Jonah Hex

Warner Brother’s Pictures showed a clip from Jonah Hex at last year’s Comic-Con in San Diego. I was immediately intrigued. One, I like westerns, two, I’m interested in the Civil War, and three, there was a little Native American mysticism mixed in. I was unfamiliar with the Jonah Hex DC Comic, but I love Josh Brolin (No Country for Old Men) so I was ready to go. And I’ve got to say, I wasn’t disappointed.

Unlike other comic book adaptations, Jonah Hex didn’t seem to be bogged down by filling in the backstory. It gave us just enough to get started, and filled in details as we went along. Sometimes going back to pick up finer points. I loved this approach because these stories are not sacred to me. I just want to be entertained. Watchmen was ruined because there was too much exposition. I’m glad they let this film get straight to the action.

Jonah Hex is spare and lean, beginning like a Spaghetti Western. I relished one of the early shots of Jonah dragging in three dead bodies from the back of his horse. As they raised dust, weighing heavily in the sand, you could tell Jonah was a man of reputation by the way the town’s people reacted to him. You could also tell he was a man of honor after he killed the sheriff for reneging on a deal. He only took what was owed him, and laid the rest unceremoniously down. It is a bad idea to cheat Jonah Hex, he is a man with nothing to lose.

I was continuously surprised by the supporting cast. John Malkovich (Con Air) played the villain and Aidan Quinn (Stakeout) played Ulysess S. Grant. Will Arnet (Blades of Glory) broke from his comedy roots to play a military officer, and Jeffrey Dean Morgan (Watchmen) shows up in a small uncredited role playing Jonah Hex’s slain best friend. Michael Fassbender (Inglorious Basterds) appears as Burke and even the Dukes of Hazzard’s Tom Wopat has a small role. Megan Fox (Transformers) was the sole female in this film and I didn’t hear a single guy complaining. In fact, the guy in front of me gave her a shout out during the credits. I just wish that they gave her more to do.

For a genre film Jonah Hex is finely made with interesting uses of color, cool graphics and a rockin’ score. My only complaint was with the futuristic weaponry. It wasn’t Wild, Wild, West bad, but it was close. I mean come on, saddle mounted Gatling Guns? Anyone who has ever tried to mount a horse knows that it’s hard enough for a saddle to stay in place with the rider’s weight, let alone two mounted cannons. The weapons were a little too sci-fi. Otherwise, this is a really good film.

Rating: First Run John Hex is to be reckoned with