DVD | Elektra

Ok, I admit to not expecting much from this movie, after all it is a spin off from the less that lovable Daredevil.

But I was pleasantly surprised with all aspects of this movie. Jennifer Garner does a good job at continuing the role of Elektra, this time being the leading character in a superhero movie. This is a darker movie where good and evil fight in the shadows, sometimes in epic battles and sometimes in the souls of individuals.

In this movie, the battle is not only for the soul of Elektra but also an exceptionally talented young girl, who is known as The Gift.

With some great action, a fast paced plot and great CGI, it’s a movie that will appeal to action fans. For me though, it went a lot deeper than your average action flick. It had a very strong spiritual side.

Spiritual Aspects

So it’s not hard to see the spiritual aspects of this movie – at least not the supernatural abilities of the evil characters, the followers of the hand. But the spiritual connections go deeper than that.

Stick, played by Terence Stamp is an almost Christ-like figure. Not only does he raise Elektra from the dead, but he also lets her go her own way so that she can discover her true vocation; clear her heart of revenge and embrace her new life, ‘some things cannot be taught but have to be lived to understand’.

He never actually leaves her – he’s always watching her and waiting for the time when she is ready to meet him again. When she’s ready to discover the truth, to let go of her past, he comes to her aid.

Evil is also portrayed exceptionally well through the character of Typhoid, played by Natassia Malthe. She has been cursed with abominable twist on the Midas touch – instead of gold, everything she touches dies. In one scene she comments that she was once considered The Gift, and didn’t like the new competition. This hints that she was once a good character who has been seduced by the dark side, and has been slowly decaying ever since.

The main battleground in the movie is for the souls of the two main characters, with the dark side deciding that if they can’t have them, they would kill them and the light side only concerned for their life.

All in all a great movie from both and action/escapism point of view and an emergent Christian point of view.