Web Edition

NEWS

FEATURES

ENTERTAINMENT

COLUMNS

CONTACT US

For more movie summaries, see Kam's Kapsules.

Daredevil Sidekick "Elektra" Lands in Ill-Advised Spinoff

by Kam Williams

A couple of years back, Ben Affleck starred in the movie Daredevil. What few people remember about the film is that Jennifer Garner co-starred as Elektra. The studio decided to spin-off Jennifer's character into her own super-hero vehicle.

Garner catapulted to stardom in 2001 as Agent Sydney Bristow in the television series Alias. She moved to the big screen in 13 Going on 30, a comedy where she played an awkward teen who wakes up in the body of a grown woman.

Unfortunately, Elektra is worse than Daredevil. Its incoherent storyline is incomprehensible. Furthermore, the film is plagued by cartoonish characters who speak in trite truisms and by poorly edited special effects that fail to blend in with the rest of the action.

Although Elektra died in Daredevil, she has been reincarnated with an entirely altered persona. She's a martial arts assassin for hire and a disciple of Stick (Terence Stamp).

As the plot unfolds, we find that our heroine is travelling from China to an assignment in the pacific northwest. Director Rob Bowman (Reign of Fire), uses the trip to go out of his way to show his protagonist's sensitive side, explaining how she's haunted by memories of her mother's murder.

Elektra settles into a spacious lakefront cottage with a scenic view of the mountains. She soon becomes acquainted with Mark Miller (Goran Visnjic) and his 13 year-old daughter, Abby (Kirsten Prout).

After flirting with the father and bonding with the troubled girl, it's obvious she would make the perfect addition to this family. The complications arise when Elektra discovers that she is under contract to destroy them.

Elektra informs the Millers that a gang of evil Asian businessmen called The Hand wants them dead. Then she tells her boss that she's breaking her contract and prepares herself for the arrival of her replacement. After switching sides, she devotes the balance of the film to defending Mark and Abby from the Hand's henchmen led by Kirigi (Will Yun Lee). Each of these goons has some super-human power. Stone (Bob Sapp) is a solid-as-a-rock he-man. Typhoid (Natassia Malthe) is a life-sucking dragon lady, while Tattoo is a side-show freak whose tattoos turn into attack animals.

Elektra also has her own bag of tricks, including the ability to see the future. It's too bad that the bag didn't include the ability to make her own movie interesting.

Fair (One star). Rating: PG-13 for action violence. Running time: 97 minutes. Studio: 20th Century Fox.

end of review.