I always look forward to Thursday nights as it’s my first chance to catch the week’s new releases.  My friends and I scoured the internet to see which of this week’s offerings would be best viewing.  As of last Thursday, Elektra had not yet been released in the U.S. and there were no reviews or public opinions available.  We took the chance and as I am about to tell, we made a grave, grave mistake.

As a rule, I never walk out of a film.  If I’m going to give it a fair review, I need to stay and see it all.  My rule was severely put to the test just fifteen minutes into Elektra.  Instead of leaving, as I should have, I sat there.  I don’t know how to describe what I felt.  It was kind of like an emotionless void – kind of like being about 20 minutes into a three hour university lecture.  The initial novelty as worn off and there’s nothing left to do but watch the clock count down.

For the few still interested in seeing this film, Elektra is a spin off of 2003’s Daredevil (with Ben Affleck).  Although she was killed off in Daredevil, the screenwriters have found a farcical way to bring her back to life for this money-making venture.  Now back in the land of the living, Elektra (Garner) works as a professional killer.  She can be hired through her agent and always gets the job done.

Her latest assignment sees her paid $2,000,000 to eliminate a father and her daughter.  She is not told why they need to be killed, only that it must be done.  Travelling to the remote island where they live, Elektra suddenly develops a heart and doesn’t go through with the killing.  Instead, she goes to her mentor, Stick (Stamp) to find out more about these two people.

There is an enemy here but I don’t know much about them.  The screenplay tells us little so I just assumed they were bad because they looked dark and evil and had crazy powers.  That said, they will all be killed in stupid fashion (but not before a long drawn out battle with Elektra first).  As for the good guys, just how pitiful is star Jennifer Garner?  She wears make-up, has perfect hair, wears revealing outfits and moves really cool in slow motion.  I can’t hold any of that against her but her performance is reminiscent of Halle Berry in Catwoman.  She tries to act cool and tough but it’s laughable really.

Now that the film is showing in the United States, I can take a breath of satisfaction.  According to the website Rotten Tomatoes, 83 leading critics have reviewed the film with 77 of those reviews being negative.  And hey if you don’t like the critics, the average score from members of the public on the Internet Movie Database is 3.9 out of 10. 

Two weeks into 2005, I’m confident that Elektra will be one of the year’s worst films.  I only wish they had of killed off her again.