Jonah Hex (2010) Movie Review

My review of "Jonah Hex."

Jonah Hex (2010)

There's an atmosphere and look to "Jonah Hex" that is far from the appearance of modern Hollywood fare. It took me a few minutes of its outdoor cinematography to realize that it looks almost like a 1960s Technicolor western with rich colors not often used today in films. Intentional or not, and I suspect it was, it's what makes this movie just different enough to be appealing. Add a scar-faced Clint Eastwood type anti-hero (Josh Brolin), with the ability to speak to the dead and the fighting skills and luck of Jim West from "The Wild Wild West," (the television series, not the abysmal big screen venture), and you have Jonah Hex.

Jonah was accused of betraying his regiment and killing the son of Quentin Turnbull, played with delightful villainy by John Malkovich. He is hung on a St. Peter's cross (X shaped) and forced to watch his family burn to death in their home by Turnbull. Turnbull then brands Jonah's face and leaves him hanging on the cross to suffer, until he is found and nursed back to health by Crow Indians. From his near death experience, he gains the ability to speak with the dead, and he uses it to hunt Turnbull for revenge. After believing Turnbull killed in a hotel fire, Jonah becomes a bounty hunter to work out his anger and hatred issues. He is eventually called upon by the President of the United States (Aidan Quinn), when danger and destruction from a super weapon threaten the country.

I find most films that don't look like every other film, or follow the same Hollywood formula, interesting. This one, based on a D.C. comic book, fills the bill perfectly. It is most likely the fact it was made from a comic book and not a video game that gives it a richer story, with better developed characters, than could possibly come from any video game gone rogue on the big screen.

I was pleasantly surprised to find the always underrated Aidan Quinn in the role of the President in "Jonah Hex." Though not on screen very long, Quinn, as usual, believes the role he is playing. Generally, if the actors believe in their characters, you can have a good movie even when other elements fail. Brolin and Malkovich also play their roles as if they really are in the old west, providing the necessary belief system to transport the audience there as well.

There is one exception to the actor's believability in "Jonah Hex," and that is Megan Fox's "Lilah," who seems terribly out of place here. There are a couple of reasons for this, one being that her makeup is so perfect, she seems airbrushed. I realize that as the town's working "lady of the evening" she should look more made up than the other women in town, but we are talking flawless skin, eyelashes, and lips here; not likely for the period she is playing. She literally looks like she stepped right out of the classroom in "Transformers," put on some period frilly things from wardrobe, and magically appeared in the old west. For a moment, I actually wondered if she refused to appear on camera in less than perfect makeup. If so, shame on her for being difficult and demanding on the set. It could cost her a role in a sequel someday.

The other reason Fox doesn't really work here, is her age. She seems to be the only actor in the movie who plays the role like she's still in high school in the year 2010, and with the all-too-familiar fighting skills of a Hollywood teenaged crime fighter. Although Lilah is intended to be the softness in an otherwise rough cut cast of characters, she should have been a little older and not quite as soft, to fit in better with the other characters. This would have made her fighting seem more realistic and not just an added "Hollywood" gimmick. I'm thinking of the Karen Allen type from the Indiana Jones films.

"Jonah Hex" isn't a perfect movie, but neither is it mundane or boring. There are plenty of action scenes and explosions for anyone, and just enough of the supernatural to offer something different in western film fare. Its biggest mistake may have been opening against "Toy Story 3" and in the second week of "The Karate Kid." I suspect as more people see the former films and look for something else to watch, "Jonah Hex" will pick up more box office receipts to be at least in the top five next weekend, possibly #3 as "A Team" gets old with the summer audience.

Buy at least a matinee ticket or you'll miss the wonderful visuals, even later on your home big screen.

Excerpt From "Star Drifter" Chapter 4

[Excerpt] Star Drifter, Chapter 4, "Pursuit" ©1991 Steve Anthony

An excerpt from "Star Drifter." This is in Chapter 4 where Jason Garrett's ship has come out of a sudden jump to light drive in an unexpected place. Since I work full time as a technical writer, and always have several creative writing projects in the works but limited time to actually pursue them, “Star Drifter” has been a years-long project of mine. This particular portion was written in the early 90s and I was a little put out at myself for not having finished it as I sat in a movie theater and watched the USS Enterprise NCC-1701-D crash in “Star Trek: Generations” nearly re-creating the crash of the spaceship Transient from my story visually before me. What could I do, challenge the makers of "Star Trek" for using a scene from a book written by an unknown author that wasn't finished and no one had ever read? Not likely. It's not like they could even know about it. They say if you have idea someone else has it as well. That was the case with the two books, "The Glass Inferno" and "The Tower" that became "The Towering Inferno" but at least the authors of those had finished their stories.

I’m not even sure if this is ready for anyone to see, and it probably needs work, but here it is. I guess the biggst question here is, "Does it make you want to read more?"

She smiled back at him and wished he would take her into his arms. Finally he did, and her heart started pounding as he reached out to pull her close, starting to kiss her. As her senses blurred into the moment, a loud, alternately rising and falling tone pierced the silence, and the ship lurched, nearly throwing them to the floor.

"What's that!?" She was startled at the noise.

"It's an alarm. We're entering the atmosphere of a planet." He tried to remain calm.

The ship lurched again. He carefully made his way forward and crouched below the main viewport that stretched along the front of the control room. Reaching out, he pressed a button and the alarm went silent. Then he unlatched a small panel and reached inside.

"Get to a control lounge. There are belts inside the armrest. Slide them out and strap yourself in."

He struggled unsuccessfully with a lever inside the panel, then turned around and sat down with his back to it. Reaching up behind his head with both hands, he grasped it again. Pain from his injuries registered in his face and he groaned as he stretched, pulled down with all his strength, and finally managed to pull the lever free. He stood up and stepped back, intently watching the viewport. The metal plates covering it silently divided in the middle and began to slide to each side, gradually revealing a planet bathed in beautiful brilliant blue. It nearly filled the entire viewport.

"Behold the handiwork of God," he said in the midst of his awe. "I've seen a lot of planets, and man has made his share of artificial moons and colonies, but there's only one that looks like this."

"Earth!" exclaimed Letha. "It's beautiful! I've heard stories, but I never imagined it was like this!"

"You mean you've never been to Earth?" His eyes never left the viewport.

"Never. I was born and raised on Stevenson's Colony. I've never even been in space before."

He finally turned and made his way to the other lounge, stretching the belts across his chest as tightly as possible and buckling them. Then he shook his head from side-to-side and chuckled.

"For a first timer, you certainly know how to put in an exciting day.” He looked at the viewport again. "Take a good look at it, because it may be the first and last time you see it."

The ship began to lurch and shake more violently, seemingly ready to burst apart at any moment, as it rapidly accelerated toward the blue mass in front of it.

"We're going down fast and hard. I may have restored enough power to keep us from burning up from friction, or totally disintegrating on impact, but it's not going to be pretty in any case."

"Jason, will you have any control over where we land?" There was urgency in her voice.

"Not enough to get you within a hundred kilometers of wherever it is you think you want to go. Auto guidance is out. The best I can hope to do is keep us upright and as steady as possible. The hydraulics will do most of that with a little prodding from me. If you want to go somewhere specific, I suggest you call another shuttle."

As his fingers nimbly pressed buttons with each new jolt of the ship, an orange glow began to surround the borders of the viewport and rapidly fill it, becoming so bright that they had to shield their eyes. One of the control panels he had repaired suddenly shorted out, startling them and sending a shower of sparks in their direction before erupting into flames. Above it a cloud of vapor hissed down and when it stopped, the flames were gone. Then, as rapidly as the glow had appeared outside the viewport, it died away, leaving them with the view of an ocean's surface sliding far beneath them at a dizzying speed. A land mass appeared before them on the horizon and grew larger with each passing second.

"Jason, have you heard of a place called ‘The Ring’?"

"I'm surprised you have."

"Can you get us there?"

"So this is where you wanted to come all along." He turned his head and looked at her intently. "Why Earth? Why the Ring?"

"I'll explain later. Just do what you can to get us there, okay?"

As he gazed into her striking blue eyes she had him with one word; one pitifully spoken plea, "Please."

"All right, but I can't promise anything. I hope you understand."

"Yes."

"I'm familiar enough with the land masses to recognize them, but we're already in our last orbit and frankly, I was going to use it to slow us down a little. If you really want to do this, it'll lower our chance of survival considerably."

"I know."

He hesitated, trying to be sure that she really did understand, "All right then. Let's do it."

Looking intently at the viewport, he poised his fingers just above a lever and at what seemed like the right moment, slid it down, and pushed a button. The view port shields slowly closed together again and they stared at them until they could no longer see the rapidly approaching ground beneath them.

He punched one final button and yelled, "Hold on!"

A loud humming emanated from the Transient’s power pods as it struck the ground with its belly and bounced back up into the air. From what seemed like another reality, he thought he heard a scream. Letha? The ship came down again and slid several hundred feet where it struck a large tree and glanced off it to the left, sending a shower of wood splinters, gravel, and debris into the air. Another tree sent it back to the right, where it smashed rocks apart and ripped through several large bushes, tearing them out of the ground by their roots. It continued sliding, dragging rocks, brush, dirt, and the bodies of a few unfortunate birds and small animals with it, finally coming to rest only a few feet from the edge of a cliff, as a huge pile of debris and dust hurtled past it, and crashed into the bottom of the canyon below with a thunderous roar.

Less than fifty kilometers away, the Guardians awoke from their synthetic sleep, and prepared to make their way to the site to investigate the intrusion.