JONAH HEX
April 9th 2011 23:45
Category: Videos
Based on the DC Comics character created by John Albano & Tony DeZuniga
Director: Jimmy Hayward
Story by: William Farmer, Neveldine & Taylor
Screenplay by: Neveldine & Taylor
Producers: Akiva Goldsman & Andrew Lazar
Starring: Josh Brolin (Jonah Hex), Megan Fox (Lilah), John Malkovitch (Quentin Turnbull), Aidan Quinn (President Grant), Michael Fassbender, Will Arnett & Michael Shannon
Produced by: Warner Brothers Pictures in association with Legendary Pictures & Mad Chance/Weed Road
Released by: Warner Home Video
Running Time: 78 minutes Rating: M
According to the blurb on the DVD cover this movie is based on the legendary DC Comics character…must be some strange definition of the term legendary that I’ve yet to come across. Frankly up until I actually sat down and watched this movie I would have been hard pressed to give you anything about the character; I knew of the name and that he was from the American Wild West era but beyond that nothing. His back-story, his abilities and even the antagonists he fought against were unknown to me so I find it surprising that the makers of this DVD are throwing a word like legendary around on their product when there’s a good chance he’s only probably legendary to a very small slice of Wild West geeks and nerds…
So if you haven’t already guessed this flick is something of a western, albeit a western with a slight bent to its general narrative. Toss in a little necromancy, Native American mythology, a bit of borrowing from the Crow and some super weaponry and over the top guns and you effectively have the key ingredients for Jonah Hex the movie. In fact think spaghetti western with zombies and terrorists to add a little flavour and you’re pretty much on the money.
But the sad thing to say is that even though it has some interesting elements, a reasonable backing track at the end of the day when the dust settles Jonah Hex is seriously lacking anything in the realms of tension, suspense or even gripping edge of your seat action. In fact watching this film I was decidedly unmoved by the pace of events unfolding – in fact I could pretty much work out what the heck was going to happen before it had happened, the only thing I was sketchy on was the specifics. Now if Jonah Hex is as legendary a DC Comic character as the blurb claims then you’d think that they’d give the movie a little bit more substance to it…sad to say that this is not the case.
Hex is a former Confederate soldier who has in the years after the war turned to the bounty hunting game, he has been traumatised and scarred after an incident with his former commanding officer; Quentin Turnbull, that has given him the ability to speak with the dead themselves. It is also hinted that he has some kind of affinity with Crows, both the bird and the Native American tribe. There is also the suggestion that both he and Turnbull are one foot in the world of the living and one in the world of the dead, struggling against each in other in seeking revenge. All of these elements sound positively fantastic…but they’re thrown into the story in such a slapdash manner that all they do is just serve as pointers and don’t really give the plot any oomph at all and don’t get many started on the super weapon allegedly designed by the inventor of the Cotton gin…
Jonah Hex as far as films go is very light weight, in fact so light weight if it was caught in a slight breeze it would no doubt likely fly away. Consequently I was saddened that what looked to be an interesting character got such a dud storyline for his appearance on the silver screen. If you’re a western fan and looking for a flick to watch then don’t bother with this one…check out the Good, the Bad and the Ugly or A Fistful of Dollars or even Unforgiven, leave this one on the shelf at the store…
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