Reviews & Ratings for
Elektra More at IMDbPro »

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234 out of 392 people found the following review useful:

Better than I expected

Author: Mercedes Nadason from Atlanta
12 January 2005

I saw this movie at a free preview screening. I wasn't expecting much because comic book movies are usually disappointing, but this one was actually good. The special effects and action sequences were well done and didn't look over-the-top.

The cinematography was beautiful and the colors almost seemed alive, they were so vibrant. I don't see many movies where the colors make that much of an impact.

I didn't find the dialogue corny or forced. There was only one moment where the audience laughed "inappropriately," and that was at a character's name. The acting was excellent, in my opinion. Jennifer Garner and Goran Visnjic have a natural rapport and Kirsten Prout was very impressive. I hadn't seen her in anything previously. All three of them did a good job of giving these characters some depth and making you care about them, which can sometimes be hard in this type of movie. The villains were, for the most part, subtle and not in your face, as with many movies of this genre.

Overall, I liked this movie and recommend it to anyone who likes a good action movie with non-cardboard characters. In addition to the action, there is drama, romance (but not too much), elements of sci-fi and a few laughs.

221 out of 397 people found the following review useful:

Huh?

Author: iron_monkey_ from Melbourne, Australia
13 January 2005

This is absurd - aside from the fellow Australian who has reviewed this flick, I can't help but think that everyone else who has submitted a review so far was some way involved in the production of Elektra, considering how generous they were with their praise.

Admittedly I'm not really a fan of comic-book-to-movie conversions so I didn't go in with many expectations, yet still I found Elektra to be incredibly underwhelming. The thing that irked me the most was the fact that there was SO MUCH in this film which went by unexplained, that left you thinking "huh, what relevance does that have to the plot?" or "so how did that aspect of the character come about?" I can only hope that these are things which are perhaps explained somewhat in Daredevil, which I have no intention of seeing.

Furthermore, the behaviour of the characters in this film appear to do an about-face at random moments to suit the storyline, and don't even get me started about the utterly pointless romantic sub-plot. I'm also (still) scratching my head over the fate of Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa's character, which seems to have gone by unexplained.

If I can give kudos to this movie for anything it would have to be the fantastic locations in which it was shot, but otherwise I gained little enjoyment from Elektra. I know we're supposed to suspend our disbelief for fantasy/action films, but almost everything in this film was so improbable or confusing (even by action film standards) that it simply frustrated me.

Well, hell, at least Jennifer Garner looks damn good.

59 out of 93 people found the following review useful:

not the Electra I know...

Author: RenX99 from USA
17 January 2005

Perhaps I'm out of date or just don't know what Electra is like in current publications... But the Electra that I read was far more manipulative and always seems to have a plan. She usually used others to do her dirty work and more often than not some sort of double cross was involved. Just when you think you have it all figured out she pull the wool over your eyes and gets her way.

This movie was fairly weak on the dialog, the acting wasn't particularly convincing, and the action was spotty. I was really looking for something more along the lines of Frank Miller's book "Electra Assassin." Which is much darker than anything in this movie.

Special effect where cool, action was interesting at times, but more often than not the story and plot was slow or illogical. Tha Hand was not menacing enough, and Electra was not..... bitchy enough. She's the girl you love to hate... but in this story, I just didn't care either way.

104 out of 184 people found the following review useful:

Entertaining popcorn movie

Author: sandy506 from United States
30 January 2005

I'm not a comic fan, so I know nothing about this character. However, I found the movie to be action-packed and very entertaining.

My companions for this feature were a 12 year old girl and a 12 year old boy, as well as another mom. We all enjoyed the movie, and Garner's muscles and stunt work were impressive. This is a must-see for martial arts fans, in my opinion.

The visuals were stunning, as were the special effects. This movie is not deep drama, but was very well-made for its genre. Since I don't care for comic books or the movies about them, I expected this film to be a stinker. I was pleasantly surprised when it held my interest.

62 out of 107 people found the following review useful:

If vengeance is alive, I want mine... on the makers of this film

Author: tedwilliams from United States
15 January 2005

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

*** THIS CONTAINS MANY, MANY SPOILERS, NOT THAT IT MATTERS, SINCE EVERYTHING IS SO PATENTLY OBVIOUS ***

Oh my God, where do I start? Well, here - this is the first time I have ever come home from a movie and said "I have to get on IMDb and write a review of this NOW. It is my civic duty." Such is the badness of this flick.

*begin digression* But let me just state one thing before I start. I'm not some Harvard-art-major-film-noir-weenie (in fact, I went to the college at the other end of Mass. Ave in Cambridge, the one where the actual smart people without rich daddies and trust funds go, which should put me squarely in the nerd-who-would-obsessively-love-comic-book-films census group, and still I hated this film...). My viewing preference is for the highbrow cinematic oeuvre that includes the Die Hards, Bond flicks, Clerks, and The Grail. I wish the Titanic had never sunk, not so much for the lives lost, but so we wouldn't have been subjected to that dung-heap of a film. And the single and only reason I will watch a snooty French art film is if there is a young and frequently disrobed Emmanuelle Beart in it. I even gave Maximum Overdrive one of its precious few 10s here on IMDb, for God's sake. So I'm as shallow as they come, therefore I'm not criticizing this film because I'm looking for some standard of cinematic excellence - it's because Elektra stinks like a three-week-old dead goat. *end digression*

OK, there's so much badness here that I have to try to categorize it. Here goes:

MS. GARNER: One of the compelling reasons a male would want to see this flick is to see lots of hot JGar (I have no idea why my wife wanted to). I think that between this and "Finding Nemo", the latter was the sexier film. You know the red outfit she's advertised wearing in every freaking ad you see? You see her in it TWICE - once at the beginning, once at the end. Bummer. In the rest, she basically looks like what Morrissey would look like if he were a female - lots of pouting and black clothes. Which brings me to the incredible range of expression JGar shows in her acting - ranging from "pouting" all the way to "pouting and crying". Oh my God, you'd think she was being forced to date Ben Affleck or something horrible like that. Um, wait...

THE BAD GUYS/GAL: They show about the same range of expression and acting ability that you'd expect from a slightly overripe grapefruit. At least next to JGar's performance, it doesn't stand out too badly. One guy's role is to stand there and be huge, another's is to stand there and have stuff come out of him, and the woman's role is to stand there and breathe on and/or kiss people. They manage to pull these incredible feats off. The main bad guy has the most difficult role of all - he has to SIMULTANEOUSLY a) appear angry and b) appear Asian. He does a fine job at this. I think there was a fifth bad guy/gal, but my brain is starting to block parts of this movie out in self-defense.

PLOT TWISTS! This movie has about as many surprises as a speech at the Democratic National Convention. Let's just put it this way - my wife, who has only been in the U.S. for half a year and speaks only a small amount of English - whispered this to me when the girl first appears in JG's pad, and I swear to God I am not making this up: "She go to house to kill girl. And father too." And this is BEFORE THE FATHER HAS EVEN APPEARED ON THE SCREEN. Now my wife isn't stupid, but she isn't being courted by Mensa for her gifts, either, and she's had zero exposure to Daredevil or the comic book genre. And she figured this out in .00015 seconds with no prodding and no prior information. Such is the blatant obviousness of this film.

RARELY-BEFORE-SEEN STUPIDITY! OK, so there's this big dude in the film. He can take a chestful of shotgun blast and brush off the shot like it's lint, and he can take a vicious Electra stab to the chest and just bend the metal (or melt it - or something - more defenses kicking in, thank God). But JG jumps on his head, and he explodes? An Achilles noggin? OK! Such is the mind-numbing stupidity of this film.

Ack. I'm starting to feel a cerebral hemorrhage coming on, so I have to stop. But you have been warned. If you have to intentionally slash your own tires to prevent yourself from going to see this movie, DO IT. And if Armageddon is going to come, please let it be >before< this comes out on DVD.

59 out of 104 people found the following review useful:

To each his own opinion. And, in my opinion, this movie kicks super butt.

Author: song_bird2103 from United States
16 January 2005

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

*~May contain spoilers~* 'Kay, first off, I already knew that Jennifer Garner could pull the role of Elektra off. I mean, when she stabbed the dude on the roof with her sai...that was bloody brilliant. I loved that scene, and I am still thinking about it. It had a nice amount of action, though not enough. I would've loved to see Jennifer in the signature outfit more than twice. Also, with how the villains were thought up, that was also nice. I liked how Elektra kept having flashbacks of her mother's death, and how the image of Kirigi slowly sifted in. The fighting was incredible. The actress who had the privilege of playing Abby Miller was awesome. I read this in another review and, yes, the colors are absolutely terrific. The lip-locking scene between Typhoid Mary and Elektra was beautiful. I mean, the detail of how there was a ring of dead leaves around Elektra. Truly remarkable and artistic. The feud with Typhoid and Abby was great, too.

The one problem and the only problem with the movie is that the villains, such as Kinkou, Stone, and Tyhpoid, died WAY too quick before they could be more appreciated. So, if there was a second installment to Elektra, then I would definitely go see it, if it was fixed up a little bit more. Jennifer Garner did an excellent performance and is remarkable as Elektra. Well done to the cast and crew. 9/10 Definitely worthy for some things such as..."Best Villain" and "Best fight scene". And, actually, the director deserves an award. His dedication to this movie and his confidence paid off.

So, yes, to each his own opinion. And, in my opinion, this movie kicks super @$$ like no other. I didn't even really like Blade, X-men 1 and 2 (geek of both)or Catwoman this much. They were all great movies, in my opinion. But, still, Jennifer won my heart as Elektra. She was brilliant. So, if you're going to go see this movie, then go see it. And, for goodness sake, do not waste any of your time reading gruesome reviews. Because, trust me, that's the only thing that you will wish you didn't waste your time on. GO SEE ELEKTRA!!!

53 out of 93 people found the following review useful:

Nothing of any value here – pretty much a template for how to make a bad action/superhero movie

Author: bob the moo
31 January 2005

Having recovered from the fatal injuries inflicted upon her due to her involvement in the film DareDevil, Elektra has become an assassin for hire, embittered by her life and living only for her next job. When Kirigi and the Order of the Hand present her with her next job she takes it and heads out to kill Mark Miller, a man who must die to account for an act committed by his grandfather years before his birth. However when she actually meets Mark and his young daughter, Elektra has a change of heart and joins the Millers to defend them from the Order?

Having seen my fair share of films I rarely find one that is totally without value, so often I'll give things a try even if I fear the worst. More often than not bad films have some good but generally fudge the mix and has some average parts that drag it down. However having seen Elektra I can honestly say that if you're looking for a template to make a bad film then this is as good a place to come as any. First of all the plot could be written on a postage stamp and it is as bad as people say. It lacked anything to make e interested and I honestly didn't care about the detail, but it would have been nice to have had a bit of development of the story. Speaking of development, don't expect any in your characters either – Elektra's past is a collection of flashbacks and "sudden waking-up" moments but nothing more than that; she is just a bit of eye-candy who will "find her heart again" at some point and the sad thing is that she is the best developed character in the film.

With such a thin frame to work within, Garner does nothing that look determined or, as she "finds her heart again", simpers and weeps for the camera. She cannot walk properly because someone has decided that "strutting" makes a woman look sexier (I blame Destiny's Child) and she has no presence at all (this from someone who continues to watch Alias even as it gets sillier and sillier). However beside Prout, Garner looks like the next big thing because Prout is so toe-curlingly awful as the cute-kid that it is a wonder that she got cast at all. Visnjic has nothing to do and it is shame that he got involved. Terence Stamp does nothing more than take the cash and support from Tagawa, Lee and others is average at best. A clue to a bad film is when it uses lesbian teasing to get the teenage boys in – it happened in 2004's Taxi and it happens here too. The direction is just as bad as the acting; the action scenes are terrible and, outside of these the film has no idea what to do and thus just rushes to the next poor action scene, loaded with poor special effects throughout.

Overall this is a pretty terrible film that has nothing of value within it. The characters are poorly developed at best and none of the cast can do anything with them at all – Garner is all at sea in a collection of pouts, poses and strutting walks. The story is hollow and is the minimum needed to bring the film to the screen (and it shows). The director makes the action scenes unexciting and just a collection of poor CGI, meanwhile using music in a hamfisted attempt to make the audience have any emotional attachment with the product. Even die-hard Garner fans will struggle to enjoy this dog – January and already I think I've seen one of my least favourite films of the year.

107 out of 201 people found the following review useful:

Jennifer Garner Is Spectacular As Elektra, And Bob Sapp Rules, Too!

Author: BigHardcoreRed from Calimesa, California
14 January 2005

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

As the newest Marvel movie, Elektra has not left me disappointed. Not in the least. I think it strengthened it's weaknesses from Daredevil and surpasses it's predecessor quite handily. It is not without criticism, however, but I believe this movie was well done, special effects and all.

Elektra gives you a bit more of the history of Elektra Natchios (although it does not say why someone would name their child Elektra,) including her childhood, what happened to her mother and what happened between Daredevil and now.

As the movie starts, you discover that Elektra has been, for all intents and purposes, a paid assassin. That is, until her morals are questioned when she is given the assignment of killing a man and his young daughter, Abby, who have secrets of their own. She decides against completing her assignment and goes into business for herself and decides to protect the girl and her father. I can't really go further into the story without ruining some parts of it, so I'll move on.

The villains, who seem to be a Japanese corporation of some kind, known as The Hand are after Abby and her father, and after her refusal to be involved, Elektra. I liked each of the villains, especially Stone and Tattoo. The special effects for Tattoo were absolutely amazing. So was the final fight scene with the white sheets flying everywhere, while I'm at it. With the villain in all white, it made for an interesting and beautiful finish for the movie. Also, when the bad guys are killed, the green poison mist thing looked awesome too.

Altogether, I think the movie tied itself together real nicely at the end and everything made sense, for the most part (it is a superhero movie, after all). I would highly recommend this movie to anyone who enjoys Marvel's efforts in cinema, super hero fans and especially Jennifer Garner fans. I truly believe that no one else could accomplish what she has with this movie.

Anyone else catch the nod to Marvel's Blade: Trinity with the same bow and arrow device used early by Elektra? 9/10

43 out of 74 people found the following review useful:

A film that is underrated and great.

Author: JackSparrow84 from United States
21 January 2005

Elektra is probably one of the most underrated films this year. Jennifer Garner is sexy, exciting and great as Elektra and Terrance Stamp is great as Stick. While the film seemed rushed, it was entertaining and fun to watch. Several scenes even had me wondering "what's going to happen?" And aren't we supposed to get into films? The action and fight scenes are just spectacular, and Jennifer shows her amazing fighting techniques throughout. The film does suffer from being too short, though. It should've gone longer into back-story But overall, I have to give it up to Rob Bowman for making a film that is fun, exciting and just plain entertaining. I totally recommend this action-packed thrill ride of a film.

52 out of 92 people found the following review useful:

A true cinematic marvel

Author: Joe Char from United States
15 January 2005

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

I loved the look of Elektra; the dark, grisly feel is such homage to the comic. I also loved how some of the scenes reminded me so much of favorite panels from the comics. I loved how the film depicted Elektra and how she was in conflict with herself. I thought there was a lot of depth in Garner's portrayal. She even surprised me. There are exceptional martial arts sequences in "Elektra", including spectacular kali and escrima stick moves. Key scenes include the first conflict at the cabin and the final showdown with the main villain. Overall nice movie, I just wish they had went with the "R" rating and traded in some of that dopey green fog for blood.

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