Elektra Natchios (not pronounced like the snack food) was killed in the highly disparaged Ben Affleck starrer "Daredevil," which was no reason to think that the Marvel comic character wouldn't get a shot at a franchise of her own. For "Elektra," Jennifer Garner (of television's "Alias" in a reprise of her role from "Daredevil") dons the traditional red uniform of the titular character, a detail that sycophants will appreciate; other than that, the movie is a fairly original undertaking pretty much ignoring the events of the comic book in the life of the character. Here, she has been resurrected by Stick ("The Limey's" Terence Stamp), an ethereal monk who runs a retreat for the good guys in this battle of good against evil. Elektra is kind of depressed since her father's death (not to mention her own), and she gets expelled from Stick's retreat, ultimately becoming a cold assassin. Like Batman without utility belt, Elektra possesses no superhuman powers, save the still developing ability to see into the future. For the most part, she's just a well-trained ass-kicker. Her current assignment is to kill Mark and Abby Miller ( Goran Visnjic and Kristen Prout), a father and young daughter on the run from The Hand, a nefarious organization led by Kirigi (Will Yung Lee of "Die Another Day"), who wants the Millers for his own reasons.

Elektra is about the dark nature of the superhero, which has been the mode for comic-book adaptations since Tim Burton's original "Batman" movie, which was conceived as a platform to bring back the concept of the Dark Knight. Both "X-Men" flicks, the two "Spider-Man" films and the "Daredevil" movie that spawned this quasi-sequel were all about the downside of having to save the world on a regular basis. There was even talk of a depressed Superman starring Nic Cage a few years back. That's all good, but frankly these comic adaptations could lighten up. Nevertheless, this movie, like "Daredevil," isn't nearly as bad as most critics will suggest. The fight sequences are hot, particularly a wicked-cool Bo Stick battle Garner has with five ninja assailants. "Daredevil" fans really liked that movie and Elektra fans are going to like this one. Starring Jennifer Garner, Goran Visnjic, Kirsten Prout, Will Yun Lee, Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa and Terence Stamp. Directed by Rob Bowman. Written by Raven Metzner and Zak Penn and Jason Isaacs. Produced by Avi Arad, Gary Foster and Mark Steven Johnson. A Fox release. Action/Drama. Rated PG-13 for action violence. Running time: 98 min