Medium Charge, No Sizzle

Main Cast: Jennifer Garner, Goran Visnjic, Will Yun Lee, Kirsten Prout

Director: Rob Bowman

I must admit to a liking of these types of movies: based on a sci-fi/fantasy story (comic or otherwise). Maybe that’s why I don’t pan it as ruthlessly as I should. Anyway, the story in a nutshell: we first hear of the famed Elektra from one of her victims, a guy sitting in a dark room talking with his security chief. He goes on and on about how good she is and how he probably deserves what’s coming to him, and I have to agree, if just to stop his whining. He sort of reached for a gun when she finally showed up, but he had no spark and went down. This bit, of course, was only there to show how amazing she is and what she does: kill.

We move on to follow Elektra herself (Garner, who I think is playing a facet of her TV-show persona, but since I don’t watch TV, I couldn’t say), who is all business with her manager, a bit distant and cold. But through endless (and I do mean endless) flashbacks we find out about her unhappy childhood and the death of her folks, which made her the woman (or should I say super-woman) she is today. She receives another job, with a big payoff, that strands her on an island. She chaffs at the delay. There she meets Mark and Abby Miller (Visnjic and Prout), a father and daughter pair who live in a cabin across the way. Are they just innocents, or do they have a central role to play in this story? (I leave it to you to figure that one out.)

I will say no more of the plot, which is the standard chase with unique bad guys, and leave you with a thought. It is said that there are no new stories: we simply take what has already been penned and rearrange the threads, or notes of the song, if you will. I usually don’t ask for a new or shocking twist in action films, and certainly didn’t get it here. But did I enjoy this movie? Yes. It was stylish, moved along briskly, and didn’t fall down overmuch. A decent action film, nothing more, but not less, either.