Being acknowledged action movie junkies, all the bad reviews in the world apparently couldn't keep Dani & me away from Elektra this weekend. (NO, that's NOT why you should be mocking!) Yes, I read the New York Times review. And Entertainment Weekly's D+ review. AND saw the 7% rating at RottenTomatoes.com. In fact, the CNN review seems to be the only one that I've seen that didn't hate the film.
But the funny thing is, lowered expectations aside, we came out of there having enjoyed the movie. (Yes, Q, THIS is where you're supposed to start mocking). Now, I'm not making any great claims about the movie. God knows, it's no Lord of the Rings or even Spiderman (keeping it all "within the genre" so to speak), but after a summer full of crap like Van Helsing or The Day After Tomorrow, this didn't seem all that bad.
As so many critics pointed out, it didn't bring anything new to the comic book movie genre. But it was a hell of a lot easier to watch than its precursor, Daredevil, and not simply because there was more Jennifer Garner to watch. (Although, that didn't hurt either. Let's face it, she looks good in that red bustier. And she's got the most amazing walk… it's all from the hips and belly and has that patented hip-swing of death—which they showcased so blatantly in her first entrance in the film.) But it was also more coherent and better shot than Daredevil… perhaps because Elektra didn't need to keep everything murky to hide the fact that all their New York gangsters were actually Asian stuntpeople.
But what I don't understand is the level of contempt this movie's generated. Can it REALLY be worse than Catwoman (which had a marginally better opening weekend this summer) or, for that matter, Van Helsing or Day After Tomorrow? I find that hard to believe, but judging from the reviews and opening weekend, it would seem that's the consensus. Maybe everyone's still on a high from all the GOOD movies that came out around Christmas time. (After all, in the past couple of weeks, I've seen Million Dollar Baby, Closer, Phantom of the Opera and Sideways… all much better than Elektra. But that's beside the point, at least for me.)
So maybe, in a few months, when I see it on DVD, I'll wonder what I saw in it the first time… why I didn't hate it the way the rest of the viewing public apparently did. But for now, hey, it was a fun enough 90 minutes of moviegoing. God knows, I've seen worse.
But the funny thing is, lowered expectations aside, we came out of there having enjoyed the movie. (Yes, Q, THIS is where you're supposed to start mocking). Now, I'm not making any great claims about the movie. God knows, it's no Lord of the Rings or even Spiderman (keeping it all "within the genre" so to speak), but after a summer full of crap like Van Helsing or The Day After Tomorrow, this didn't seem all that bad.
As so many critics pointed out, it didn't bring anything new to the comic book movie genre. But it was a hell of a lot easier to watch than its precursor, Daredevil, and not simply because there was more Jennifer Garner to watch. (Although, that didn't hurt either. Let's face it, she looks good in that red bustier. And she's got the most amazing walk… it's all from the hips and belly and has that patented hip-swing of death—which they showcased so blatantly in her first entrance in the film.) But it was also more coherent and better shot than Daredevil… perhaps because Elektra didn't need to keep everything murky to hide the fact that all their New York gangsters were actually Asian stuntpeople.
But what I don't understand is the level of contempt this movie's generated. Can it REALLY be worse than Catwoman (which had a marginally better opening weekend this summer) or, for that matter, Van Helsing or Day After Tomorrow? I find that hard to believe, but judging from the reviews and opening weekend, it would seem that's the consensus. Maybe everyone's still on a high from all the GOOD movies that came out around Christmas time. (After all, in the past couple of weeks, I've seen Million Dollar Baby, Closer, Phantom of the Opera and Sideways… all much better than Elektra. But that's beside the point, at least for me.)
So maybe, in a few months, when I see it on DVD, I'll wonder what I saw in it the first time… why I didn't hate it the way the rest of the viewing public apparently did. But for now, hey, it was a fun enough 90 minutes of moviegoing. God knows, I've seen worse.
Comments
I'm still never going to see it.
Q