Nothing much explained in this revenge flick

The Movie Connection: Jonah Hex

By Andy McKinney  
Gazette/Connection Film Critic
           
I had a chance to read the script for “Jonah Hex” a couple of months ago.  I couldn’t imagine how a successful film could be made from it. 

Thanks to Director Jimmy Hayward, a successful film was made from the chaos of the script. Hayward has as his only directing credit the animated short film “Horton Hears a Who!” so go figure.
           
This is a revenge flick set in a comic book version of the Wild West during the Grant administration (Grant is played as a sober statesman by Aidan Quinn.)  Some technological impossibilities aside, it focuses on Jonah Hex, played by Josh Brolin in a bold role as the scar faced and unsympathetic Hex.

His quest is to slay the man who burnt his wife and son to death as Hex was helplessly watching. Hex’s spiritual connection to the dead is caused by his own near death experience.  The film opens with bounty hunter Hex dragging the bodies of three dead bad men into a Western hamlet for the reward money and it gets steadily more violent, dark and grim from there.
           
Besides Brolin in the title role, Megan Fox provides a convincing portrayal of a much too beautiful frontier whore who loves the facially mutilated Hex.  John Malkovich is the psychopathic nemesis to Hex.  One of my favorite actors from the old “Wire” series on HBO, Lance Reddick (lately seen on “Fringe”) has a small part as Smith, a gunsmith who makes special weapons for Hex.
           
The weakness of the film is that nothing much is explained.  Why does Fox love the broken, tortured Hex?  How does Hex animate dead men for interrogation?  What is the villain’s wonder weapon and how could it exist in 1870?  It is almost like it was made from a comic book.
           
If grim violence is your thing and you have a soft spot for goodhearted heroes who are dammed to eternity for their deeds, you may enjoy “Jonah Hex.”  I give it an average three saw blades, much to my surprise after seeing the script.  The PG-13 (violence-no bad words or fully naked people) supernatural western runs a short one hour and 21 minutes.  I think this one will have a hard time finding an audience.
           
Also starting this week is “Toy Story 3” from the reliably excellent Pixar Company.  I have enjoyed all of the Pixar offerings very much, and none more so than the two previous episodes in the “Toy Story” line.  Coming soon are the comedy “Grown Ups” and a spy shoot-um up “Knight and Day.” C U at the Saw Mill.