Elektra—20th Century Fox By Chris Chiarella   •   June, 2005 Video: 4
Audio: 5
Extras: 2
While some fans lament the seemingly imploding film career of the latest prettier half of "Bennifer," what's really sad is that Hollywood has managed to take Elektra, the dark, driven creation of the great Frank Miller, and reinvent her as just another melodramatic heroine. As portrayed by the lithe, earnest Jennifer Garner, "E" is a conflicted killer with quirky habits (obsessive-compulsive disorder for a few quick laughs!), who squares off against a slew of overdone computer-generated special effects. Oh, and did I mention the precocious young sidekick and the hunky single dad next door? Had the filmmakers gone for gritty action and an R rating instead of the flashy fantasy nonsense, this movie could have been great instead of just OK. Even at a mere 96 minutes, it's a tad sluggish.

In addition to the Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack, the DTS option is quite enjoyable, shifting effortlessly between genuine subtlety in its use of the sub and surrounds and the more obvious adventure-movie bombast. The 2.35:1 anamorphic image is generally clean, despite an occasional softness to the picture, sometimes-murky blacks, and a bit of distracting grain and twitch here and there, while the deliberate manipulation of color impresses throughout. The special features, however, do not: three deleted scenes, one reuniting Jen with reel/real beau Ben Affleck, four "In the Editing Room" featurettes, which have exactly nothing to do with film editing, and other lazy fluff including a 13-minute, garden-variety making-of.