I honestly would have been the last person to say that Elektra was a disappointment. That is so because of my love for Daredevil (I thought it was fun, action-packed and with great music -- Evanescence are my favourite band and have been for 6 years). Also because I am, probably, the only person who liked Catwoman. Seriously, I thought it was a fun, enjoyable mindless movie with unbelievably amazing visuals. So after reading that, you're probably thinking that I know nothing about the art of film. Well, I can assure you that I know as much as the critic you all rely on (without being vain, that is).
On to the review:
Elektra starts off well, in my opinion. I would have said otherwise, but as far as I recall, the opening is the best part of the film. We're introduced to Elektra as this mysterious warrior who kills her victims in very sensual ways. Her first kill was quite intriguing actually. It makes you want to know more about her.
And then we do. Oh God, yes we do. -If you want to make a movie about a 'mysterious' warrior, then you should keep her story mysterious. Even so, if you wish to show parts of her story, don't do so through flashbacks. Even if you choose to use flashbacks, the oldest trick in the book which shows no originality whatsoever, do so without slow-motion. Alas, this film's most hurtful aspect is this. Elektra's flashbacks are tedious to sit through and are incredibly boring. I, for one, never sleep in the cinema. EVER. I kept on trying to stay awake and focus on the film, telling myself that it would get better. I was so terribly wrong.
The film gets worse. For approximately 20 minutes we are treated with silence as we see Elektra walk around, do nothing, think and have flashbacks. Those 20 minutes are so useless, I can't even describe how unbelievably bad they are.
The film's plot isn't so good either. She is sent to assassinate a father and a daughter, gets to know them, only to find out that the daughter is some special fighter with some special powers and that they are hunted by this unknown society called 'The Hand' and Elektra gets to like these people and tries to save them. For 1 and a half hours. The screenplay never bothers to explain what this society is, how it operates, what these special powers are, where they come from, and why the exist. We are completely left in the dark and the result ends up being sheer stupidity. The story, in very blunt English, is rubbish. It is pointless and never gets anywhere. Even the 'surprise'-ending is absolute rubbish.
Not everything was bad though. Jennifer Garner showed off her incredibly fit silhouette and her fighting abilities, as well as her incredible acting ability. She is great. She WAS Elektra. But that didn't save the movie. As for the rest of the acting, there wasn't anything worth noting about. The young girl failed to capture the sympathy needed in order to care what would happen to her character. Whenever she was captured, I honestly hoped that they should have killed her so that the movie would end. I couldn't care less. As for Goran's character: completely useless. He was in the movie for what? Half an hour? And he was the 'love interest'? He did absolutely NOTHING. Completely pointless. Another question that comes to mind was why the film didn't really revolve around Elektra but was really about the young girl. Stupid.. stupid.. stupid...
Kudos to the special effects team that worked on the film. All SFX were very well done. The evil characters were truly awesome, with their powers and everything. Too bad they didn't get the chance to properly show off. With characters like those, they could have made a very good film. But.. the action wasn't that good either. Each fight scene lasted for about 2 minutes. And there were approximately a total of six fight scenes in the whole film. You do the math. Not very impressive for an action film, is it? Still, they have their good points. Some of the editing is pretty neat, and the camera work was very good, as well as the choreography. Other than that, everybody's seen better in Spidey 2.
The cinematography was quite good, giving off the beautiful colours of the landscapes and locations. The bad thing about this was that the lighting is so poor, it's unbelievable for a feature blockbuster film. In some scenes, it's so bad that you can't even properly see the actors' faces.
Finally, to all those who heard the soundtrack (not score), should have a big complaint with the movie. The soundtrack is better than Daredevil's. I was really looking forward to seeing some of my favourite songs in the film. Not a single one. I mean, what's the point of having a soundtrack full of amazing songs, if you're not even gonna use them? And.. what kind of idiot has the rights to an Evanescence song and doesn't include it in the final cut??? Evanescence in a film = Big $$$. Daredevil proved that. I kept on waiting for 'Breathe No More' to start playing in the slower scenes. I was so disappointed.
All in all, a very big disappointment. I was expecting so much more. This film had a very interesting premise. Too bad it was all ruined by a crap screenplay and bad action scenes. I was very angry at the end of it, because I wasted 4 pounds on it. I watched and watched in agony that it would get better and have this mind-blowing scene that would make me love it. Nothing. What a failure.
Savvas Stavrou's Rating: 4/10 - For cinematography, special effects, Jennifer Garner, and because I feel sorry for it (when I really shouldn't).
On to the review:
Elektra starts off well, in my opinion. I would have said otherwise, but as far as I recall, the opening is the best part of the film. We're introduced to Elektra as this mysterious warrior who kills her victims in very sensual ways. Her first kill was quite intriguing actually. It makes you want to know more about her.
And then we do. Oh God, yes we do. -If you want to make a movie about a 'mysterious' warrior, then you should keep her story mysterious. Even so, if you wish to show parts of her story, don't do so through flashbacks. Even if you choose to use flashbacks, the oldest trick in the book which shows no originality whatsoever, do so without slow-motion. Alas, this film's most hurtful aspect is this. Elektra's flashbacks are tedious to sit through and are incredibly boring. I, for one, never sleep in the cinema. EVER. I kept on trying to stay awake and focus on the film, telling myself that it would get better. I was so terribly wrong.
The film gets worse. For approximately 20 minutes we are treated with silence as we see Elektra walk around, do nothing, think and have flashbacks. Those 20 minutes are so useless, I can't even describe how unbelievably bad they are.
The film's plot isn't so good either. She is sent to assassinate a father and a daughter, gets to know them, only to find out that the daughter is some special fighter with some special powers and that they are hunted by this unknown society called 'The Hand' and Elektra gets to like these people and tries to save them. For 1 and a half hours. The screenplay never bothers to explain what this society is, how it operates, what these special powers are, where they come from, and why the exist. We are completely left in the dark and the result ends up being sheer stupidity. The story, in very blunt English, is rubbish. It is pointless and never gets anywhere. Even the 'surprise'-ending is absolute rubbish.
Not everything was bad though. Jennifer Garner showed off her incredibly fit silhouette and her fighting abilities, as well as her incredible acting ability. She is great. She WAS Elektra. But that didn't save the movie. As for the rest of the acting, there wasn't anything worth noting about. The young girl failed to capture the sympathy needed in order to care what would happen to her character. Whenever she was captured, I honestly hoped that they should have killed her so that the movie would end. I couldn't care less. As for Goran's character: completely useless. He was in the movie for what? Half an hour? And he was the 'love interest'? He did absolutely NOTHING. Completely pointless. Another question that comes to mind was why the film didn't really revolve around Elektra but was really about the young girl. Stupid.. stupid.. stupid...
Kudos to the special effects team that worked on the film. All SFX were very well done. The evil characters were truly awesome, with their powers and everything. Too bad they didn't get the chance to properly show off. With characters like those, they could have made a very good film. But.. the action wasn't that good either. Each fight scene lasted for about 2 minutes. And there were approximately a total of six fight scenes in the whole film. You do the math. Not very impressive for an action film, is it? Still, they have their good points. Some of the editing is pretty neat, and the camera work was very good, as well as the choreography. Other than that, everybody's seen better in Spidey 2.
The cinematography was quite good, giving off the beautiful colours of the landscapes and locations. The bad thing about this was that the lighting is so poor, it's unbelievable for a feature blockbuster film. In some scenes, it's so bad that you can't even properly see the actors' faces.
Finally, to all those who heard the soundtrack (not score), should have a big complaint with the movie. The soundtrack is better than Daredevil's. I was really looking forward to seeing some of my favourite songs in the film. Not a single one. I mean, what's the point of having a soundtrack full of amazing songs, if you're not even gonna use them? And.. what kind of idiot has the rights to an Evanescence song and doesn't include it in the final cut??? Evanescence in a film = Big $$$. Daredevil proved that. I kept on waiting for 'Breathe No More' to start playing in the slower scenes. I was so disappointed.
All in all, a very big disappointment. I was expecting so much more. This film had a very interesting premise. Too bad it was all ruined by a crap screenplay and bad action scenes. I was very angry at the end of it, because I wasted 4 pounds on it. I watched and watched in agony that it would get better and have this mind-blowing scene that would make me love it. Nothing. What a failure.
Savvas Stavrou's Rating: 4/10 - For cinematography, special effects, Jennifer Garner, and because I feel sorry for it (when I really shouldn't).
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