Movie Review - Jonah Hex

Jonah Hex

Staring: Josh Brolin, John Malkovich, Megan Fox, Michael Fassbender, Will Arnett, John Gallagher Jr, Tom Wopat, Michael Shannon, Wes Bentley, Jeffrey Dean Morgan

Premise: Jonah Hex chose doing right over friends and country and paid the price. His family killed before his eyes, he's left marked and tied up to live or die at nature's whim. Rescued by Indians when on the verge of death, Jonah returns to the world of the living not quite all back from the dead, revenge and violence all that's left to him. When the government hunts him down and tells him his nemesis is not dead and is after destroying the still blossoming reunited North and South, Jonah sets out after him with a vengeance.

Review: I got pretty excited when I heard this movie was coming. I'd read some of the DC comics for Jonah Hex years and years ago. The distinct disfigurement of Jonah's face was as memorable as Harvey Dent's in Batman. So I really liked that they worked real hard to keep that signature look, including the Confederate hat and coat as well. For even more fun, at the beginning, they switch to cartoon mode to cut back on the horror of the brand placed on his face and make surreal his close brush with death and the birth of the man he then became.

Jonah doesn't come back untouched from stepping into the other side. Supernatural elements now crop in as he is always dogged by crows and he's gained the ability to bring the dead back to life just enough to talk to them. Some really neat rules and scenes on the talking to the dead ensue. Was a lot of fun when he dug up his friend Jeb (Jeffrey Dean Morgan (uncredited role)) and the latter tries to fight him every time his body is brought back. Some very nice flip-flops between live and dead body in these scenes.

Great shootouts and fights. Even an element of James Bond and Wild Wild West as technology way past what was available at the time makes a showing. Johan even has his own Q. Malkovich makes a great bad guy and Megan Fox a sexy spitfire, who sees the man beneath the scars.

Some great effects, some cool mystic stuff, wonderful surreal scenes, standard old bad west doggie-dog set up. So nothing too surprising, yet all the support cast did an awesome job. So a neat cool romp with loads of action and some massive, and I mean massive destruction scenes!

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars