ComingSoon.net has posted a review of the upcoming Elektra DVD.
Elektra (Jennifer Garner) has been revived after her near-death experience at the hands of Bullseye (in the 2003 Daredevil movie). Now employed as an assassin, her latest assignment is to kill a man and his teen daughter (Goran Visnjic and Kirsten Prout) who are on the run from a secret past. Instead, Elektra befriends them and decides to protect them from the ninja assassins of the Hand.
Long time comic fans will be well aware of Elektra and her rich history as created by Frank Miller during his run on Daredevil in the ’80s. They may want to forget everything they know and put expectations aside, as this new movie is a completely different animal from the Daredevil movie from which the character has been spun-off.
At least Elektra tries to avoid recent comic book movie clichés, the worst being the de rigueur techno-rock soundtrack that made Daredevil so lame. (There’s only one of those moments but it goes by pretty fast.) This is a far more stylish film, as well, owing more to Asian films like Hero than American knock-offs like The Matrix. Bowman and cinematographer Bill Roe were clearly inspired by the look of Zhang Yimou and Christopher Doyle’s visuals, as the entire film is beautifully shot and they try to make the fight scenes more visual by adding similar elements. Just the fact that the movie is mainly set outdoors gives the movie a distinctive look from the normal grimy city streets that have been used in far too many comic book movies.
The CGI effects are very impressive, especially watching creatures emerge from the tattooed body of the Hand assassin called-what else? -Tattoo. Even though this idea may seem silly on paper, it’s handled in a very cool way that allows the computer graphics to seamlessly mix with the live action bringing all sorts of creatures to life.
Unfortunately, this DVD is a bit light on the bonus features. There is so little that I half wonder if some “special edition†is coming in the future. Here are the highlights of what you will find:
3 deleted scenes – Most notable among the deleted scenes is Ben Affleck’s cameo which was cut from the theatrical version. In it, Elektra has a dream where Matt Murdock (apparently with full sight and out of costume) appears and tells her to come home. She says she will when she’s ready and then she wakes up. A second deleted scene shows Elektra stalking Miller and his daughter much earlier than is shown in the film. In fact, she does so before their initially shown meeting. The scene implies that Elektra hesitates about killing them a lot longer than previously shown. The final deleted scene shows Miller and Stick discovering that Elektra and Abby have snuck away for the final showdown.
To read the entire review by Edward Douglas and Scott Chitwood, follow the link above.
Source: Edward & Scott
