Kai Lord
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Jennifer Garner's new Elektra costume revealed
- Thread starter Kai Lord
- Start date
Green Knight
First Post
Eh, I'll have to read some reviews before I decide if I want to check the movie out or not. I got nothing against Jennifer Garner or the character of Elektra, but I wasn't exactly left wanting more after seeing Daredevil. It was an okay movie. Not bad, but not particularly great, either. Well, we'll see. Chances are I'll just wait til it's out on DVD, like with Punisher.
Mmmmm, padded! 
SLAP!
SLAP!
I must've been the only person who was really irked by Daredevil. I just didn't like it very much at all -- not because it was uniformly bad, but because it was selectively bad in specific areas, blowing all the promise that it had in so many other parts. The effects to mimic Murdock's senses? Fantastic. Well-used. The scenes in the diner with Foggy? Great dialogue. Good sense of the people together. That scene at the funeral where Elektra puts up the umbrella, symbolically vanishing from Matt's senses? Goosebumps.
But the action scenes? Ech. Blocky, poorly choreographed, and no sense of emotion or excitement at all. How do you make a comic-book movie and do such a nice job with characterization and out-of-costume scenes and then blow the fights so badly? The scene with Affleck and Garner out of costume in the playground... it was embarrassing. Look, I know they aren't real-life martial artists. I'm not asking for Jet Li or Wesley Snipes. But come on, make it look more like people actually doing real moves instead of moving their arms into the appropriate positions as though doing some new dance moves. And, as a director/choreographer, decide up-front whether you want your fights to be realistic or acrobatic, and then stick with that, instead of doing this mishmash of "now they're doing enormous leaps, and now it's a gritty realistic -- no, no, they're leaping again -- er, and now it's solid and intense..." Both styles can look good on film, and heck, a really great movie could conceivably work back and forth between the two. But this one just fell utterly flat for me.
Of course, I'm a fight scene snob. Sometimes the master must weep while the students laugh, and vice versa...
But the action scenes? Ech. Blocky, poorly choreographed, and no sense of emotion or excitement at all. How do you make a comic-book movie and do such a nice job with characterization and out-of-costume scenes and then blow the fights so badly? The scene with Affleck and Garner out of costume in the playground... it was embarrassing. Look, I know they aren't real-life martial artists. I'm not asking for Jet Li or Wesley Snipes. But come on, make it look more like people actually doing real moves instead of moving their arms into the appropriate positions as though doing some new dance moves. And, as a director/choreographer, decide up-front whether you want your fights to be realistic or acrobatic, and then stick with that, instead of doing this mishmash of "now they're doing enormous leaps, and now it's a gritty realistic -- no, no, they're leaping again -- er, and now it's solid and intense..." Both styles can look good on film, and heck, a really great movie could conceivably work back and forth between the two. But this one just fell utterly flat for me.
Of course, I'm a fight scene snob. Sometimes the master must weep while the students laugh, and vice versa...
barsoomcore
Unattainable Ideal
Oh, no. By no means. It's one of those films that actually makes me angry. Absolutely NO chemistry between Elektra and Daredevil, which, excuse me, but isn't that sort of a problem?takyris said:
I'm not yet sold on Garner. I don't think she's MEAN enough to be Elektra.
And totally agreed on the fight scenes. Lame-o-rama.
I am, however, reasonably convinced that it will be better than Catwoman.
Definitely agree. Curious, though -- offhand, what action movies did have good onscreen chemistry between the romance people? The romance part seems to be a constant letdown, the part that the directors sort of put on the back-burner as something that's going to take care of itself while they're working on the big action scene.
My personal picks:
Antonio Banderas and Catherine Zeta-Jones in the recent Zorro, which had decent swashbucklish fights and some moments of good chemistry (with the exception of the "cutting her clothes off" bit, which I thought was forced).
The leads in Romancing the Stone, which, although not a blow-up-ten-national-monuments summer blockbuster by today's standards, did have a lot of action in it.
Those could be colored by nostalgia, though. Not much I've seen recently has done it for me. The first Spider-man movie lost me with Mary-Jane, who seemed actively unpleasant in some of her scenes -- sometimes mercenary, sometimes just neurotic, and with clinginess at the end that had me cringing.
Possibly agree, depending on what you mean. I think that Garner is a good enough actress to portray someone who is driven and ruthless, but I don't think her physical movement conveys that same confidence (yet -- hopefully a few more movies and seasons of Alias will turn her into a decent action movie heroine). So she might have me believing in her right up until the action scene starts, and then she's throwing a punch that is hesitant or amateurish -- not girlish, necessarily, just "I've had several lessons, and I know that I'm supposed to do this with my shoulder" without the "I'm going to effing mess someone up when I hit them" that really sells it onscreen.
That and the fact that the chemical spill must have slipped some admantium into Matt Murdock's knees, so that he can leap forty feet down and land on a concrete rooftop with his legs straight without either popping his kneecaps off or sinking ankle-deep into the rooftop like the Tick...
No argument there, either.
barsoomcore
Unattainable Ideal
My only view of Garner has been her Elektra turn in Daredevil so I don't know what she's capable of, acting-wise. I didn't think her performance there was anything very impressive, but one performance doesn't tell you very much about an actor.
The Elektra in my head is ruthless and cold and utterly merciless. She understands the stakes she's playing for and never hesitates. ESPECIALLY in her "fights". She doesn't go for the disable -- she goes for the kill. She's scary. I'm not sure that this actress can go there. We'll see.
Romantic chemistry in action movies? Sure. Jet Li and Brigitte Lin in Swordsman II. Brigitte Lin and Tony Leung in The Bride WIth White Hair. Maggie Cheung, Brigitte Lin and Tony Leung (the other Tony Leung) in Dragon Inn. Hm, Brigitte Lin and anyone, I guess.
Sigourney Weaver and Michael Biehn in Aliens. Linda Hamilton and Michael Biehn in Terminator. Hm, Michael Biehn and Brigitte Lin, anyone?
Danny Lee and Chow Yun-Fat in The Killer.
Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz in The Mummy.
Lucy Lawless and Rene O'Connor in Xena: Warrior Princess.
I'm just getting started here....
The Elektra in my head is ruthless and cold and utterly merciless. She understands the stakes she's playing for and never hesitates. ESPECIALLY in her "fights". She doesn't go for the disable -- she goes for the kill. She's scary. I'm not sure that this actress can go there. We'll see.
Romantic chemistry in action movies? Sure. Jet Li and Brigitte Lin in Swordsman II. Brigitte Lin and Tony Leung in The Bride WIth White Hair. Maggie Cheung, Brigitte Lin and Tony Leung (the other Tony Leung) in Dragon Inn. Hm, Brigitte Lin and anyone, I guess.
Sigourney Weaver and Michael Biehn in Aliens. Linda Hamilton and Michael Biehn in Terminator. Hm, Michael Biehn and Brigitte Lin, anyone?
Danny Lee and Chow Yun-Fat in The Killer.
Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz in The Mummy.
Lucy Lawless and Rene O'Connor in Xena: Warrior Princess.
I'm just getting started here....
That depends. Is Halle Berry in it? No? Then you're right. It's better than Catwoman will be.Dimwhit said:
Viking Bastard
Adventurer
I like Jennifer Garner, but she is no Elektra. Maybe it's just the script
or direction, but the Daredevil movie didn't give us Elektra but Sidney
Bristow playing Superhero.
At least the costume's the right colour.
or direction, but the Daredevil movie didn't give us Elektra but Sidney
Bristow playing Superhero.
At least the costume's the right colour.
Eosin the Red
First Post
I will take a little of the contrary opinion of how Elektra should be portrayed. Elektra is a world-class piece of art not because she is bad to the bone but because she was a lost child looking for a way to assuage her pain by repaying her tormentors. Depending on the evolution of Elektra in the movies, she may not have fallen to the dark side - yet.
Elektra, like Magneto is driven by a goal that they know to be good, unfortunately the manner in which they seek to achieve it leads them down a path of damnation. The best movie “tumbling into the abyss” scenes IMO were in Training Day – Alanzo [Denzel] is a near perfect analog for Elektra. We don’t want her to be a ruthless killing machine out of the gates – the correct evolution of her story has to include her tumble into that abyss that makes her a cold hearted monster.
Now, on to the movie. I do not know if JG has the moxy to pull it off either. But unless Denzel is willing to undergo a sex change, I am willing to give her a shot at it. Off hand the only female who has the oomph IMO is Linda Hamilton who, again IMO, is too old and has the wrong look for Elektra.
PS – anybody have any good suggestions for female who could take the roll?
Elektra, like Magneto is driven by a goal that they know to be good, unfortunately the manner in which they seek to achieve it leads them down a path of damnation. The best movie “tumbling into the abyss” scenes IMO were in Training Day – Alanzo [Denzel] is a near perfect analog for Elektra. We don’t want her to be a ruthless killing machine out of the gates – the correct evolution of her story has to include her tumble into that abyss that makes her a cold hearted monster.
Now, on to the movie. I do not know if JG has the moxy to pull it off either. But unless Denzel is willing to undergo a sex change, I am willing to give her a shot at it. Off hand the only female who has the oomph IMO is Linda Hamilton who, again IMO, is too old and has the wrong look for Elektra.
PS – anybody have any good suggestions for female who could take the roll?
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