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Jennifer Garner, Goran Visnjic, Kirsten Prout, Will Yun Lee, Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa, Terence Stamp

Elektra brings the audience down the beaten path of the fight between good and evil. The struggle between good and evil is an infamous theme in storytelling, as it teaches moral values that emphasize kindness, forgiveness, and compassion. Despite being a frequently recurring theme, it has a solid value to its audience, as it provides new perspectives of the wolf in sheep’s clothing and continues to foster goodness in people. Elektra tries to offer such a lesson through a troubled woman, who still lives in the past, as anger clouds her thoughts. ***

The good are represented by an organization led by the blind martial arts master Stick (Terence Stamp) who once taught the main character, Elektra (Jennifer Garner), to become a lethal killer that she is. This might sound counter-productive, but the good side once tried to turn Elektra to one of their leading fighters against the ancient battle against evil. This evil is led by Roshi (Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa) who is the leader of the feared organization called the Order of the Hand. Yet, they are not as fearsome as one wishes in order to generate a suspenseful atmosphere. ***

Once the audience settles down with the main theme, the film introduces a myriad of side plots. For example, Elektra has a troubled past, her obsessive-compulsive disorder seems like a way of survival, her job is as a hired assassin, and other character’s have secrets. There is also the Hands’ pursuit for warriors to tip the balance in their favor such as Elektra while puzzlement surrounds Stick’s relationship to Elektra. These are many of the plots provided in the film, which reminds the audience of a crossroads with several directions to choose. ***

Unfortunately, the director does not develop these side plots or the characters. Instead, the filmmaker brings the audience through a rapid succession of images that are supposed to suggest ideas, thoughts, or something. It feels as if much of the potpourri of thoughts diverges into a messy conundrum where much makes sense, but does not finish or offer any kind of message regarding how Elektra reaches her final solutions. Much of it feels as if it is grabbed straight out of the air leaving the audience with a hollow and fabricated idea. In addition, Elektra’s choices occasionally seem to go against her character, and she does not seem to be the strong person that she is supposed to be. This truly hurts the cinematic experience, as it does not provide a vision or meaning behind Elektra, the Hand, or others in the film. ***

The films is nicely shot with some intriguing cinematography, yet some of it will remind the audience about films such as Hero (2002) and House of Flying Daggers (2004) by Yimou Zhang. There is also a little of Matrix (1999) slow motion in the film, which does not provide any real unique experience. Ultimately, Elektra will make the audience experience a trivial super hero film while the character Elektra deserves a much better developed story that does not feel cluttered, or borrowed. *** ---

The same crispy clean anamorphic widescreen image that was used in previous DVD release comes here in the 2.35:1 aspect ratio. The colors and contrasts in the film are terrific, as they help enhance the visual experience. The little digital blemishes that surfaced do not present any problems with the viewing, as it overall offers a very good image. ***

Just like in the previous release there is not much difference between the DTS and the 5.1 soundtrack. The DTS and Dolby Digital 5.1 are both very good, however the DTS version presents the superior audio, as action sounds and other ambient sounds accentuate the moment. The sound tracks are clean and will elevate the cinematic experience for those with a good home theater system. *** ---

The only improvement on this new release of Elektra is the extras, but it does not provide something extraordinary in regards to enlightening, or entertainment value. The bulk of the extras are allocated to the second disc on this Unrated Director's Cut, and these extras are split into different segments: The Film and The Mythology. The Film section opens with a documentary called Relentless: The Making of Elektra, which has been separated into a production part while the second part emphasizes post-production. These two documentaries cover a lot of information of variable quality, which some viewers might enjoy. However, the extent of information does not provide a worthwhile experience that would either be enlightening, or entertaining. ***

The Showdown at the Well: Multi-Angle Dailies presents the viewer with an idea of the work a film editor has to put forth while viewing a wide range of shots in order to come up with the best possible combination for a scene. The split-screens are actually nice facets that help build understanding for the art of film editing. ***

The Alternate and Extended Scenes come with an optional commentary by director Rob Bowman. Some of these scenes are more interesting than others, and with Bowman’s commentary it becomes obvious why these scenes did not end up in the final product. ***

An informative perspective of the wide range of cinematic aspects that come together to make the final product of a film can be viewed in the still image extra – Galleries. These facets include aspects such as Costumes, Production Design, Weapons, Unit Photography and Storyboards. All of them have some interesting value for viewers interested in filmmaking. ***

The Mythology section puts forward a more fascinating extra section compared to the Film part, as it has Elektra in Greek Mythology and Elektra: Incarnation. Elektra in Greek Mythology dives into Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides, as a professor of Greek Studies illuminates the viewer about the different Elektra tales. The second feature, Elektra: Incarnation, goes into great detail to explain Elektra’s identity, which also raises some eyebrows, as the extra reveals what aspects of Elektra failed to emerge within the film. *** ---

The unrated director's cut of Elektra is two minutes longer, but does not offer anything beyond the previous DVD release. Elektra is still a mutilated tale of what most Marvel fans expect from this silent assassin. Sure, Elektra still might be worth a late evening rental for a Marvel or Jennifer Garner fan, but buying it for the extras is too much to expect. Double dipping should be considered blasphemy, despite the amount of extras including the fascinating Elektra: Incarnation. ***