After proving she could kick butt in TV's Alias, Jennifer Garner applied the same rules to comicbook extravaganza Elektra. First introduced in Ben Affleck vehicle Daredevil, the titular heroine dons a red rubber suit to battle a syndicate of evil ninjas in what turns out to be a "shockingly dull" action flick. Critics were considerably less than electrified and moviegoers frankly couldn't be bothered.

Electric Blue

Whatever they thought of the movie, diehard fans of the comicbook series will likely be tickled by an hour-long documentary that goes behind the scenes at Marvel Comics. Veteran scribblers, including Frank Miller, talk about the evolution of the sassy superheroine who first appeared as a love interest for blind crime-fighter Daredevil. "It was just as an exploration, I guess, of what superhero sex would be like," confesses dirty old Miller, but as the documentary progresses so does the depth of the investigation. After making her debut as "a bad girl who enjoys being bad", Miller and his colleagues talk about the bold decision to kill her off so as to resurrect her both literally and spiritually. It's a theme developed through a spin-off series of comicbooks and which are discussed here in detail.

Far less engaging is The Making Of Elektra, a featurette devoted to the actual film. It's the studio standard mishmash of soundbites, which affords Garner the opportunity to reveal that she did all her own stunts - most of them anyway. "I learned to use a bow stick!" she coos, while director Rob Bowman explains that with so much stunt work he was afraid to, "fall accidentally into a Chinese wire movie." Um, perhaps that wouldn't have been a bad thing. Crouching Tiger anyone?

Electroshock Therapy

Besides explaining what he wanted to avoid with this film, Bowman is pretty tight-lipped on what he actually wanted to achieve. He only offers commentary for three deleted scenes and even then is passing the buck for a muddled plotline. "I wanted him to die in the forest," he says of Mark Miller (played by Goran Visnjic), "But it didn't fly with a PG-13 movie." That explains at least one of the omitted scenes, which attempts to tie up loose ends. As Bowman wearily puts it, "There was nothing for him to do in Act 3." After this debacle, we suspect the director may have similar problems trying to keep himself occupied.

Sneak peeks at Daredevil Director's Cut (already on release!) and The Fantastic Four pad out an uneven and mostly bland spread of extras. With just a skimming featurette and a few cutaways, the movie is treated like an obligatory footnote in the overall story of Elektra - and perhaps justly so. Ultimately, a look inside the Marvel machine is all that's likely to generate a spark of interest in this DVD.

EXTRA FEATURES

Elektra DVD is out to buy on Monday 30th May 2005.