Visnjic) is her father, and Elektra has been sent to kill them both. But when she becomes attached to these two, she can't bring herself to do it. I personally loved that. The Elektra that we got in the comics seemed to lack humanity, but this one didn't. She was obviously scarred by her past, but she was still a human being. 

Not only can she not kill them, but they are still being hunted by others. So, she goes from assassin, to protector and she really isn't sure why. I thought this whole plot was very intriguing. And I thoroughly enjoyed that plot line. 


Another thing I enjoyed, was the direction. Rob Bowman did a great job directing the movie, but he really shined during the fight scenes. They were extremely well constructed, and very fun to watch. It certainly was no Avengers in terms of action, but it was very entertaining. And Elektra's "powers" were very well demonstrated. The way she could see into the future, and into the next room was awesome. I loved seeing that, and it was very well done. 


And can I just say for one second that Terence Stamp is awesome in everything? He played Stick, one of Elektra's instructors, in this film and I loved his character. Every time he came on screen I had to smile. He was just awesome. 


Elektra's relationship with Abby was really nice to see. Abby was a decent character, and you could see that Elektra really cared about her. The best part about that, is the conflict that arises. She knows that she's not supposed to care, but she can't stop herself. Very touching, and really helped develop her character.



Honestly, my favorite part of this movie was my favorite part in Daredevil. Elektra. Jennifer Garner does an amazing job with this role, and you can really see how much she cares about this character. She's a good actress, and I can't think of many other people who would fit the role that she pulled off. Her character was great and full of depth. Although the character development wasn't perfect, she showed plenty of it. As well as plenty of emotion. No spoilers here, but toward the end of the movie, she says, "I can't lose you, I just found you." That line gave me chills, and reiterated the fact that Elektra was not lifeless. I can't express how much I really appreciated that. And yes, Jennifer Garner is extremely hot. You can count that, as a pro. 


All good things must come to an end, and this movie was not without it's flaws. I think most of them existed in the writing. The film wasn't very well written to be totally honest, but it wasn't horrible. Considering all the Superhero films that were poorly written, I think we can say that it wasn't all that bad. But it was one thing that really held the film back. 



Another problem I had with the movie was that It didn't really feel like a superhero movie. It really did feel like a kung-fu action movie. I think it succeeded at that purpose, but Elektra is a comic book character, so I felt like she deserved to be treated like one. A nitpick perhaps, but it really did bother me. 


This movie could also be really... weird. There were times I really didn't know what to think of what was going on. Another flaw in the writing I think, but still a flaw. There are times this movie feels very realistic, which I like, then goes on to start bringing weird magic stuff into the picture, along with ancient legends and crap like that. I get tired of it. And I really didn't like that aspect. I felt like the movie tried too hard to be two different things, but didn't really succeed. I loved the points when it seemed realistic. I would sit back and say to myself, "Yeah, this is a good movie." Then the weird aspect would show up, and I'd say to myself, "...Wut?" That was probably my biggest flaw with the film. 


Honestly, I think my problems with the film are everyone's, they just don't bother me as much as they do other people. Garner's flawless performance and some great action along with a true emotion make this film fun. It's certainly no masterpiece, but It's fun. I enjoyed this movie, and I can certainly see why a lot of people don't, but I think if you take the time to look past the crap, and see that at the heart of this movie is something truly great, you might even find yourself liking it. I'm going to give this one a solid score of 3.5/5, or 70%. I think you should watch it, there's plenty of fun, and a lot of heart. 


So what did you think? Do you agree with me, or do you think the bad part of this movie weighs it down too much? Let me know in the comments, and I'll see ya next time.