ELEKTRA
Starring Jennifer Garner, Will Yun Lee and Terence Stamp
Directed by Rob Bowman
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Maybe it’s just that Elektra’s father film, Daredevil, was the worst comic-book adaptation ever made. Maybe it’s the absence of Ben Affleck. Or maybe it’s because Colin Farrell was not torturing us with his over-the-topness. But more likely it’s that Elektra is an excellent movie because it has great performances and a story that goes beyond the normal girls-kick-ass action flick.
Then again, if there is any girl who is believable kicking ass it’s Jennifer Garner. Whether Elektra is using her Zen master ninja-ness to baffle her opponents, wielding twin sai like a Japanese Village grill-table cook, or making slow-motion leaps to impale her enemies, Garner looks good killing. And her rippling muscles don’t hurt the believability either.
And we definitely need to believe Elektra is capable of wholesale destruction if we’re to believe she can take out the demonic Kirigi (Will Yun Lee).
Kirigi – Elektra’s über-powerful nemesis and obligatory male foil – has got better moves, more allies and all the arrogance he needs to wipe out Elektra on his way to the Treasure, which just happens to be a teenage girl named Abby (Kirsten Prout) that assassin-turned-bodyguard Elektra has decided to protect. Sure Elektra’s got spirit and the screenwriters on her side, but without Garner’s performance there’s no way we could believe in her abilities to slay.
But Elektra’s not just dodging crossbow bolts and slaying the boys. The brilliance of Elektra is that it allows its title character to be a killer and a nurturer. Other girls-kick-ass movies let their ladies protect the weak and innocent but Elektra actually lets Garner engage with Abby’s emotional life, helping her grow as a young woman while she’s saving her from supernatural assassins. There is femininity beneath Elektra’s macho exterior, and that’s a refreshing turn of events for a movie that could have been nothing more than a cheesy comic-book adaptation.
The absolute best part of Elektra, however, isn’t Garner – it’s General Zod. Terence Stamp returns to the comic-book-movie world as Elektra’s sensei, Stick, an aging, blind British ninja with the power of resurrection and a mean game of eight ball. His placid presence, gravelly tone and blank stare are the film’s high points. Stick doesn’t get to kill like Elektra, but he does get to provide more wisdom than Yoda – and it’s worth seeing Elektra just for that.
Moreover, his blindness is even more convincing than Melissa Sue Anderson’s years as Mary on Little House on the Prairie – and no one has ever captured blindness like Melissa Sue. If she had won the Emmy for her work as Mary, she would have to give it to Stamp. He’s that good.
So, in the end, you can be sure that Elektra is pretty damn good. |
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