Elektra: Review By Summit10

From her debut in Marvel Comics Daredevil No. 168 on January 1981, creator Frank Miller wanted better reasons not just to expand the story of Daredevil but to give him something to fight for, someone to die for! I can easily commend his machinations; his intense gritty take on his work and the characters he brings is given life in the comic book pages of imagination and uncertainty!

The frontrunner of the origins was an antecedent to many women, fallen and tragic all the same and in spite of his blindness he can't help still to be mesmerized with their charm, wit or even their sad back story no matter how disdain, he fell in love...yes he is still human after all! Connecting him with Elektra's world was absolutely impeccable and for all the right reasons, these ill-fated two crimson lovers have fought their own battles either side by side or cutting each other's throat which makes their affair so much sweeter!

Subtlety has no room for these assignments as a failed attempt was dismissed by the clan! Now enter the abominations, team captain was decently played by Will Yun Lee (Die Another Day) the Katana wielding son Kirigi to the nefarious leader of The Hand. Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa (Tekken) is Roshi father to the freak! Cary has so many movies that he's involved with being a villain, always the anti-thesis to the hero but never was able to impress the public for his acting it was always mediocre to say the least.

Gathered together are unrecognized talent (of course not to overshadow the lead role) the rest of the gang includes a former football player, MMA and an all time cry baby! Bob Sapp (The Longest Yard) is Stone; he has failed from previous sporting contentions that he recourse into acting instead. I might even applaud him for his portrayals in some comedies but definitely not here!

The next would be international model Natassia Malthe (Blood Rayne) as Typhoid brought in to resemble the comic book's "Typhoid Mary", her powers is to walk in a promiscuous manner, kiss anyone she likes and oh yes, she can kill you in a mere touch or breath! Another is Tattoo which seems to have more CGI screen time because of his ability to bring animals to life from his skin! Chris Ackerman was the pitiable bloke who represented him! Lastly, a stuntman named Kinkou, his fast, agile and a martial artist ok, right! I think everyone has one or two attributes since they were all ninjas for crying out loud! Funny all have English names and this one hasn't!

I'm not going to elaborate more on the father and daughter; Plain and simple Abby and Mark Miller is the intended targets, they also hold a secret that will be later explained in the film. I got so tired getting all these people in the review without any one of them bringing in significance to what they did! I just need to focus on red clad ninja who seriously is underway to carry out her mission and her destiny to find emancipation and vindication! Jennifer Garner (Juno) returns in the same title role from her on screen and real life hubby's previous super hero flick!

The story interprets the title character's coming back to life from both from the physical and metaphor aspect. Elektra was given the title assassin, an Erynys of the Furies which symbolizes the totality of her attributes that will be brought forth of whomever her loyalty has in this waged war between good and evil! She must find a way to redeem herself from past sins and from this road less travelled sojourn, her decision should be answered really soon before everything is too late!

Director Rob Bowman only has a measly collection of past works (inclusive of Reign of Fire). He was one of the people who brought us unforgettable TV series hits from 21 Jump Street, The Hat Squad, Parker Louis Can't Lose and the X-Files. Mark Steven Johnson gives his writing prowess (right!) to cover the talent for the big screen while collaborating with Frank's inputs from the comic books as well. Cinematography was handled by Bill Roe has given enough shots that makes the film a bit more things to see and contemplate on.

Just like the rest of the super hero community even this film was given music to appease the rants of the movie going public. Songs that reverberates intended emotional standpoint for the heroine to contemplate on what she is going through and how will she survive these trials in life! The ever ardent Amy Lee comes back from the Daredevil soundtrack adding Taking Back Sunday, Switchfoot, Megan McCauley, Finger Eleven and a lot more to bring in melancholic tones filled with lost, disconcerted epiphany, well at least there is still ear candy involved!

The film suffered for reasons of the precursor film which was a box office failure to start with. The title character was not too popular in the sense it only covered specific number of readers furthermore, it was intended for a mature aged market since the comic book and graphic novels were inclined to violence, drugs, murder, guns and sex which were actually the focus on its R Rating, it's even insulting that it was toned down to PG13 to get more viewers and it still didn't work now that's a reason why these films fail in the ticket sales!

I can't say that Jennifer as an actress did cause the conundrum; she was actually fit for the role and nailed the character for both delivery and assertiveness! Maybe it was also the lack of female super heroes in the mainstream that at least would have given more reasons for the women to find this interesting to watch! Coverage for the print media while was alright but on the other hand the male cast on the film was not sufficient enough to get more enthusiasm for the fan boys, even with legends like Cary and Terence Stamp (Valkyrie) was in it, who by the way was the blind mentor Stick a perennial character of the comic book series who was still not enough to carry the load!

I'm not saying it was a terrible film it's just that anything that comes from Frank, I'm there I'll always be a fan for his works! It's just misdirected I guess coming off from its parent film, the impression was still there to what kind of story enthusiasts and audience would expect with this spin-off.

Requiem as it should be, as the sword faced its sai some things are not meant to live forever!