Genre: Action/Thriller/Superhero
Director: Zack Snyder
Writer: Dwight Gallo
Based on Marvel Comics characters
Cast: Sofia Boutella, Sam Heughan, Sonoya Mizuno, Shun Oguri, Takeshi Kitano, Chuck Norris, Caterina Murino
Plot: Marseille, France.
Elektra Natchios (Sofia Boutella), wearing a slinky red dress, dances in a nightclub. She catches the eyes of a woman, Carmella Unuscione (Caterina Murino), in the VIP area surrounded by bodyguards. Elektra locks eyes with her as she continues to dance. Once the song ends, Elektra walks away from the dance floor and into the restroom. The woman leaves her bodyguards and follows Elektra into the restroom. The woman begins kissing Elektra, who begins kissing back. Elektra starts at Carmella's neck and kisses her way down to her waist. Carmella begins pulling her dress up, but instead of continuing with her sensual kissing, Elektra pulls a sai out from behind her back and stabs Carmella through the heart with it. With her dying breath, Carmella asks who wanted her dead. After Carmella has succumbed to her wound, Elektra answers Carmella's question with a whisper: "The Hand".
Valley of Mercy and Wrath, Japan.
On a crimson motorcycle, Elektra speeds along a dark, narrow, winding road cutting through the dense forests west of Mount Fuji. She pulls off onto a gravel road, leading her to a small, seemingly abandoned shack. She enters the shack, which turns out to be an elevator that takes her down to a massive underground complex that serves as the base of operations for The Hand - a group of international assassins. Elektra walks through a series of corridors before finally making her way into the ornate office of the master of The Hand, Jonin (Takeshi Kitano). She hands over a bloody sai to him to prove that she killed her target. Jonin commends her on yet another job well done. Jonin hands her a small bag of diamonds as payment and asks her when she will be ready for another job. She tells him she is always ready. He hands her a folder containing information on her next target: a man known only as "Stick" (Chuck Norris). Elektra has flashes of Stick training her in the ways of martial arts. Her flashback is interrupted by Jonin asking her if her previous relationship with the target will get in the way of a successful contract. Elektra shakes her head "no".
In the morning, Elektra collects a new sai from The Hand's armory to replace the one she used to kill Carmella. She is approached by fellow Hand assassin, Kwannon (Sonoya Mizuno) who informs her that Jonin would like to have a word with her before she leaves the complex. Elektra once again enters Jonin's office. He asks her to take a seat. He tells her that he has kept a secret from her for many years and it has shamed him long enough. Elektra is confused, but says nothing. Jonin says that when Elektra was a young child, her mother was murdered by an assassin hired by an enemy of her father. Uncomfortable, Elektra says she knows the story but doesn't wish to hear it again. Jonin then tells Elektra that he was the assassin in the story - he killed Elektra's mother. Elektra is clearly bothered by this news, but does her best to hold back her emotions. Jonin says that he is tired of feeling the shame and asks Elektra to hand him one of his tantÅ swords that adorn the walls of his office. He looks at the sword, recognizing it as one that once belonged to Kusunoki Masashige, a great samurai leader who used that very sword to commit seppuku nearly 700 years prior to avoid capture by another clan. He says it is oddly suiting. He then plunges the weapon and draws the blade from left to right, slicing his belly open. Elektra coldly watches as Jonin's blood and guts spill across the floor. Jonin dies almost instantly. Elektra calmly walks out of the office.
As Elektra makes her way into the exit elevator, an alarm sounds throughout the complex. She sees several assassins run toward her as the elevator doors close just in time. Once back on the surface, Elektra gets back on to her motorcycle and speeds away. Kwannon sits in front of Jonin's disemboweled body with tears in her eyes. She orders a group of Hand assassins to find Elektra and bring her back to the complex to face punishment for her actions. Elektra makes it back to the expressway that leads to the Haneda Airport only to be caught in rush hour traffic. She looks behind her and sees a group of black motorcycles closing in on her. Elektra begins speeding between the stop and go cars on the road as the black motorcycles open fire on her with submachine guns. She weaves between vehicles, dodging gunfire. As the chase draws closer to the airport, the gunfire has garnered police attention. A police helicopter flies over the expressway, pointing its spotlight on the black motorcycles forcing them to halt their pursuit of Elektra. Now in the clear, Elektra leaves her motorcycle at the terminal and buys a plane ticket to New York City. Kwannon sits behind Jonin's desk. She is informed by her lover and fellow assassin, Kirigi (Shun Oguri), that Elektra was spotted boarding a plane to New York City. Kwannon looks through the file for the Stick contract on the desk. She wonders aloud if Elektra went to New York to fulfill the contract or warn her former master of the threat to his life. Kirigi volunteers to go to the United States to find out.
New York City, New York.
Elektra arrives at a cemetery. She places a single red rose each on the graves of Hugo and Christina Natchios, her parents. She looks around to see if she is being watched. Once she is confident in her privacy, she uses a sai to dig a small hole in the ground above her parents' graves. She then places the bag of diamonds in the hole and covers it with dirt. Elektra takes a taxi cab away from the cemetery. Elektra enters a rundown apartment building in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood of Manhattan situated above an old adult movie house. She notices that one of the mailboxes in the lobby has a label in braille. She feels it and then continues up to the corresponding apartment. She puts her ear to the door, but doesn't hear anyone inside. She picks the lock and enters the spartan apartment. The neon lights from the triple-x marquee floods the inside of the apartment with red light. Matt Murdock (Sam Heughan) walks down the city streets. He wears red-tinted sunglasses and navigates down the cracked city sidewalk with the use of a walking stick for the blind. He enters the same apartment building. As soon as he gets out of the stairwell he can sense something isn't quite right. When he gets to the apartment door he collapses his walking stick into a pair of batons. He silently and cautiously enters the apartment. He sniffs the air. He then tells Elektra that she still smells the same even after all the years that have passed. Elektra emerges from the shadows and tells Matt that it is good to see him. Matt jokes that he wishes he could say the same thing. Elektra steps closer and Matt gently puts his hand to her face to "see" her. He comments that she looks sad. She passionately kisses him. He drops his batons as he kisses her back. Elektra and Matt have sex on the hardwood floors of Matt's apartment. As they lay out of breath, covered by a lone red silk sheet on the floor, Matt finally asks Elektra what brought her back to the Big Apple. Elektra reveals that The Hand has a contract on Stick. Matt laughs at the idea that anyone could take out Stick, comparing his ability to survive to that of a cockroach. Elektra says she'll be sure to tell Stick he said that. Elektra gets up and begins getting dressed. Matt walks over to his closet and pulls out a red leather jumpsuit and cowl. Elektra comments that it is still day time so he will stick out like a sore thumb. Matt hangs back up the suit and closes the closet. Elektra and Matt leave the apartment and hail a taxi cab. Meanwhile, Kirigi arrives in New York City with the folder on Stick. He too gets into a cab and orders the driver to take him to the Brooklyn Botanical Garden.
Elektra and Matt get out of the cab and walk through a beautiful Japanese garden where they find an older, blind man, Stick, pruning some hedges. Stick comments that he may not have the superhuman remaining senses that Matt has, he could still hear them coming a mile away. He then comments that something important must be happening to not only bring those two back together again, but also force his two greatest students to come see an old man like him. Elektra tells Stick that The Hand is coming for him. Stick laughs at the idea, telling her that he's not hid in his life and he doesn't intend to start now. Elektra asks Stick if he has any weapons around. Stick grabs a rake and breaks off the end, turning it into a makeshift staff. Kirigi watches this from a distance. He calls Kwannon to confirm that he has found the target with Elektra and that she appears to be warning him rather than killing him. Kwannon tells Kirigi to follow them while she sends reinforcements to aid him in killing both of them. Kirigi scoffs at the idea of needing backup and tells Kwannon he can take care of it himself. Kwannon tells Kirigi to be careful, referring to him as her "love".
Gusts of wind begin blowing the red and orange autumn leaves around the garden in a swirl. Matt and Stick are both immediately on edge, sensing something with their heightened senses. Elektra asks Matt what he hears. Matt tells her that he hears footsteps carefully stepping with the wind to mask the sound. Stick is impressed Matt can hear that, but also expresses annoyance that he's going to have to rake all the leaves all over again. Matt whispers to Elektra that the footsteps have stopped as he collapses his walking stick into batons. Kirigi leaps from tree to tree in absolute silence. Finally he is right above them, obscured by leaves. Kirigi launches himself at the tree with a katana drawn. Matt hears him just in time to deflect the sword with his batons at the last second. Elektra draws a pair of sai and squares off against Kirigi. Elektra tells Matt and Stick to get out of the area while she keeps Kirigi busy. Matt begrudgingly nods his head and he and Stick retreat from the gardens. Elektra fends off Kirigi's violent sword attacks with her sai. Once she has a chance, she swifty and expertly throws her sai at Kirigi, hitting him in the throat. Kirigi pulls the sai from his neck. Blood gushes from the hole in Kirigi's neck. He collapses in a pool of his own blood. Elektra collects her sai. She wipes Kirigi's blood off on his clothing and leaves Kirigi's body, surrounded by the red of blood and leaves.
Elektra makes it back to Matt's apartment where she finds Stick and Matt, now wearing his red-leather Daredevil armor. Matt asks Elektra if it is safe there. She assures Matt and Stick that The Hand doesn't know about her past with Matt. Matt asks how she could know, and she informs him that she knows because she works, or worked rather, for The Hand. Matt asks Stick why The Hand is trying to kill him now. Stick cryptically says that he is not blind to some of his past actions, and neither are his enemies. Meanwhile, Kwannon and a group of Hand assassins arrive at the Japanese gardens and collect Kirigi's body. As Kwannon places her hands upon his chest, Kirigi gasps back to life. She kisses his forehead and asks him if he's ready to make Eletra and Stick both pay the costs of their actions with their lives. Kirigi, alive but unable to speak due to his throat wound, nods his head. Elektra, Matt and Stick are trying to think of a plan of action. Elektra suggests they all go on the run, informing them that she has a sizable amount of diamonds stashed that they could live on for a while. Matt vehemently tells Elektra that he isn't leaving Hell's Kitchen anytime soon. Elektra asks Stick what his stance is. Stick says that he'd rather fight than run, adding that a blind man running for his life cannot see where he is going. Suddenly Hand assassins burst through the windows of the apartment showering Elektra, Matt and Stick in glass. The trio easily fends off the lower-level Hand assassins. Then Kirigi and Kwannon enter the red neon-soaked apartment. Matt and Stick team up to fight Kirigi while Elektra squares off against Kwannon. Stick uses his staff to quickly and craftily hit Kirigi repeatedly. Matt activates the sprinkler system in his apartment, with the beating rain giving him a sort of echolocation ability that allows him to almost see Kirigi. He joins the fight and begins hitting Kirigi with his batons, forcing Kirigi into a defensive position against his two opponents. Across the apartment, Kwannon charges at Elektra with a pair of katanas. Elektra defends herself with her sai and manages to get a solid kick into Kwannon's chest, sending her crashing through the window and out onto the fire escape. Elektra jumps out the window after her. The fight carries on up the fire escape with neither Kwannon or Elektra getting an upper hand. Back inside, Kirigi manages to stab Matt in the shoulder. Stick kicks the sword, snapping it in half. Matt then grabs the piece of sword from his shoulder and stabs Kirigi in the chest with it. Kirigi then collapses. Stick tells Matt not to take the shard out of Kirigi's chest as Kirigi has a habit of not staying dead, but leaving a piece of blade in his heart is liable to stop that habit. One the rooftop of the building, Elektra and Kwannon continue their fight. Both assassins are clearly growing tired. Elektra lands another kick to Kwannon, sending her stumbling back toward the edge of the roof. Kwannon tells Elektra that she should not have allowed Jonin to end his own life like that as it was not honorable. Elektra tells Kwannon that Jonin felt shame, something Kwannon is clearly not capable of. Elektra then throws a sai at Kwannon, who manages to block it with one of her swords. The sudden action, however, causes Kwannon to lose her balance on the roof's edge and fall over the side. Kwannon falls several stories down, before crashing down on top of a taxi cab.
Elektra heads down the fire escape and back into the apartment where she finds Stick attempting to patch up Matt's stab wound. Together the three of them go outside to confirm Kwannon's demise. However, when they get to the crushed taxi cab, they do not find Kwannon's body anywhere. Elektra follows a trail of blood down the street until the trail ends. Matt asks her what she's going to do now. Elektra thinks about it for a moment, then says that it seems like she only has one choice now: she must hunt down every last member of The Hand and kill them before they do the same to her. She kisses Matt one more time before walking away from him and disappearing into the shadows.
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