Dave>h

Elektra Director's Cut - A review

I watched this last night and while the film may only be 6 minutes longer, I have to say those six minutes and the re editing Bowman and company did, has made this film GOOD.

I mean that. This is now a good movie. Whereas the Theatrical cut of Elektra, to me, felt jagged and somehow flat, this new version is a revelation. I honestly believe had they let this version into the Theaters, this would have made money for the Studios and would not have been crucified by the critics. (Ok, maybe minus the decapitation and the Sai to the face it could have made it to theaters.)

So what is different?? This version goes a lot more into the redemption of Elektra, focuses on her motivations and gives a lot more focus to her powers, which if I recall correctly, wasn't in the original film at all. It has been a while since I saw the original so I could be mistaken on a few points but I don't recall Elektra really having any motivation for her actions in the original. In this cut, we see why she does the things she does, we also see why the story moves in the direction it does. In the original cut, the "showdown" at the end seemed forced and kind of silly like they didn't really know how to end the film but in this version, the entire flow of the film is driven towards that final showdown and when we get there it just seems inevitable that this is how the film will end.

The film is not without its faults
Spoiler:
we still don't see why Kirigi kills Elektra's mother, this is just left to the imagination

maybe they will solve that in the sequel.

My advice would be to throw the original version of this film in the trash, forget about it and consider this the correct version of Elektra.

Both the picture and sound have been reworked and they look and sound exceptional. I thought the sound on the original was good but this new remix is less busy and more focused. It is very immersive and directional. On my Samsung DLP fed by a Toshiba up converting DVD via HDMI to 1080i, the picture was perfect. I didn't notice any instances of pixalization (although I don't know what edge enhancement looks like so I can't say there wasn't any...) the picture was clean, the colors were bright and very vibrant.

All in all, Rob Bowman redeemed this film in much the same way Elektra is redeemed in the film - probably moreso. This is truly what a Director's cut should be, an improvement on the original. I share Rob Bowman's frustration that this version of the film is not the one seen in Theaters. Had it been, I do not think there would be any doubt about a sequel nor would there be any blemishes on Jennifer Garner's career.

Enjoy!!! I can honestly say this is worth the double dip!

Dave

Ron-P

Good to hear, thanks for the review Dave. I picked it up yesterday hoping that what you just said would be the case. I actually enjoyed the theatrical cut so I am looking very forward to watching this.

Sometime's you reach what's real by making believe.

Dave>h

Thanks.

Hope you enjoy it as much as I did. I didn't really enjoy the first one - I liked the first 2/3 but thought the ending was a let down.

I should mention for anyone reading that, like the original cut (maybe even moreso), the Elektra in the Directors cut isn't the Elektra of the comic books - at least not the one I am familiar with anyway. I read all those Frank Miller Stories when I was much younger.

However, and I think I mentioned this on the original Elektra review, the Elektra of the comic books was not going to be a great character for the movies because she really wasn't a hero. And as interesting as a female assassin is as a character, she would be a tough sell as a hero to the kiddies. And it is hard to sell a movie where the main character doesn't have any redeeming qualities...

I guess what I am saying is that for Marvel purists, if your problem with the film was that it wasn't the Elektra of the comics, then this Directors cut will be a disappointment as I am sure was the original cut.

Dave