Jonah Hex
Blu-ray | DVD
Directed by Jimmy Hayward
Staring Josh Brolin, Megan Fox, John Malkovich, Will Arnett
Warner Brothers Home Video
Release date: October 12, 2010

Jonah Hex is a film that deserves to be much better than it ends up being. The film is based on the western comic from DC, created in the 1970s by John Albano and Tony DeZuniga, revived in 80s and 90’s in more hybrid styles (notably post-apocalyptic western and horror western), and returned to his straight western roots in 2005 by Justin Gray and Jimmy Palmiotti. It’s the Gray and Palmiotti series that serves as the main inspiration for the movie, although there is plenty of the horror and supernatural aspects from the 90s thrown in. The film probably would have been better served by just focusing on the traditional western elements. If you’ve seen the movie, but haven’t read the comic, I highly suggest giving it a shot. Certainly don’t hold the movie against the comic.

Jonah Hex (Josh Brolin) is a former confederate soldier and current bounty hunter. He is the very definition of bad ass. He makes the Man with No Name look like a fresh on the trail farm-boy. He kills without mercy, and he’s not afraid to do what ever it takes to get paid. He’s set on the track of the man who killed his family, General Turnbull (John Malkovich). The General has some plan to ruin the country’s centennial celebration, which conveniently ties into Hex’s desire for revenge. So Hex starts tracking him down. And that’s pretty much the whole plot. It’s not what you would call a complicated story.