Jonah Hex

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It won’t be a shocker to anyone admitting that Jonah Hex isn’t that great of a movie.  Absolutely no one has expectations for this – and, after seeing the end result that clocks in at only 80 minutes, that lack of expectation extends to the studio as well – and it really is a shame.  As imagined by Neveldine/Taylor, the visually energetic duo behind Crank and Gamer, Jonah Hex, in its first draft, was going to be a disturbing and eye-popping epic western showcasing Hex’s supernatural abilities against the violent landscape of the American West.  After a massive creative difference that resulted in the duo’s departure from directing the film, the studio hired another writer (William Farmer), scrapped a lot of Neveldine/Taylor’s ideas, and plowed through.  Well, it definitely shows.

Hex, once a minor comic book character in the DC universe, deserves a feature-length movie and, as played by Josh Brolin (who totally carries the film in a gritty tongue-and-cheek manner), absolutely works as a lead hero, however, with a convoluted plot that is too close to the ridiculous tone of Barry Sonnenfeld’s Wild Wild West for any amount of comfort and some shoddy filmmaking that results in a strictly-by-the-book ending, Jonah Hex, sharpshooter that he is, simply misses the target.

Hex is a supernaturally-guided bounty hunter that is hired by President Grant (Aidan Quinn) to put a stop to the terrorist activities of the once-rumored-as-dead Quintin Turnbull (John Malkovich in a horribly phoned-in performance).  Haunted by Turnbull’s name, Hex, who was literally scarred for life because of Turnbull, accepts and rides off to do battle with the evildoers.  Ultimately, Hex must face the demons he carries within him and the crows circling above in order to be the victor.  Co-starring Megan Fox, Michael Fassbender, Will Arnett, and Michael Shannon, one can see that the issues with the movie aren’t really the fault of the cast.

Directed by Jimmy Hayward (Horton Hear a Who), the movie – after a magnificent opening that recalls the high of A Fistful of Dollars and then subverts into an animated sequence – simply goes nowhere slowly.  There is an exciting train robbery sequence involving some explosives, and then there are some darkly-tinged moments in a cemetery while Hex “talks” to a now-deceased friend, but really that’s about it.  Unfortunately, there is more life and spirit in the amazing soundtrack courtesy of the American Heavy Metal band Mastodon and composer Marco Beltrami (recently recognized for The Hurt Locker) than there is throughout the picture.

Hex might be galloping across the plains hell-bent on revenge, but Hayword’s tired and poorly paced film simply limps to the finish line, stares at it, then finally gathers the courage to cross it, and trips over its own feet.


Component Grades
Movie

Blu-ray Disc
2 stars

2 stars



Blu-ray Experience
2 stars

Blu-ray

Blu-ray Details:

Available on Blu-ray - October 12, 2010
Screen Formats: 2.40:1
Subtitles
: English SDH, French, Spanish
Audio:
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1; French: Dolby Digital 5.1; Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1
Discs: Blu-ray Disc; Two-disc set (1 BD, 1 DVD); Digital copy; DVD copy

Supplements:

Featurettes:

  • The Inside Story of Jonah Hex
  • The Weird Western Tales of Jonah Hex

Deleted Scenes

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