By Stephen Pytak 

     It has its moments. Director Rob 
Bowman has executed a few beautiful 
shots. And, of course, Garner looks great.
     But there's not much else to recommend
about "Elektra."
     After Garner stole the show from 
"Daredevil (2003)," a lot of us out here
were hoping to see her in a flick of her own.
I still think the idea of an Elektra film with
Garner in the lead is a good idea.
     But this isn't the film I was hoping to 
see.
     I'm not sure what the Marvel Comics'
series dictates. But the Elektra we were 
introduced to in "Daredevil" was more
urban.
     Dressed in leather and carrying three-
pronged battle forks, this flesh and blood
warrior just walked out the door and into
the street to do justice. She was kind of like
a vigilante.
     But she learned that fighting the good 
fight wasn't all that easy, the hard way
actually, by being impaled on one of her 
own sais by "Bullseye (Colin Farrell)."
     The Elektra we meet when the projector
starts rolling now is a high-paid 
mercenary. And it seems like she has 
some kind of supernatural ability.
     Now she can appear and disappear in 
a snap, kind of the way killer Michael Myers
does in "Halloween II (1981)."
     I didn't think Elektra was supernatural.
Actually, the press kit says she's not.
     "The filmmakers made the most out of 
Elektra's special qualities within the comic
book universe," it states. "Unlike most comic
book heroes, Elekta possesses no super-
human physical powers. Instead, she makes
maximum use of her incredible physical
prowess and martial arts skills."
     O.K. I guess that cool action film editing
just makes her look super. But, as I kept 
reading the press kit, I discovered a bit of
a contradition.
     "In addition," it states, "she has the 
ability to see into the future, a skill known
as Kimagure, which she has honed through
countless hours of deep meditation."
     Isn't that kind of superhuman? Or can
I learn to do that from the sensei down the
street?
     However you want to meditate on this,
you have to admit the film does suggest
she's got something going on which makes 
her different from the fighter we met in
"Daredevil."
     Perhaps she got it being raised from 
the dead by a blind martial arts
master (Terence Stamp).
     She uses this mojo to wrestle with 
some other worldly baddies who call 
themselves "The Hand."
     Meanwhile, she's trying to protect a 
teenage girl (Kirsten Prout) who's got 
some kind of mojo as well.
     All I can say is halfway through this
I turned to my brother, Michael, and asked,
"Where's Bullseye?"
     You'd think Elektra would go back to 
Hell's Kitchen or scour the corners of the 
earth looking for that bastard after all he's 
done to her.
     I mean, he not only screwed her with
her own pig sticker. Bullseye also knocked
off Old Man Natchios (Erick Avari).
     But even though Bullseye has a damn 
target branded into his noggin, we don't 
get the sense that she's interested in putting 
an arrow or something into it.
     Or maybe the producers couldn't get
Farrell to return. He's kind of a big shot
now, even though his big budget historical
epic "Alexander (2004)" sucked.
     So fans of "Daredevil" may not care too
much for this film, which doesn't feel like
any kind of sequel.
     They will respect the effort though. I do.
I just don't think on a whole it's a great
movie.
     A few of the action scenes are O.K. The 
best is when Elektra dodges a hail of
darts in someone's kitchen. 
     And there are a few interesting touches.
Concerning character, I thought it was 
neat how the writers gave Elektra OCD 
(Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder). She 
counts her steps. She puts her groceries 
in some bizarre order on her cupboard. 
     But I just couldn't get into the other
worldly supernatural crap. I'd buy it if
this was billed as a Marvel Team Up 
with Dr. Strange. But it's not.
     By the way, speaking of all that, I had
a little trouble figuring out what some of
the members of The Hand were all about,
in particular, "Kirigi (Will Yun Lee)." He 
can move like a flash, turn into a devil, and
do a bunch of other CG stuff. But since I 
didn't understand his scope, I couldn't 
get how Elektra defeated him in the final
duel.
     Ultimately, my second date with Elektra 
left me kinda cold.
     I was hoping for more down and dirty
fight scenes with flesh and blood opponents.
Garner looks like she can do 'em. 
     But most of the ones we see are tainted
with this nonsense.
     I'm still a fan of Garner's however. I 
still put up her Elektra poster from 
"Daredevil" once in a while. I think she's
got what it takes for the role. No question
about it.
     But I think she needs a better script 
before she picks up those sais again.
     Meanwhile, I think the producers of
Marvel Comics' films better clear their
heads. I think success is getting to them.