Jonah Hex was a comic western hero from the DC lineup. He was noted mostly for a messed up face. For most of his 92 issue run he ran up against fairly normal foes. He didn't have any super powers outside being just plain rattle snake mean and a dead shot with a gun.
In the movie, Josh Brolin plays Hex. Here, he has his family killed, maimed, and nearly kill by John Malkovitch. He is revived by indians and now has the power to talk with dead people at a touch. This seems like a good power to have for a bounty hunter. He goes on being a bounty hunter and ridiculously armed one (gatling guns on a horse??), and himself becomes a wanted man after a "misunderstanding." Meanwhile, Malkovitch has gone all Dr. Loveless and is threatening the US with a super weapon. Of course only onery Jonah can save the day. Aided by Megan Fox he does so in his own surly fashion.
Josh is a good choice to play Jonah. Certainly I can't fault the production values. The action is good though shot in a bit too much "MTV style" for my taste. I don't even fault them for giving Hex a "super power," it works well within the context of the story. My only real problem is they went all "Wild, Wild West" plot wise. It didn't work for the "Wild, Wild West," and it really doesn't work here. I think Hex as a character would have been better served with a smaller more intense story. Think more "High Plains Drifter." Still, how ofter do you see a horse with gatling guns?
STRANGE SPANNERS being an accounting of strangeness of the warp and woof of my mind For those of you new here, think of this as 1/2 "Night Gallery" Our Motto: Nos somnium quisnam es futurus fatum quod insolitus tutus vos!
Did you watch the reruns of the Wild, Wild West as a kid? I was a sucker for that show. Maybe the combination of cowboys and Bond villains only works when you're ten years old.
ReplyDeleteGood point Chuy, I was specifically referring to the Will Smith movie not the tv show that somehow managed to make it work!
ReplyDeleteGats are my favorite!! on a horse or not!
ReplyDeleteHaving not read the comic book, I didn't realize he wasn't supposed to be able to talk with the dead.
ReplyDeleteI liked the grudge match between them and felt the story behind it was plausible--refusal to do a 'war atrocity' with unfortunate consequences.
Admittedly the weapon that Malkovich was assembling and employing was a bit much, but what (other than something fantastically out of place) would have posed such a threat in the times?
Perhaps you're correct in that just the match between them would have been enough, but I think the ride as it was is just right!!
The movie itself was ok, but they made some errors in selling it. One of those errors was being way too close to Wild Wild west...
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