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.