Jonah Hex Review

Jonah Hex can be summed up in simply one word. Pointless. There is a beginning and an end, but the remainder is just one pointless scene after another. It's disappointing to watch a movie with so much potential fail on almost every level. Jonah Hex is of course based off the DC Comics character of the same name, but sadly that character is missing from this film. With so much interesting comic lore to draw from they decided to ignore it all in favor for something boring and cliche.

It starts off harmless enough setting up a revenge plot after Hex's family is killed by the antagonist of the film, Turnbull. Then instead of telling an origin story the movie decides to skip forward to the point where Hex has already become a notorious scarred bounty hunter. This is told through a sequence of comic book panels to remind us of the film's origin, but only serves as an insult to anyone who actually read the series. From there on it's one pointless scene after another, each one usually ending with a fiery explosion. This all leads up to the climax which also ends an explosion, at least the movie's consistent in that regard. So there you have the plot of Jonah Hex. Hex is seeking revenge, he farts around a bit causing explosions, then gets his revenge causing yet another explosion and the credits roll. I just saved you the price of admission right there, nothing interesting happens in the movie.

It's hard to place the blame on the actors when they have absolutely nothing to work with. In fact I generally liked Josh Brolin as Hex, and felt sorry that he had to play such a great character in this awful movie. A few of the actors don't get off so easily though, and simply don't try at all or have no talent to begin with. John Malkovich is devoid of any emotion that you would associate with the villain Turnbull and his goals. Meanwhile Megan Fox continues to somehow have an acting career based solely off her looks, with her entire character being as pointless as the movie. I can't even remember what her character's name was, she was that unnecessary.

Do not waste your time and money on this movie. Go watch Toy Story 3 instead, and watch Toy Story a few more times before you even think of bothering yourself to watch this terrible film. The biggest compliment I can give the movie is at least it's short. It has enough sense to not linger any longer than it has to, and risk further annoying its audience. I would call it a complete failure if it hadn't been for Josh Brolin. He was the only saving grace of this film, the rest of it can die in one of it's explosions for all I care.

Final Score: D-