I wasn't really expecting much out of this film. And I thought that it coming out the same weekend as Toy Story 3 was pretty laughable. But it seemed like fun, so I thought I'd give it a try. Sadly, it turned out pretty much how I expected, and it's no wonder there was such little advertisement paid to this film.
Jonah Hex is pretty straightforward in it's story. Jonah Hex witnessed his family die at the hands of John Turnbull. Unfortunately, for Hex, Turnbull died mysteriously in a hotel fire...or did he. Turns out Tunrbull is still alive and a danger to the US. Now, Jonah must get his revenge and save the US.
A lot of people have compared this film to The Wild Wild West. Thankfully, this is not that film. Granted, it's not all that grounded in reality (actually, it's not grounded in reality much at all), but there's no giant walking spiders or head slicing, flying discs. The action here is pretty ridiculous and outrageous, but at the same is fun. It helps that Josh Brolin, as the titular Jonah Hex, is pretty damn cool. He plays off Dirty Harry pretty well, with only a few one liners and a pretty well drawn out character. In fact, I would say that if they ever do a remake of Dirty Harry, I would vote for Brolin to take up the reins. Unfortunately, most of the rest of the cast is not as good. John Malkovich plays Turnbull lazily. Sure, he's not as hammy as he could have been, which I am grateful for, but I can't help but feel that he isn't the least bit interested in what he is doing. And with the kind of character he's supposed to be, there should be more passion, but it's sadly missing. As for the third big name, Megan Fox does what she does best and looks hot in some slutty western dresses. For a film like this, I guess you can't ask much more from her.
The action is obviously where this film is at, and it mostly delivers. It's far from the biggest action film this summer, but there are some pretty outrageous and entertaining pieces, like the Gatling gun-mounted horse and the dynamite gun scenes known from the trailer. And when there isn't action going on, Brolin saves the film. Besides the action, he is the best thing here. I would also even argue that the film does a good job translating the comic book style. While it could have been much better, it could also have been a lot worse. I guess I can at least be thankful for that.
Suffice to say, I pretty much got what I thought I would get out of the film: a cool Josh Brolin, a hot Megan Fox, a wooden John Malkovich, and a lot of crazy action. Was I satisfied? I suppose. It was a decent way to kill about an hour and a half. Would I run out to the theater for this? Nah. If you really care about the ticket price and your time, I would just wait to rent it on DVD.
Jonah Hex is pretty straightforward in it's story. Jonah Hex witnessed his family die at the hands of John Turnbull. Unfortunately, for Hex, Turnbull died mysteriously in a hotel fire...or did he. Turns out Tunrbull is still alive and a danger to the US. Now, Jonah must get his revenge and save the US.
A lot of people have compared this film to The Wild Wild West. Thankfully, this is not that film. Granted, it's not all that grounded in reality (actually, it's not grounded in reality much at all), but there's no giant walking spiders or head slicing, flying discs. The action here is pretty ridiculous and outrageous, but at the same is fun. It helps that Josh Brolin, as the titular Jonah Hex, is pretty damn cool. He plays off Dirty Harry pretty well, with only a few one liners and a pretty well drawn out character. In fact, I would say that if they ever do a remake of Dirty Harry, I would vote for Brolin to take up the reins. Unfortunately, most of the rest of the cast is not as good. John Malkovich plays Turnbull lazily. Sure, he's not as hammy as he could have been, which I am grateful for, but I can't help but feel that he isn't the least bit interested in what he is doing. And with the kind of character he's supposed to be, there should be more passion, but it's sadly missing. As for the third big name, Megan Fox does what she does best and looks hot in some slutty western dresses. For a film like this, I guess you can't ask much more from her.
The action is obviously where this film is at, and it mostly delivers. It's far from the biggest action film this summer, but there are some pretty outrageous and entertaining pieces, like the Gatling gun-mounted horse and the dynamite gun scenes known from the trailer. And when there isn't action going on, Brolin saves the film. Besides the action, he is the best thing here. I would also even argue that the film does a good job translating the comic book style. While it could have been much better, it could also have been a lot worse. I guess I can at least be thankful for that.
Suffice to say, I pretty much got what I thought I would get out of the film: a cool Josh Brolin, a hot Megan Fox, a wooden John Malkovich, and a lot of crazy action. Was I satisfied? I suppose. It was a decent way to kill about an hour and a half. Would I run out to the theater for this? Nah. If you really care about the ticket price and your time, I would just wait to rent it on DVD.