“Jonah Hex,” starring Josh Brolin and based on a 1970s DC Comic, isn’t getting good reviews, but it’s better than I expected. Director Jimmy Hayward maintains a lightness of tone given that our hero’s face looks like one side went through a meat grinder and he can talk to dead people. The Civil War has ended and vigilante Jonah Hex (Brolin) is obsessed with catching General Quentin Turnbull (John Malkovich), the man responsible for killing Hex’s wife and son. Turnbull is assembling a doomsday weapon that he intends to use on Washington D.C.
“Jonah Hex” is a combination of a Wild Wild West episode and a Sergio Leone movie with its doomsday weapon and ‘the good, the bad and the ugly’-type hero. Brolin proves capable of playing tough and hard and is ably supported by Malkovich, who hasn’t met a villain he can’t overplay. The biggest problem is the seemingly huge chunks of plot that Hayward left on the cutting room floor, resulting in an incoherent story, especially the scenes that take place in some sort of parallel, mystical world. But there’s an obedient horse and a dog that decided Hex would make an excellent master. So “Jonah Hex” can’t be all bad, right? 6/19/10
1 comment:
This Hi-energy "shoot-em-up" comic book flick was fun to watch and Josh Brolin did a good job of playing the inscrutable Jonah Hex. There was some interesting story twists and an excellent villain played by John Malkovitch that help this movie along. If you like Clint Eastwood westerns you will like this.
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