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Post by Admin Sat Jun 19, 2010 3:29 pm

I decided to separate the good or ok reviews for the film, because I think they stand out since there aren't as many.
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Post by Admin Sat Jun 19, 2010 3:31 pm

http://darthweaselmoviereviews.blogspot.com/2010/06/movie-review-jonah-hex.html

Friday, June 18, 2010
Movie Review: Jonah Hex


I have been preparing to hate this movie for a long time. See, while it was in development, they reputedly completely dumped the "real" Jonah Hex in favor of a story involving voodoo, zombies, and mass quantities of supernatural oddity.

Let me back up.

Sometime in the early 80's, I was at a friends' house and saw this magnificent cover.
He was done reading it so he gave it to me and I about wore that thing out with numerous re-readings of it.

Here was a magnificent anti-hero. To this day I can quote the tag line, He Was a Hero to Some, a Villain to Others, and Wherever He Rode People Spoke His Name in Whispers. He Had No Friends, This Jonah Hex, But He Did Have Two Companions: One Was Death itself...the Other, The Acrid Smell of Gunsmoke...

As an avowed Western and comedy lover, here was the guy I loved to read about. Fast with his gun and his mouth, he toured the West shooting up mass quantities of people (467 by the count of this Hex-a-holic...and if you have read many of his comics, that seems low for 101 issues..."ONLY" 4.67 kills for hex per issue? Seems low...)

And while he was racking up the body count, he was keeping a running commentary in his head replete with wise-cracks, one liners, and testosterone dismissals of the most trying circumstances. I had read other comics before...but this was the first one I truly loved.

I scrimped, saved, collected bottles and cans to purchase the next issue. When he was thrown into the future for the ill-starred Hex series, I was devastated....until it proved to be actually pretty entertaining, though having just a short run (18 issues) before being canceled.

Later, I went on a buying spree and purchased about 70% of the entire run of Jonah Hex. He became an old friend, and one I very much wanted to see brought to the big screen...just not in some ridiculous zombie-battle.*

So when the trailers showed him "resurrecting" a bad guy, blowing out "spirit smoke" from his mouth and them referring repeatedly to his supernatural powers, yet also demonstrating the penchant for violent gun-based retribution and snarky one-liners, I was in a quandary.

Do I go see a movie bound to disappoint me and thus encourage crap....or do I pass up on seeing some version, any version, of one of my all-time favorite fictional characters on the big screen?

I had a free movie ticket and a desire to avoid traffic, so...off to the theatre I went.

The movie starts in classic fashion...Jonah Hex (Josh Brolin) dragging multiple bodies behind his horse, on his way to collect a reward. He is a fine bounty hunter.

Soon the situation degenerates into another shoot out, this one a bit more atypical of the classic Hex comic but that is forgivable...it is a forgivable nod to the brainless summer blockbuster action-blow-em-up adventure genre.

It also showed somewhat of the different direction director Jimmy Hayward was going to take it. Hex does some pointless, over-the-top destruction that even for the calloused Hex is exceptionally violent.

There are two reviews of this movie. First, the lover of classic Hex.

I am burned that they took Quentin Turnbull (John Malkovich) from the debonair, refined, politician behind the scenes mysterious enemy and moved him clearly into the cheesy villain with decent plans but too ready to do his own dirty work and thus be eliminated reminiscent of the Joker (Heath Ledger) in the Dark Knight movie.

Gone were the deep, rich characterizations that would take dozens of issues to bring to fruition...no enemy who spanned every issue from Weird Western Tales #22 and he was still a major force when the aforementioned issue 77.

Also gone were Jonah's troubled childhood with an alcoholic father and prostitute mother, his adoption in and expulsion from the Apache tribe...and how he got his star.

Still there were his ability to out shoot, out think, out-skulk, and out-track anybody while popping off sarcastic and witty one-liners.

Added were a malicious streak...such as his gunning down of a guy for asking how he got his scar and his blowing up of the town where he had already killed 8/10ths of the population.

Also added were his supernatural powers and apparent inability to be killed by gunfire.

There were also some nice nods to classic Hex stories...like the callback to the half-wolf Iron Jaws that was with Hex for a few issues, Turnbull carrying an eagle-top cane, the appearance of an Indian Wife recalling White Fawn, and even the pit-fighting.

It made for a Hex that was interesting and intriguing but just barely lacking.

Now for the movie review from the guy who wanted to see Hex on the big screen and was willing to compromise.

This is not a movie for those who want hole-less plots, who want to think, or who want reality.

But if you are willing to suspend your disbelief and watch an adrenaline fueled duel of wills between the bad guy (Jonah Hex) and the worse guy (Turnbull) duke it out, you have come to the right place.

Burke (Michael Fassbender) is an outstanding villain. He is fearless, intelligent, and a worthy foe for Hex.

Lilah Tallulah Black (Megan Fox) is exactly the type of girl that a man like Hex would be expected to associate with.

And the story proceeds along at a good clip with some metaphysical meanderings taking place along the way. It is a good, entertaining, quick-moving yarn that sticks to what it is good at....high-octane action interspersed with build-ups to the next high-octane set piece with occasional pseudo-dramatic moments...will Turnbull and his men blow up Washington? Or will Hex stop them in time?

In the end, it is a basic revenge for revenge tale that is pretty entertaining along the way.
Hayward shows a good eye for the camera, with some nice framing and interesting point of view shots. He can also show the panorama when necessary.

Other than Malkovich, the acting is pretty solid. You are seldom pulled out of the movie and reminded these are not real people, they are actors playing created people.
Unfortunately, this is not true with Malkovich. He tries to be smooth but comes off cheesy and over acting. He is like a serious version of Jim Carrey...and that is not meant to be a compliment.

Brolin, on the other hand, brings a nice presence to the Hex role and there are some great supporting actors such as Will Arnett in a serious roll as Lieutenant Grass and Tom Wopat as Slocum.

Ultimately, I enjoyed myself enough that a movie I was prepared to hate I walked away from having had a good time.

* It is only fair to note that under the Vertigo banner, Hex DID in fact engage in stories of this nature. And, in this writer's humble yet accurate opinion...they sucked so bad I have not read his new series, either.

The Weasel is (strongly) satisfied.
Posted by Darth Weasel
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Post by Admin Sat Jun 19, 2010 3:50 pm

http://lamelbox.blogspot.com/2010/06/jonah-hex.html

Melanie Wilson
My Reviewer's Philosophy: I believe that every film has its audience. One man’s Citizen Kane is another man’s Texas Chain Saw Massacre. My purpose is to help you spend your entertainment dollars wisely. A bad review never kept me from going to a film I wanted to see, but a good review will sometimes get me to a film I never considered. As a movie lover I want you to go to the movies. When more people go to the movies, the more movies get made. But, I also believe that if you enjoy the films you see, you naturally will be inclined to go more often. So join me in supporting our film industry by going to a movie today. Hopefully I can steer you towards a good one. See you at the movies. Melanie Wilson

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Friday, June 18, 2010
Jonah Hex
Warner Brother’s Pictures showed a clip from Jonah Hex at last year’s Comic-Con in San Diego. I was immediately intrigued. One, I like westerns, two, I’m interested in the Civil War, and three, there was a little Native American mysticism mixed in. I was unfamiliar with the Jonah Hex DC Comic, but I love Josh Brolin (No Country for Old Men) so I was ready to go. And I’ve got to say, I wasn’t disappointed.

Unlike other comic book adaptations, Jonah Hex didn’t seem to be bogged down by filling in the backstory. It gave us just enough to get started, and filled in details as we went along. Sometimes going back to pick up finer points. I loved this approach because these stories are not sacred to me. I just want to be entertained. Watchmen was ruined because there was too much exposition. I’m glad they let this film get straight to the action.

Jonah Hex is spare and lean, beginning like a Spaghetti Western. I relished one of the early shots of Jonah dragging in three dead bodies from the back of his horse. As they raised dust, weighing heavily in the sand, you could tell Jonah was a man of reputation by the way the town’s people reacted to him. You could also tell he was a man of honor after he killed the sheriff for reneging on a deal. He only took what was owed him, and laid the rest unceremoniously down. It is a bad idea to cheat Jonah Hex, he is a man with nothing to lose.

I was continuously surprised by the supporting cast. John Malkovich (Con Air) played the villain and Aidan Quinn (Stakeout) played Ulysess S. Grant. Will Arnet (Blades of Glory) broke from his comedy roots to play a military officer, and Jeffrey Dean Morgan (Watchmen) shows up in a small uncredited role playing Jonah Hex’s slain best friend. Michael Fassbender (Inglorious Basterds) appears as Burke and even the Dukes of Hazzard’s Tom Wopat has a small role. Megan Fox (Transformers) was the sole female in this film and I didn’t hear a single guy complaining. In fact, the guy in front of me gave her a shout out during the credits. I just wish that they gave her more to do.

For a genre film Jonah Hex is finely made with interesting uses of color, cool graphics and a rockin’ score. My only complaint was with the futuristic weaponry. It wasn’t Wild, Wild, West bad, but it was close. I mean come on, saddle mounted Gatling Guns? Anyone who has ever tried to mount a horse knows that it’s hard enough for a saddle to stay in place with the rider’s weight, let alone two mounted cannons. The weapons were a little too sci-fi. Otherwise, this is a really good film.

Rating: First Run John Hex is to be reckoned with
Posted by Melanie Wilson at Friday, June 18, 2010
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Post by Admin Sat Jun 19, 2010 11:58 pm

http://lavraki.com/%E2%80%98jonah-hex%E2%80%99-review%E2%80%A6-c%E2%80%99mon-y%E2%80%99all-it%E2%80%99s-not-so-bad-not-so-good-either-i-reckon/

‘Jonah Hex’ Review… C’mon Y’all, It’s Not So Bad (Not So Good Either, I Reckon)

jonahhex poster 180x267 Jonah Hex Review... Cmon Yall, Its Not So Bad (Not So Good Either, I Reckon)There has been nothing but bad press about this comic book adaptation since the cameras started rolling last year. From re-writes to re-shoots to re-scoring, this flick has been as plagued as the main character it chronicles. I thought that maybe my lowered expectations would actually be beneficial, in that I could be pleasantly surprised… and to some extent I was.

Born out of DC’s All Star Western series in the 1970s, the character has since gone through many stages and many writers/artists leading up to this current film adaptation starring James Brolin as facially challenged Hex. The character shares many similarities with Clint Eastwood’s The Man With No Name, as a traveling anti-hero of the old and wild, wild west. Jonah Hex is a scarred drifter and bounty hunter of last resort, a tough and stoic gunslinger who, having survived death, has one foot in our world and one on the other side.

His only human connection is with Lilah (Megan Fox), a prostitute who is equally skilled with a gun. Jonah’s past is about to catch up with him when the U.S. military makes him an offer he can’t refuse, to track down and stop the dangerous, ex-Confederate General Quentin Turnbull (John Malkovich), the man who killed his wife and son in front of his eyes (not to mention gave him the infamous scars and left him for dead).

JHFC 00013 560x4201 Jonah Hex Review... Cmon Yall, Its Not So Bad (Not So Good Either, I Reckon)

Yes, I agree with a lot of the negative comments floating out there so far. The film is incredibly uneven (in tone especially) and incredibly short (but that’s better than over -staying your welcome) but it isn’t nearly as bad as some make it sound. I even read one review that proclaimed this was the worst comic book movie ever made… clearly they have not seen The Spirit, Cat-Woman, Elecktra or Daredevil (I could even mention a few others, cough, Spider-Man 3).

Brolin is great as Hex, the visuals are often arresting and even powerful at times plus the supporting cast do some good things, especially my man Michael Fassbender as Turnbull’s right hand man. What struck me as odd is how many great actors had next to nothing roles, leading me to believe (in addition to the film’s 75 minute running time) that a lot hit the cutting room floor. Michael Shannon has a blink and you’ll miss him role and Jeffrey Dean Morgan appears for an uncredited cameo.

JHTCF 00019 560x420 Jonah Hex Review... Cmon Yall, Its Not So Bad (Not So Good Either, I Reckon)

The main problem with Hex is it’s story, written by the duo Neveldine & Taylor, in that it has no emotional resonance and nothing to really latch on to… it’s just too damn quick everywhere that you don’t care about anyone or anything. Even the shots themselves are too quick, not allowing the audience to bask in what they’ve just seen or offer any moments of reflection.

All in all though, it’s not nearly as horrible as I had heard and near the end of the flick I actually found myself both entertained and slight invested in the supernatural, acid-trip, rock n roll Western (that has a pretty cool score by Mastodon). Is it worth seeing? Maybe not in theaters (especially with Toy Story 3 opening) but I’d check it out when it hits DVD. There are worse things out there than Jonah Hex.
Jonah Hex Trailer

Jonah Hex stars Josh Brolin (You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger), John Malkovich (Secretariat), Michael Fassbender (A Dangerous Method), Megan ‘Is A’ Fox (Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen), Will Arnett (Wilde Kingdom) and Michael Shannon (Boardwalk Empire). It is directed by Jimmy Hayward (Horton Hears a Who) and written by Neveldine and Taylor (Crank). It hits theaters TODAY.

MORE: Jonah Hex Videos, Jonah Hex Pics
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Post by Admin Sun Jun 20, 2010 12:15 am

http://movies4me.wordpress.com/2010/06/18/sometimes-a-horse-is-just-a-horse/


Sometimes A Horse Is Just A Horse
June 18, 2010

I don’t know, this Summer has been up and down, but for the most part; pretty disappointing. PRINCE OF PERSIA was no good; I’ve heard lackluster things about THE A-TEAM (don’t worry, I’ll probably be seeing it soon. Though it’s a toss up on whether I want to see that or the lukewarmly-reviewed KARATE KID, at this point.) and just about only SPLICE and CYRUS have managed to provide some level of true entertainment.

But, now comes JONAH HEX. A sci-fi, supernatural western, based off a comic book. It stars Josh Brolin, Megan Fox, John Malkovich, Michael Fassbender and Aidan Quinn as President Ulysses S. Grant. Heck, there’s even appearances by Will Arnett, Lance Reddick, Michael Shannon (literally, if you blink you’ll miss him), Wes Bentley and even, Tom Wopat (you know, Luke Duke…get it?). Written by the likes of Neveldine & Taylor, the movie certainly has a bit of the freneticness that you’d expect from the creators of the CRANK franchise.

And the last part of the equation is director Jimmy Hayward, whose biggest credit to date as director is HORTON HEARS A WHO. That’s not a denigrating tone in my voice you’re picking up; Hayward is sort of the trendsetter of animation directors getting their shot at live-action movies. As a matter of fact, Brad Bird (THE IRON GIANT, THE INCREDIBLES) is directing the next MISSION IMPOSSIBLE movie, and Andrew Stanton (WALL-E and FINDING NEMO) is currently making JOHN CARTER OF MARS.

Heck, I’m going to go out on a limb and say right now; I actually quite liked JONAH HEX. It might be that I just have an affinity for Westerns. It could also be that seeing Josh Brolin with that scarified face and dynamite crossbow-guns; every character with rotten and crooked teeth commenting on how ugly Hex is; and even the interactions between Hex and certain characters – mainly either the dead or animals; that made the movie pretty enjoyable. Lord knows it wasn’t the actual story, or any of the other – mostly undefined – characters. I don’t think that I even caught what Megan Fox’s character’s name was until almost the end of the movie – and I know I don’t remember it now, and don’t recall ever hearing Fassbender’s name in the movie. But, the swooping camera-work, as Hex – and other various cowboys – ride through the wild-west (well, Louisiana, standing in for Georgia and South Carolina and Washington DC); the gun and fist fights; and definitely the wardrobe, all helped to create a world that allowed me not to mind some of the pitfalls.

Oh you want to know what the story is? Fine, let’s see…Jonah Hex was a soldier in the Confederate Army. He disobeyed an order, killed a friend/fellow soldier – that was also the son of their commanding officer, Quentin Turnbull (couldn’t help but think that this was someone’s calling out of Quentin Tarantino) – played sleepily by Malkovich – who in turn kills Hex’s family and scars up his face a little bit. Then there’s stuff that masterfully blows up, people fight and make fun of Jonah’s face – usually to their detriment. Fassbender has weird tattoos, Brolin wears a questionable prosthetic, and Fox wears forearm sleeves, even when she’s wearing nothing else – well, other than a sheet around her. Oh and there’s some giant-mega-super weapon that Turnbull makes.

There are some very promising and interesting places that the movie goes – or tries to – including the use of the word “terrorist” and giving us a viewpoint of that mindset. Turnbull focuses on paying back the government that destroyed the Confederacy – or his family, or something – by killing innocent people (“there are no innocents,” he says at one point), and setting out to destroy their symbols of…well, whatever. Of course, the point is driven home more with explosions than with any kind of actual understanding. The other idea that I liked, but kind of went nowhere, was how Hex interacted with the dead. I won’t spoil the gimmicks there, but it was pretty neat. Though, they really kind of dropped the ball on having a character that could reanimate the dead – especially someone that he dearly wants to punish. But, there were certain aspects – mostly in the trippiness of certain moments, that reminded me of 2004′s RENEGADE (adapted from the comics and titled in the rest of the world as BLUEBERRY), another western dealing tangentially with indian mysticism and whatnot. (Don’t worry, it wasn’t very good, but had some cool actors like Vincent Cassel and Michael Madsen in it.)

What was I talking about? Oh yeah…

Lastly, the only other major issue with the movie I had - this is really starting to sound like I didn’t like the movie, isn’t it? – is that this movie, clearly should have been R-rated. There are moments that lack that final punch, because we are denied seeing the payoff to some of the violence. Not that I’m usually one to call out for blood, but at the same time, sometimes you just want to see people pay for their evilness.

But, the movie looks great. It feels like post-Civil War era, and is quite fun. I know everyone’s going to go see TOY STORY 3 this weekend, but if you’re looking for something with a little (dumber) meat on it’s bones, you could do worse than see this. Yes, I know that’s not the best endorsement…I said that the movie isn’t great, just that I liked it.
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Post by Admin Sun Jun 20, 2010 12:19 am

http://havingsaidthat.net/2010/06/18/review-jonah-hex/

Review: Jonah Hex

The latest, and possibly most under the radar, comic book film this summer is the adaptation of Jonah Hex and the results are a mixed bag as the films focus seems to be in a lot of wrong places.

Hex is a Confederate soldier of some rank but when he turns on his regiment and shoots his best friend dead the Confederate General Turnbull, and father to Hex’s best friend, hunts Hex down, murders his family, and leaves him for dead with a brand on the face to remind him of who did this to him. We are then given a quick rundown of the next few beats in Hex’s life, Turnbull apparently dies, and Hex is left as a supernatural bounty hunter who can briefly resurrect the dead with his touch. As he reeks havoc on the outlaws he hunts, a bounty is in turn put on Hex and the hunter is also the hunted. As Hex tries to earn his keep and stay alive Turnbull turns up alive and constructing a secret military weapon and the president recruits Hex to hunt down his nemesis and save the country.

Now, I know this synopsis is a bit scatter shot but sadly this is just the nature of the film. There is a solid film hiding in here somewhere but the film never really knows what it should be focusing on. At only 81 minutes, the film is fast paced and scoots along fairly well, but at the same time seems a bit slow as you are trying to figure out what exactly is going on; like you are pausing the film in your mind almost. I think this discombobulating rests solely on the efforts of the editing team who very oddly assembled this film together. We get a montage opening of Hex’s exploits in the civil war before our first full scene as his family is taken from him, but then as we expect to see him hunt down Turnbull and see how he became somewhat supernatural we are put into fast forward. Instead of seeing his attempts to take out Turnbull we are given a brief animated voice over by Hex who mentions how he was given this power by some local Native Americans, we learn of Turnbull’s apparent death, and are caught up on Hex’s now bounty hunting profession. The weird thing about this is that the film flashback’s to a number of the films early moments that were filmed live action and one has to wonder why they went this route. Now, I mean they get their point across with the flashbacks, rather quickly actually, but I can’t help but think that this film would have played much better if played out far more linearly. The film also seems to have exercised a few sequences as well as they allude to action moments unseen and apparently a sex scene was left on the cutting room floor as well between Fox and Brolin. Why cut sex and violence in a film that seems to revel in those topics in which its two leading characters are a lawless vigilante and a prostitute?

But I didn’t edit the movie, so I will stop giving my suggestions and further investigate what we are given. Now for all the head scratching that the structure of the film caused there seem to be a few too many senseless detours in the film as well. And while there are a number of good actors to visit in these brief supporting bits, I found myself more than befuddled with a couple of steps on Hex’s path. Speaking of confusing, the least explained bit of the movie is Hex’s mythology to his powers and I really wish we were given the reasons and motivations for the local Natives to keep him alive and instill him with his powers.

The film does have some things going for it though. The actors are all quite solid in their roles with Josh Brolin doing a fine job as Hex, playing him with the right bit of knowing silliness of this all. Megan Fox does a good job at being both the sex symbol they intended as well as kicking a bit of ass when the part calls for that as well. John Malkovich is also quite fun as the nasty and down right awful human being that Turnbull is and his malice and pure senseless nature is one of the things the film does exceedingly well as he slaughters countless innocent lives. Michael Fassbender, one of my favorite actors right now, is a bit one note as Turnbull’s right hand man but he is effectively nasty and annoying and we appropriately hate him. A small batch of good actors are all solid but are way under used, these include Will Arnett, Michael Shannon, Wes Bentley, and Lance Reddick who all show up along Hex and Turnbull’s paths. Jeffery Dean Morgan was my favorite cameo though as Hex’s dead best friend who he has to dig up and talk to for info on his father. The films effects are also quite solid at time, as are it’s many explosive set pieces, but my favorite and far too underused bit is Hex’s waking of the dead and their slow burn they encounter if resurrected. They do a lot of cool bits with these moments and I felt like it was a tad underutilized.

In the end, Jonah Hex is a cool premise that seems to kind of gotten lost too many times along the way. From Eli Whitney creating a doomsday weapon, unique super natural resurrection ideas, and an inspired setting in post Civil War America there is a lot to be intrigued by in this picture. Poor editing, little explanation, and a story structure that is just a bit all over the place hamper the picture from ever running with its good ideas and excelling. Whether it is it’s odd use of flashback over just telling that story in the film naturally or an even weirder integration of a dream like fight when Hex nears death, there are just too many head scratching steps in this film. With all this said, the movie is by no means awful, and in its brevity is a quick and fun watch even with its missteps. Brolin is a fun protagonist and his supporting cast is full of familiar faces I just can’t help but see a far better film hiding somewhere in here and in its source material.

Jonah Hex is a C
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Post by Admin Sun Jun 20, 2010 12:37 am

http://www.beyondhollywood.com/jonah-hex-2010-movie-review/

Jonah Hex (2010) Movie Review
Comic Book Movie News, Comic Book Movie Reviews, Featured, Jonah Hex (2010) Movie — By Joseph Savitski on June 19, 2010

As unlikely as it sounds, the best film this weekend doesn’t concern a tired assembly of discarded playthings gussied up in 3D. “Jonah Hex” is a testosterone fueled thrill ride, a flawed but fantastically entertaining adventure in the ever so wild west. Forget Woody and Buzz, the wildest ride this weekend ends with a hex.

Jonah Hex has a scarred face and vengeance burned deep in his heart and you can’t really blame him. As a Confederate soldier, his family was burned alive after he killed the son of his psychotic commanding officer. As a memento of the occasion, his commander also burns his initials into Hex’s face so he never forgets who took everything he loved from him. Hex turns to bounty hunting, taking out his fury on those unfortunate enough to have a price on their heads big enough to attract his attention. But it seems his old commander, Quentin Turnbull, is back to his old tricks. None too happy the South lost the Civil War, he’s stolen a weapon of immense destructive power to help the South rise again. Only Hex can stop his nemesis from leveling Washington D.C. during America’s first centennial–and settle an old score in the process.

Casting Josh Brolin as Jonah Hex was nothing short of genius, he literally is the ornery ol’ cuss/one man army that is Hex. Makeup effects on the title character is impressive, making his scarring look painfully realistic. As Turnbull, John Malkovich smartly plays his character with a restrained internal evil. He speaks softly, but his actions are lethal and deadly and he’s no one to underestimate. Lance Reddick of “Fringe” fame cameos as Hex’s armorer and possibly only friend; but he’s really there just to show that Hex isn’t racist, but just opposed the Union during the Civil War because he didn’t like being told what to do. Jeffrey Dean Morgan does a nice uncredited turn as Turnbull’s son and former friend, whose death resulted in Jonah’s life barreling downhill.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, Megan Fox is useless as Hex’s love interest, who appears briefly before being used as bait to capture him in the finale. Serving little purpose in the movie save for eye candy, she really doesn’t justify whatever it cost to sign her. Wes Bentley is seen equally briefly as a spy for Turnbull, but he’s barely in the film to make any impact. Aidan Quinn is a fine actor cast in a juicy part of President Ulysses S. Grant, but he’s reduced to sitting in his office looking concerned and wringing his hands. Not exactly what you’d expect from the leader of the free world.

The running time for “Jonah Hex” is a brief 80 minutes, and normally that would be a problem. But director Jimmy Hayward lets it all zip by, stopping briefly for an edifying plot point before leaping back into rousing gunfire. Special commendations go to scripters Brian Taylor, William Farmer, and Mark Nevedine, who combine the western and mystical aspects of the character into a coherent and immensely entertaining movie. The opening animation scenes are visually modern with a western flair, a perfect tribute to the film’s DC Comics roots.

“Jonah Hex” isn’t a perfect film. but it’s a helluva lot of fun. Briskly paced, and chock full of pyrotechnic action, it’s the perfect antidote to this year’s summer blahs. Let Woody and his pals sit in the toy box, you’ll have way more fun riding with Jonah.

Jimmy Hayward (director) / William Farmer , Mark Neveldine, Brian Taylor (screenplay)
CAST: Josh Brolin … Jonah Hex
John Malkovich … Quentin Turnbull
Megan Fox … Lilah
Michael Fassbender … Burke
Will Arnett … Lieutenant Grass
John Gallagher Jr. … Lieutenant Evan
Tom Wopat … Colonel Slocum
Michael Shannon … Doc Cross Williams
Wes Bentley … Adleman Lusk
Julia Jones … Cassie
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Post by Admin Sun Jun 20, 2010 12:38 am

http://ontheflix.com/2010/06/19/new-megan-fox-jonah-hex-movie-delivered-good-action-drama/

New Megan Fox ‘Jonah Hex’ Movie Delivered Good Action & Drama

New Megan Fox ‘Jonah Hex’ movie delivered good action & drama. Warner Bros. Pictures released their new action flick “Jonah Hex” in theaters this weekend. I just checked it out,and despite negative critic reviews, I thought the movie was pretty entertaining. Also, say what you will about Megan Fox,she will always be some great eye candy for these movies. I definitely liked seeing her in this flick. She also did a little gun shooting too. The movie stars: Josh Brolin, John Malkovich, Megan Fox, Will Arnett, Michael Shannon,and Michael Fassbender.

“Jonah Hex” revolved around character Jonah Hex played by Josh Brolin. Jonah’s family gets killed by an evil terrorist criminal named Quentin Turnbull (John Malkovich). From there on out, Jonah’s main goal, was to get revenge on Turnbull. However, he finds out that Turnbull was supposedly killed in a fire. So,now Jonah starts taking out his transgressions on other people until the U.S. military makes him aware that Turnbull is alive. The offer him a full pardon of the warrants that are out on him if he can track down Turnbull,and stop him from blowing up towns with his terrorist weapons.

Once Turnbull finds out that Jonah is own his tracks, he kidnaps the beautiful Lilah character (Megan Fox) as leverage over Jonah because he knows he cares for her. Turnbull’s plan works,and helps capture Jonah,but not for long. Jonah and Lilah eventually team up to help foil Turnbull’s evil plan of destruction with a great ending. The movie offered great action scenes including Jonah Hex taking out multiple men all by himself,gun-slinging,and a great drama-field ending.

I thought the movie’s story was pretty straight forward, not much to figure out,and didn’t last too long. The runtime was just under an hour and a half,which was perfect. It contained action,drama,and a little humor. Megan Fox got to help out in the end by shooting up a couple of people. She almost looked like an action star there for a little bit. Get your “Jonah Hex” movie tickets at Fandango by Clicking Here.

Grade: B
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Post by Admin Sun Jun 20, 2010 4:51 am

http://liveinthelatinospirit.blogspot.com/2010/06/jonah-hex-comic-book-legendbrought-to.html

Friday, June 18, 2010
Jonah Hex: the Comic Book Legend…Brought to the Screen

By Karla Vadillo

In the action-packed adventure thriller “Jonah Hex,” Josh Brolin brings the tough Civil War veteran and bounty hunter to life with a bad-ass attitude and wry humor. A man who has gone to hell and back and has the scars to prove it, Jonah Hex is not a typical hero. In his quest for revenge, he will take down any villain with a price on his head to rid the Earth of all the evil he has witnessed. According to Josh Brolin, the character is an absolute loner from every point of view, tortured, full of rage and guilt. He adds that his journey in this movie is personal: he wants reveange.

Megan Fox ("Transformers", "Jennifer´s Body") plays Lilah, the beautiful yet tough courtesan at a New Orleans brothel who becomes partner in crime of Johan Hex. Lilah joins forces with Jonah to bring down Quentin Turnbull, played by John Malkovich ("Being John Malkovich", "Dangerous Liaisons", "Con Air"), a former colonel in the Confederate army. The motive is clear: Turnbull killed his family so Johan will stop at nothing to see him dead too.

“‘Jonah Hex’ is a classic reveange tale with the future of the union hanging in the balance,” says producer Akiva Goldsman. “Jonah Hex has access to the netherworld. He can talk to the dead and is unstoppable, possibly even unkillable, though Turnbull will try. Jonah is a unique hero.”

“There is a spiritual element that follows Jonah everywhere he travels,” Brolin adds, “and no one really knows how he got that way. What is the truth? What’s not the truth? Half of his whole background is lore.”

The roots of DC Comics’ popular and long-running Jonah Hex comic book series trace back to the 1970s. Originated as a purely Western tough, the character has crossed boundaries and genres that steeped him in elements of the supernatural. It has been enriched while decades pass.

Based on the legendary character from the comic book series from DC Comics, Jonah Hex is an epic action adventure about one man’s personal quest for redemption against the canvas of the battle between good and evil.

The film stars Academy Award®️ nominee Josh Brolin (“No Country for Old Men”), two-time Academy Award®️ nominee John Malkovich. Megan Fox, Michael Fassbender (Inglourious Basterds), Will Arnett (“Blades of Glory”) and Aidan Quinn (“Legends of the Fall”).

Released today, I highly recommend this movie for people who love this comic, the story, westerns with a twist and Megan Fox.
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Post by Admin Sun Jun 20, 2010 3:21 pm

http://www.nypress.com/article-21356-jonah-hex.html

Friday, June 18,2010
Jonah Hex
The Neveldine & Taylor screenplay is easier better than Toy Story 3
By Armond White
. . . . . . .

Jonah Hex

Directed by Jimmy Hayward

Runtime: 80 min.

Entrusted to direct the Jonah Hex screenplay by groundbreaking team Neveldine & Taylor, director Jimmy Hayward brings to it the visual craft and genre savvy he learned as an animator on Toy Story and Toy Story 2 and as a writer and sequence-director on the animated feature Robots. So, although Jonah Hex doesn’t effervesce like Neveldine & Taylor’s own avant-garde innovations, Crank and Crank: High Voltage, Hayward yet makes it pell-mell; it’s still got N&T’s anarchic spirit. That alone makes Jonah Hex the best movie to open this week—easily overshadowing Toy Story 3.

It’s a great coincidence that Toy Story 3 opens as Hayward graduates to N&T’s adult fantasy. He uses the tale of a Confederate soldier-turned-bounty-hunter, Jonah Hex (Josh Brolin), who defies North and South allegiance, to address political and moral responsibility that Toy Story 3 trivializes. Seeking to avenge his wife and son’s murder by Confederate madman Quentin Turnbull (John Malkovich, a perverse John Brown), Jonah’s post-Civil War adventure parallels contemporary malaise. N&T adapt the 1975 DC comic book to fit their timely sense of disquiet and cultural confusion—that post 9/11 dread that Bruce Springsteen aptly described as “a fairy tale so tragic.”

Jonah Hex does for the western what the Crank movies do for the urban action film; simultaneously commenting on genre practice. (Film scholars should explore the coincidence of this villain’s initials and how he viciously brands Q.T. into the side of Jonah’s face, eternally scarring his identity.) It reexamines assumptions of good and evil—morality tale vs, trite entertainment—by confronting the hideous compromises people make with social conventions and their own desperation. Jonah is haunted (hexed) after Turnbull’s dastardly act forces him to see death. Indians who rescue him empower his ravaged soul with the ability to talk to the dead and he uses that gift when President U.S. Grant (Aiden Quinn) calls on him to stop Turnbull’s terrorist assault on post-bellum America. This takes Jonah beyond simplistic patriotism, which he’s already rejected yet the non-cynical quest brings him toward unsentimental resurrection.

Like Orpheus in the underworld, Jonah suffers knowledge of anguished life and the threat of mortality. And like the hero of Crank, Jonah fights to stay alive. Hayward’s action scenes depict a terrorist environment way past Pixar-kiddieland. Bombs, flames, explosions carry 9/11 force, replete with hellhound and ravens—creatures whose myths help vanquish anxiety—all to a pounding score that re-routes death metal back to cathartic affirmation. A retaliation scene that ends with ash and cinders is stringent enough to obliterate despair—almost as powerfully as De Palma’s The Fury climax.

Without a $50 million ad budget to make Jonah Hex seem important, the media feels free to trash it—doing so exposes their collusion with marketing and refusal to read film for personal reflection. True art is watching hot-chick Megan Fox (as Lilah the hooker) fearlessly staring at the most grotesque side of Jonah’s face as if coming to grips with her own exploitation. Beautiful and brilliant. I previously remarked how "Neveldine-Taylor stand so lonely on the culture’s edge that their au courant ingenuity seems absolutely avant-garde when compared to standard box-office formula." Greed is a cultural hex.
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Post by Admin Mon Jun 21, 2010 12:50 am

http://chumpchampion.com/2010/06/16/jonah-hex-hits-the-mark-thanks-to-josh-brolin-michael-fassbender-and-fernando-villena/

Jonah Hex Hits the Mark Thanks to Josh Brolin, Michael Fassbender and Fernando Villena

Jonah Hex. Yes, it’s a mindless-summer-comic-book-popcorn-action-blockbuster. Yes, it stars John Malkovich once again playing it up as the evil nemesis in one of those roles you’ve seen him in hundreds of times before. And yes, Megan Fox looks super sexy “acting” in it.

BUT…Warner Brothers’ Jonah Hex (based on DC Comic’s tortured outlaw gunslinger) also stars Josh Brolin in facially-scarred-anti-hero-completely-bad-ass mode as well as Michael Fassbender (Inglorious Basterds) deliciously enjoying the roll of “scene stealing villain”. But most importantly to me, the movie was masterfully edited by one of my best and most talented friends, the person I’ve looked up to the most in the wide world of post production, the man who’s had an enormous impact helping guide my own editing career, Fernando Villena.

Brolin and the villainous Micael Fassebender light up the screen in an early pivotal scene

A few months back I was invited to attend an early test screening on the Warner’s lot and left feeling as though Jonah Hex had horrible aim and completely missed the mark. It seemed as though the movie was plagued with the usual Hollywood re-writes, re-shoots and ultimately the classic case of too many cooks in the kitchen. After putting my thoughts on paper for the studio post screening, as well as giving detailed notes of things to try editorially to Fern, the studio did the best thing they possibly could have: take another, more streamlined shot with director Jimmy Heyward and giving him more time to work his magic with Fernando in the edit room.

Brolin and director Jimmy Heyward on set

A month later I was invited back to see what Fern and Jimmy had come up with the studio’s blessings. What they had done in the edit was nothing short of a miracle. Gone was the over-bloated, convoluted story no one could really follow-or cared for for that matter. What stood defiantly in the remains was a stylishly sleek, lean and mean, western/mystical/action movie that left me completely satisfied as an audience member, a filmmaker and most importantly as a friend who was so happy for someone who busted his ass like never before as he played a huge roll in making a film that all involved should be, and are, extremely proud of. (Also big shout out to Sin-Halina Sy who was in the edit trenches with Fern fighting the good fight!)

Jonah Hex opens this Friday, June 18th in theaters everywhere.
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Post by Admin Mon Jun 21, 2010 12:53 am

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ent/movies/mobile/7058994.html

Jonah Hex explodes with a vengeance
By AMY BIANCOLLI FILM WRITER
June 17, 2010, 5:10PM
photo
Frank Masi

Nothing says Western better than lots of explosions, and Jonah Hex (Josh Brolin) delivers the firepower in Jonah Hex.

Jonah Hex

Movie Type
Action/Adventure, Drama, Suspense/Thriller

MPAA Rating
PG-13

Running Time
81 minutes

Directed By
Jimmy Hayward

Cast
John Malkovich, Josh Brolin, Megan Fox, Michael Fassbender, Will Arnett

Written By
Brian Taylor, John Albano, Mark Neveldine, Tony Dezuniga

Produced By
Akiva Goldsman, Andrew Lazar

Released
Jun 18, 2010
(Nationwide)

Distributed By
Warner Bros. Pictures

Official Web Site

"This here's my story," says Jonah Hex, the ax-wielding, corpse-whispering, hideously scarred 19th-century Western-style bounty hunter at the outset of the film that bears his name.

Thing is, it isn't much of a story. Sure, it's got a hero on an errand of vengeance (Josh Brolin), a hooker with a heart of gold (Megan Fox, corseted to within an inch of her life), an incompetent Irish thug with chin tattoos (Michael Fassbender) and a wacky genocidal villain (John Malkovich) who plans to kill Jonah and, more importantly, destroy the United States government with translucent orange bocce balls. Or something. It also has several actors with really bad quasi-Southern accents.

Oh, and fire — lots and lots of fire. Explosions, too. Stuff blows up, and I mean constantly; seven scenes (I counted) climax in flames, as though Crank writers resolved to drop a bomb on every narrative roadblock in the script. Included in these serial conflagrations: a shack; a train; two large ships; two small towns; and a tentlike venue where a muscled prizefighter goes mano-a-mano with a gymnastic snake-man drooling acidic spittle. I kind of admire this nuclear approach to screenwriting. It has the virtue of concision.

Unrepentant pyromaniacs might have a good time. Fans of the selfsame D.C. Comics series should enjoy Brolin's rasping masculine approach the mystically gifted Jonah, whose key superpower is the ability to temporarily rouse dead folk for a chat. Even non-fans should enjoy the scene where he dribbles liquor through the hole in his cheek, the result of that tragic, tragic day when he sliced off a hunk of his own face in an attempt to remove a branding mark left by the villainous Quentin Turnbull. (It's complicated.)

Turnbull is played by Malkovich, outfitted with Snidely Whiplash grins and something that looks like a David Crosby wig. He's one of several actors who utter inane gobs of dialogue that's either intentionally funny or unintentionally painful, hard to tell which. Aidan Quinn, as President Ulysses S. Grant, gets the worst of it, though Brolin is additionally handicapped by a stiff prosthetic kisser that turns every sibilant into mush ("Where'sh Turnbull?").

Visually, Jonah Hex is an orgy of overstatement: rapid edits, garish colors, harsh light. In an effort to vary tone, director Jimmy Hayward, an animator who co-helmed the mostly adorable Horton Hears a Who!, inserts overexposed fantasy scenes featuring dirt the color of those nation-killing bocce balls. Truth be told, the best part of the film unspools early on, in a bit of cartoon backstory that's rendered with the slashing kinetic imagery of comic-book art.

I wanted to see that movie, the animated one, or at least a live-action version intercut with a few interesting hand-drawn passages. Loath as I am to complain about a short running time, I think Jonah Hex could have exceeded 80 minutes to make room for some real visual invention. And three-dimensional characters. And a plot. A plot would have been nice.
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Post by Admin Mon Jun 21, 2010 12:56 am

http://www.cinemablend.com/reviews/Jonah-Hex-4660.html

jonah Hex - Review 2.5/5 stars

Distributor: Warner Bros. Pictures
Release Date: 2010-06-18

Starring: Josh Brolin, John Malkovich, Megan Fox, Michael Fassbender, Will Arnett, Tom Wopat

Directed by Jimmy Hayward
Produced by Akiva Goldsman, Andrew Lazar
Written by Mark Neveldine, Brian Taylor

Visit the movie's Official Site!

Reviewed by Josh Tyler : 2010-06-17 16:16:21

In Jonah Hex, Josh Brolin creates one of the most memorable and entertaining on screen heroes since Hellboy. And then he’s wasted on a movie which doesn’t seem to know what it’s doing, where it’s going, or why anyone bothered to make it in the first place.

It’s not a problem at first, because it takes a few minutes before the movie bothers to attempt some sort of plot. Jonah Hex appears on screen, a permanently disfigured cowboy with a vicious growl, and a sarcastic sense of humor. Brolin’s Hex is immediately engaging, and even though he’s only able to actually move half his face, it’s easy to see what he’s all about. To get things moving Jonah kicks some meaningless ass, and that seems pretty cool. Then there’s a bad guy, played by John Malkovich, who wants to destroy America on its hundredth birthday using some sort of impractical super weapon invented by that evil genius Eli Whitney. Its inner workings look more like the imaginings of Rube Goldberg to me.

We’re supposed to be interested in John Malkovich’s villain character, whose name I refuse to learn, because he has a history with Hex. The movie shows us that history, and then shows it to us again. And then it shows us to it again. And then later we see it another time. And maybe a couple more times too, for reasons which can only be described as “filler”. Jonah Hex is only around seventy minutes long (the press notes claim 80 minutes, don't believe it), barely enough to fill the required running time of an after school special. Subtract all the replays of Jonah’s past, remove all the random and meaningless footage of Jonah standing in an imaginary desert, and I doubt the film would even crack an hour. It’s a blessing really, since even that seventy minutes feels like two years.

It’s obvious that this is a movie with problems, problems which someone tried to fix by chopping it up with a carpet knife and then sticking it back together with painter’s tape. It’s all a question of making choices, and whoever edited Jonah Hex makes all the wrong ones. For instance a potentially wrenching scene in which Hex decides to permanently scar himself rather than allow his enemy the satisfaction of marking him, is glossed over, rushed, and mostly ignored while instead the movie replays meaningless moments we’ve already watched for no particular reason.

It’s not all editing though; the script was probably always kind of a mess. Super weapons are almost never a good story decision and this one’s dumber than most. Jonah Hex’s dialogue is clever and thanks to Brolin perfectly delivered, but no one else in the movie ever says anything worth hearing. Some of it’s bad writing, some of it’s both bad writing and bad acting, as in the case of Megan Fox. Luckily Megan Fox is barely in the movie, unfortunately barely in the movie is too much. It’s not really because she’s bad, it’s more that there’s no reason for her character to be in the film. It’s as if someone wrote the script, noticed they forgot to include a part for a woman, and so another writer was brought in to randomly toss in some hooker to show up once or twice to add boobs. At least she’s not playing a boxing leprechaun. Michael Fassbender, for some reason, is.

Yet for all it’s fatal flaws it’s hard to hate Jonah Hex. Josh Brolin’s too good, his scarred and frequently witty character far too engaging. It’s just that no one bothered to write him a movie. Instead he’s stuck wandering around in this thing, with nowhere to go, no one of consequence to kill, and without an adventure worthy of his considerable talents. Jonah Hex would hate this movie. He would make fun of this movie. If this movie isn’t good enough for its lead character, it’s probably not good enough for you too.
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Post by Admin Mon Jun 21, 2010 12:58 am

http://www.comicbookmovie.com/fansites/claybo4131/news/?a=19174

onah Hex Movie Review
Last night, I went to an advanced screening of JONAH HEX. Here's my review of the newly released DC Comics adaption, with as few spoilers as possible.

Last night, I went to an advanced screening of Warner Bros/Legendary Pictures/DC Comics adaption of JONAH HEX, starring Josh Brolin, John Malkhovic and Megan Fox. I didn't have high expectations going into the film, but went cause well it was free and had nothing to lose and didn't have to pay for it. So here is a brief review of it:

First, I am going to disappoint you guys here, Megan Fox does NOT get naked, sorry to bust your bubble on that.

The movie was surprisingly good, not great, but not bad. Josh Brolin was pretty good as Jonah Hex, though you can tell that he was having problems talking sometimes cause of the prosthetic makeup, and sometimes I did feel like he was trying to talk with that scratchy voice like Batman does. John Malkhovic and Michael Fassbender were pretty good as the villians in the film, Malkhovic always plays a pretty good villian anyways (there have been movies where he hasnt been a villian btw) and he is pretty ruthless as Quinton Turnbull. As for Megan Fox, well we all know shes playing a hooker, but we all know she is there for eye candy, thats all I will say about that. The one main thing about this film I didnt like, it was less than 90 minutes long, and the budget was 80 million, thats almost 1 million a minute for the film. That was my main flaw about it it was way too short for a live action comic adaption. Animated films are usually 90 minutes long and most comedies are as well, but I was hoping for at least 1 hour 40 minutes, but I just read the running time is 85 minutes and when I checked my time when the movie was over I was like WHAT!

Also this movie had a western feel of Ghost Rider in a way, so I feel Jonah Hex is DC's version of Ghost Rider.

One thing I don't understand is why WB is releasing it on the same weekend as Toy Story 3, which will easily get 100-120 million this weekend. I felt this movie was more of a Feb. or Mar. or even a Aug-Oct. release, not in the middle of summer release.

All in All, I give it a B-, not too terribly bad, but if you go see it, try to matinee it before you take all your kids to see Toy Story 3 this weekend.
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Post by Admin Mon Jun 21, 2010 1:03 am

http://movies.nytimes.com/2010/06/18/movies/18jonah.html

Jonah Hex (2010)
Warner Brothers Pictures

Michael Fassbender and Josh Brolin in “Jonah Hex.”
June 18, 2010
Tale of a Bounty Hunter
By MANOHLA DARGIS
Published: June 18, 2010

Jonah Hex, the titular tough guy of the enjoyable neo-B-movie of the same title, is so unforgiving that he doesn’t kill a man once — he brings one unlucky victim back from the dead just so he can kill him again.

A former Confederate soldier turned bounty hunter, Hex dates back to a DC Comics series that originated in the early 1970s and clearly owes something to any number of Clint Eastwood antiheroes with and without names. Hex takes the form of Josh Brolin, who can play tough and hard but here is playing tough and funny while wearing a face that looks like a bowl of Hamburger Helper as whipped up by Chester Gould. Hex was scarred, both physically and psychologically, by another Confederate veteran, Quentin Turnbull (John Malkovich), who has emerged to wreak ruin on a united nation he despises.

Though it has bad word of mouth, “Jonah Hex” is generally better, sprier and more diverting than most of the action flicks now playing, “The A-Team” included. The director of “Hex,” Jimmy Hayward, whose first feature was the animated children’s movie “Horton Hears a Who!,” isn’t Sergio Leone, but he maintains a lightness of touch throughout, a welcome change from the lugubriousness that tends to weigh down so many big-screen adaptations of comic books. The cast is weird and slightly confusing — Aidan Quinn, Will Arnett and a very good Michael Fassbender — if solid. As the requisite hooker, Megan Fox has about 15 minutes of screen time, but she fills out the Victorian hooker clothes that make the most of her swelling, perspiring bosom.

There’s also a horse and an excellent dog with which Mr. Brolin has terrific chemistry.

Jonah Hex” is rated PG-13 (Parents strongly cautioned). Violent but not particularly bloody.

JONAH HEX

Opens on Friday nationwide.

Directed by Jimmy Hayward; written by Neveldine and Taylor, based on a story by William Farmer, Neveldine and Taylor, and the comic books written by John Albano, illustrated by Tony DeZuniga and published by DC Comics; director of photography, Mitchell Amundsen; edited by Fernando Villena and Tom Lewis; music by Marco Beltrami and Mastodon; production designer, Tom Meyer; costumes by Michael Wilkinson; produced by Akiva Goldsman and Andrew Lazar; released by Warner Brothers Pictures. Running time: 1 hour 23 minutes.

WITH: Josh Brolin (Jonah Hex), John Malkovich (Quentin Turnbull), Megan Fox (Lilah), Michael Fassbender (Burke), Will Arnett (Lieutenant Grass), John Gallagher Jr. (Lieutenant Evan), Tom Wopat (Colonel Slocum), Michael Shannon (Doc Cross Williams), Wes Bentley (Adleman Lusk) and Aidan Quinn (President Grant).
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Post by Admin Mon Jun 21, 2010 1:24 am

http://hamptonroads.com/2010/06/quirky-scifi-western-jonah-hex-wild-ride'

Quirky sci-fi Western 'Jonah Hex' is a wild ride

Josh Brolin, on a roll after "No Country for Old Men" and "W.," is suitably taciturn and tough as Jonah Hex. (Courtesy | Warner Bros.)

By Mal Vincent
The Virginian-Pilot
©️ June 19, 2010

If you don't take "Jonah Hex" seriously, which is almost impossible to do, you can have great fun with a quirky, naughty little oddity that has a good chance to become a cult classic.

The film is that rarest of beings, a science-fiction Western. You have to admit, you don't get those every day.

It's set in South in the aftermath of the Civil War. Locations include Virginia; Charleston, S.C.; Georgia; and a New Orleans brothel, where we meet new star Megan Fox.

Up against "Toy Story 3" but aimed at quite a different audience, "Hex" is unlikely to make much of a dent at the box office.

It would be surprising, though, if it doesn't take off big time when it gets to home rentals. The presence of Fox alone is enough to ensure that.

Aside from her, the film has a quirky plot that satirically encompasses most of the myths - or cliches - of American Westerns.

There's the loner who breezes into town with nothing but a fast gun. He is a no-nonsense type who takes no favors and offers none. He kills when he's paid to kill. He's scarred and disfigured, suggesting a kind of "Phantom of the Opera" of Virginia.

The film has gunfights and fisticuffs galore.

In one wonderful scene, the likes of which we haven't seen in a movie for a while, someone is gunned down in a saloon and the body is merely dragged outside while the piano player keeps playing. That's the West we know.

There's a train wreck and, for newness, a nuclear attack on Washington, D.C.

Josh Brolin, on a roll after "No Country for Old Men" and "W.," is suitably taciturn and tough as Jonah. He saw his family destroyed by the evil Confederate Col. Quentin Turnbull, who also put that scar on him.

Turnbull, depicted as America's first domestic terrorist, is played with quiet menace by softspoken John Malkovitch. He's always good for this duty when Christopher Walken is busy elsewhere - especially with the recent passing of Dennis Hopper.

Somewhat in the style of a wacky "Wild, Wild West" treatment, the film's plot goes all over the place. Hex talks to dead people, literally. He takes on 12 gunfighters at once without raising an eyebrow. He is, to put it mildly, ornery and over the top, and so is the movie that houses him.

The supporting cast includes Aidan Quinn as President Ulysses S. Grant, refreshingly presented here as sober.

You'll also see glimpses of Michael Fassbender, Will Arnett, Michael Shannon, Wes Bentley and a number of surprises. None of the characters is on the screen long enough to be recognized, much less developed.

Fox's contribution as Lilah, the prerequisite prostitute with a heart of gold, is best described as decorative. Make that highly decorative.

She gives no hint that she knows how to act, but she does know how to smolder. She has a don't-give-a-hoot aloofness that is the very essence of an old-time movie star. It will be interesting to see what Hollywood does with her.

Ending with an attack on Washington by little nuclear things shot through the air, the film is totally out there. A true original.

Don't expect "High Noon." Expect "Blazing Saddles" with attitude and actors who keep a straight face throughout.

If you view "Hex" as a campy joke, you'll have a great time.
With: John Gallagher Jr., Tom Wopat, Michael Shannon, Wes Bentley.
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Post by Admin Mon Jun 21, 2010 1:26 am

http://www.movieline.com/2010/06/review-dont-hate-jonah-hex-for-being-leisurely.php

REVIEW: Don't Hate Jonah Hex For Being Leisurely

Written by Stephanie Zacharek | 18 Jun 2010, 2:45 PM

There’s something to be said for having low expectations, especially when it comes to summer movies. The pictures we expect to be great, if only because they’ve been sold and hyped to the heavens (a la Iron Man 2 and Robin Hood), so often disappoint us. The way movies are made and marketed these days, junky, throwaway fun is in short supply: With some big releases costing $200 million or more, the studios just can’t afford it. That’s why a picture like Jonah Hex — hardly a work of genius but wholly serviceable as a bit of summer silliness — feels completely suitable, in an old-fashioned way, for a hot summer weekend. When the stakes are low and the AC is on high, why not make a date with a maimed but righteous post-Civil War-era bounty hunter?

Especially if he’s played by Josh Brolin, with a wink and a snarl. In Jonah Hex (based on the DC Comic series of the same name), Brolin portrays the title character, a crusty drifter with a chip on his tattered shoulder: Years earlier a baddie by the name of Quentin Turnbull (a relatively restrained John Malkovich — for once he cuts the scenery into bite-size morsels before chewing it) killed Jonah’s family and then, very meanly, used a flaming branding iron to imprint his initials on Jonah’s cheek. Later, as we see, Jonah blurs that telltale “QT” via a crude do-it-yourself heat treatment (don’t try this at home), which perhaps improves his appearance at least slightly: The right side of his face is a soft mass of puckered flesh, with a little hole near the corner of his mouth. This makes it hard for him to drink whiskey, but he manages.

It also makes him irresistible to Lilah, the hottie at the local brothel; she’s played by Megan Fox, who doesn’t have to do much here other than have a 23-inch waist (helped along by some spectacular corsetry). But Jonah has little time for kissin’ and huggin’: Turnbull, with the help of highly tattooed Irish villain Burke (Michael Fassbender), has gotten a hold of some glowing orbs capable of destroying whole nations — towns, even. President Ulysses S. Grant (played, in a brilliant stroke of casting, by a whiskery Aidan Quinn) enlists grumpy Jonah’s help in stopping Turnbull, promising him a Dr. Zizmor gift certificate for some dermabrasion if he succeeds.

Jonah, embittered but noble, don’t need no stinking dermabrasion, but he does get his man, and he gets the girl, too. Jonah Hex was directed by Jimmy Hayward (Horton Hears a Who!) and written by the team of Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor (the Crank guys). (Neveldine & Taylor, along with William Farmer, also conceived the story, based on the DC Comics characters.) The picture clocks in at a trim, tidy 80 minutes — it’s blessedly and remarkably free of bloat. In that short period of time, Hayward tries out a number of approaches and styles, some of which work better than others. There are some simple but nifty special effects here (Jonah, after his own near-death experience, has a special gift for conversing with the dead); there’s also an elaborate train-jacking sequence that’s potentially exciting, particularly as the villains’ horses gather speed to catch up with their steam-driven counterpart, although Hayward can’t sustain the energy through the whole sequence.

"At times Jonah Hex carries whispery echoes of The Searchers and Sam Peckinpah."

Still, Jonah Hex does have one attribute that sets it apart from nearly every other action movie on the recent landscape. With the exception of a few of the more effects-laden scenes, the cutting here is downright leisurely. Hayward doesn’t try to get us hepped up by chopping the action to ribbons, and in places he also strives for an elegiac tone: At times Jonah Hex carries whispery echoes of The Searchers and Sam Peckinpah. Jonah’s suffering is the usual alone-in-the-landscape business, but Hayward at least tries to find some poetry in his desolation. At one point Jonah approaches a cemetery on horseback — there’s a corpse in there what needs talkin’ to — and Hayward uses a simple wide shot to capture the idea that, among a mass of white headstones with rotting bodies beneath them, Jonah at least has the meager advantage of being alive.

Brolin appears to be having some fun here — he plays Jonah’s bitterness with cartoon-y lightness, instead of making the mistake of trying to channel Clint Eastwood. And he has some lovely scenes with a shaggy old dog who takes a shine to him and begins following him everywhere. The dog gazes at him with searching, trusting eyes, and he responds with straightforward, gruffly affectionate growling. Jonah Hex could be bigger, louder and longer, with more special effects and faster cutting, but it errs on the side of simplicity. And to that, let’s all raise a shotglass.
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Re: Previews, reviews and spoilers

Post greyeyegoddess on Fri 18 Jun 2010 - 23:02
http://www.americansuperstarmag.com/news/jonah-hex-movie-preview

'Jonah Hex' Movie Preview

Submitted by Rich King on June 18, 2010

Jonah Hex, movie, preview, pictures, picture, photos, photo, pics, pic, images, image, hot, sexy, latest, new, 2010HOLLYWOOD, Calif. — In the action-packed adventure thriller Jonah Hex, Josh Brolin brings the tough Civil War veteran and bounty hunter to life with a bad-ass attitude and wry humor.

A man who has gone to hell and back and has the scars to prove it, Jonah Hex is not your typical hero. In his quest for revenge, he will take down any villain with a price on his head to rid the Earth of all the evil he has witnessed. "He's an absolute complete loner from every point of view," says Brolin, the acclaimed actor playing the title role. "He's tortured. He's full of rage and guilt. His journey in this movie is persona–he wants revenge."

Megan Fox plays Lilah, the beautiful yet tough courtesan at a New Orleans brothel who becomes his partner in crime. Together, in a sprawling adventure that takes them to the heart of the deep South, Lilah joins forces with Jonah to bring down Quentin Turnbull, played by John Malkovich, a former colonel in the Confederate army.

Watch: Jonah Hex Cast Interviews

Jonah lost his family to Turnbull's murderous vengeance and will stop at nothing to see him dead, but Turnbull has his own score to settle with the gunslinger. When Jonah and Lilah come face to face with Turnbull's mad schemes, Jonah has to draw on all his powers–both of this world and beyond–to stop him.

"Jonah Hex is a classic revenge tale with the future of the union hanging in the balance," says producer Akiva Goldsman. "Jonah Hex has access to the netherworld. He can talk to the dead and is unstoppable, possibly even unkillable, though Turnbull will try. Jonah is a unique hero."

"There is a spiritual element that follows Jonah everywhere he travels," Brolin adds, "and no one really knows how he got that way. What is the truth? What's not the truth? Half of his whole background is lore."

The roots of DC Comics' popular and long-running Jonah Hex comic book series trace back to the 1970s. Originated as a purely Western tough, the character has crossed boundaries and genres that steeped him in elements of the supernatural.

The film's screenplay, by the team of Neveldine & Taylor, emerges from the look and tone of the graphic novels but creates an all new adventure for the gunslinger. "People who read the comic came out loving the character," Neveldine says.

Taylor adds, "We were drawn to the character of Jonah Hex...he's a haunted soul driven by revenge, a man of violence; but he's got a sense of humor too. He's vulgar, he's sarcastic...the flawed human being behind the campfire legend."

Producer Andrew Lazar, who has wanted to bring Jonah Hex to the screen for almost 15 years, observes, "Jonah Hex is a guy who has his own version of what justice is. He's the kind of guy that would prefer to save an animal than a human, especially if that human is morally corrupt, and is not afraid to kill somebody if he needs to. He has taken many bullets and not died–a guy who's got one foot in the grave, one foot out of the grave. So, between that lore and the scar on his face, he has become this kind of mythological figure in the West."

"This is a tortured, mutilated man that is tough as nails, can take on anybody and can virtually hear bullets coming at him," director Jimmy Hayward offers. "He's a hero to some, a villain to most. Wherever he goes, people speak his name in whispers. As Turnbull says, 'Hex doesn't know how to die.' But as you tear off the layers of Jonah Hex, you realize he's a guy who paid for his role in the Civil War and has redeemed himself, and then had everything taken away from him in a time and place where life is cheap and good men die like dogs. And he wants his revenge."

The key component in realizing Hayward's vision was the man playing the title role. "When Josh Brolin is playing Jonah Hex, he carries that complete bad-ass attitude," says Hayward. "He carries the scar as if it's been with him all his life, and all you've got to do is look in his eyes to see everything you need to know about Jonah Hex."

"Josh is a world class actor," producer Akiva Goldsman adds. "He's a great anchor and speaks to the emotions of the movie and of the narrative. In his work, he's a lot like Jonah Hex–he does what it takes to get it done. He brings a real depth of emotion to the character."

The disfiguring scar that mars Jonah's face and in many ways defines him is barely noticed by Lilah, one of Jonah's last remaining connections to humanity and possibly his only weakness. Fox feels her character's own journey in life mirrors Hex's in many ways, and was drawn to the star-crossed nature of their relationship. "Jonah Hex is very jaded from his past," she says. "He's so afraid of loving someone because he can't ever be vulnerable. And then you have Lilah, who is in love with him, and this struggle exists between the two of them, with her trying to get him to open up and accept her and love her fully."

Unlike Jonah, Lilah carries her scars on the inside. "Megan did an amazing job bringing both toughness and sensuality to this role," Goldsman says. "Megan easily moved back and forth between being 'the girl' to being somebody who's going to do some ass-kicking on her own. And she makes the connection Lilah shares with Jonah palpable and real. She wants to be his partner in crime."

But Jonah resists being close with anyone, much less Lilah. "He's a hardened bounty hunter and thinks that if anyone gets close to him, they're going to die," Brolin notes. "That created an interesting balancing act for us between telling that kind of anti-love story and having them be intimate with one another. Ultimately, they can't be together because they both have unfinished business."

For Jonah Hex, the unfinished business is Quentin Turnbull, the man who murdered his family in an act of revenge against Jonah for killing his own son, who was Jonah's best friend and fellow soldier. "Quentin is a guy who had his heart ripped out in the Civil War," Hayward notes. "He has a shared history with Jonah Hex: they both brought brutal tragedies to each other's lives. When Jonah learns Turnbull is alive, nothing on this earth–or the next–can stop him from finding the man who took away his family."

Malkovich notes that Turnbull's quest for revenge is a broad, wide-ranging assault, "Turnbull holds Jonah Hex responsible for the death of his son, who was in the same unit as him. But I think, in a bigger sense, his problem is the fact that he holds the North responsible for a kind of annihilation of a way of life. He still has immensely hard feelings and a sense of grievance unleashed by those terrible years."

Working in the shadows with stolen munitions and cutting-edge military devices, Turnbull has set his sights on nothing less than destroying the Union that emerged from the war and ended what Turnbull perceived as the South's primacy. "Most people who do bad or even questionable acts are described as villains, but I don't think they see themselves particularly as villains," the actor states.

Malkovich made the character a worthy adversary for Brolin's embodiment of Hex. Lazar states, "There's nobody better than Josh Brolin as Jonah Hex, and as good as your hero is, you want to weigh the movie with a villain that has just as much power."

Brolin says, "It was very easy to act against what John created, which was something that was far and beyond what any of us foresaw. John brought so much to the movie in the role, and in his demeanor and generosity as an actor. He can carry unpredictable rage like no one else. You don't know when it's coming, but when it does it comes straight at you. He's such an incredible inspiration."

"It's pretty fun to see John and Josh go toe to toe at one another," says Lazar. "You couldn't get two finer actors. 'Jonah Hex' is based on this really iconic comic book, then you've got a center, Josh Brolin, whose body of work is completely unique and credible. And then you have John Malkovich. So, you've got this amazing comic book and heightened western experience, and at its center are these two phenomenal actors."

After Turnbull and his crew hijack a Union train and rob from it dangerous munitions, President Grant, played by Aidan Quinn, starts to see the warning signs of Turnbull's violent plot to execute a catastrophic terrorist attack on the Union. "Turnbull is leading a gang of marauders in hopes of organizing them to overthrow the United States government in Washington," Malkovich comments.

Grant himself sets Jonah back onto Turnbull's trail, sending Lieutenant Grass, played by Will Arnett, along with his younger counterpart, Lieutenant Evan, played by John Gallagher, Jr., to enlist Hex in the hunt for Turnbull.

Though Arnett is better known for his career in comedy, this is a serious role. The actor observes, "Grass is a representative of the Union army, which has just won the Civil War, and he's kind of pompous about that. His attitude is, 'We put down this revolt. We're in charge now, and this is how the world is going to work. We're going to use information; we're going to use technology; we're going to use communication systems that haven't existed prior to this. And you're all going to get in line.'"

Lieutenant Evan, by contrast, is less admiring of the U.S. government and more taken with the myth surrounding Jonah Hex. "He really admires Hex and has a bit of hero worship for him, but is himself a rather meek and mild Union soldier who is just following orders from Grass," Gallagher says. "But you get the sense that Evan would rather be galloping off with Jonah Hex, taking orders from him."

At the top of Turnbull's ruthless pack of outlaws is Burke, a tattooed, maniacal Irishman, played by Michael Fassbender. "He's a pretty shifty character," Fassbender relates. "I don't think he's got much of a conscience, really. He does what he pleases. He's a survivor essentially, kind of like a rat, but he's smart. He'll adapt and improvise to whatever circumstances he's in. But he'll always keep an eye on his own back."

Goldsman points out that having to take on both Turnbull and Burke stacks the deck against Jonah Hex, "Between the deviousness and madness that Michael brings to Burke and the quiet rage of John's Turnbull, together they combine to be a formidable force for darkness."

Also aiding in Turnbull's plan is Adelman Lusk, a wealthy plantation owner who doesn't grasp the full scope of the former Colonel's madness. Lusk, played by Wes Bentley, simply believes the South will rise again and is in league with Turnbull for profit, while Turnbull becomes less and less rational each day. "I imagined someone who would do this as being an extremely weaselly guy," Bentley says. "He's a bit of a mole or a traitor. He has enough involvement with the government to provide the information for the traitorous acts that Turnbull wants to inflict on the country."

Despite being outnumbered, Jonah has resources of his own, including the wily Lilah, who comes to Jonah's aid when he needs her most. His path to finding Turnbull is informed by the dead--whose secrets only Jonah can hear--as well as strange and brutal survivors of the war living out in the margins of society. To locate a former Colonel in the Confederate army, played by Tom Wopat, Jonah ventures into the carnival sideshow of Doc Cross Williams, played by Michael Shannon. "On the evening that Jonah Hex finds his way to Doc Cross's carnival, he's presenting these brutal contests, like the wolf versus the mongrel," Shannon describes. "We wind it up with a very special presentation of Doc's unique beast, which is a creature possibly from the netherworld, or maybe just a disfigured human. It's hard to tell when you see him. But Jonah finds a special use for this abomination, and I won't say how that turns out except that it's the last night of Doc's carnival for now," the actor grins.

He also pays a visit to his old friend, Smith, a former slave and a weapons expert, played by Lance Reddick. "In his travels, Jonah has made friends and enemies both," Brolin says. "Lucky for him, Smith is a friend, and helps him obtain the resources he needs to face down his enemies."
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Post by Admin Mon Jun 21, 2010 1:33 am

http://www.hollywoodchicago.com/reviews/11025/josh-brolin-megan-fox-dash-between-the-explosions-in-jonah-hex

Josh Brolin, Megan Fox Dash Between the Explosions in ‘Jonah Hex’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on June 18, 2010 - 8:13am.

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HollywoodChicago.com Oscarman rating: 3.0/5.0
Rating: 3.0/5.0

CHICAGO – Delving deep into the comic book lexicon, the latest page-to-film adaptation is “Jonah Hex,” featuring Josh Brolin, Megan Fox and John Malkovich. Hex is a scarred bounty hunter whose primary job seems to be saving America, when he isn’t in the midst of or causing things to blow up real good.

The year is 1876, post Civil War and on the cusp of America’s Centennial. In flashback, there is a complex story about a southern Civil War veteran named Jonah Hex (Josh Brolin), who is captured by Union soldiers and marked for execution, but escapes. He was involved in actions that established an horrid enemy, Quentin Turnbull (John Malkovich). Turnbull gets back at Hex by executing his family, while Hex is strapped to a cross, Christ-like. After scarring his face with a brand, Turnbull leaves Hex for dead.

An indian tribe find the scarred victim, and recovers him from near death. But during that period, Hex develops a freaky ability to revive any dead corpse and have a conversation with them. This proves to be very handy in his new role as bounty hunter, and Hex develops a reputation as one tough hombre, preferring to keep to himself, except in the company of his favorite brothel-mate, Lilah (Megan Fox).

When the U.S. government finds out that Quentin Turnbull has his hands on a new super weapon, they enlist the skills of Jonah Hex to stop the terrorist. A game of cat and mouse ensues, with the old wounds of Hex and Turnbull’s rivalry becoming part of the plot to blow up Washington. Even Lilah gets involved as Turnbull wants to kill her just as he did in Hex’s family. The race and the chase is on.

This is a western essentially, with all the swinging saloon doors, fancy “ladies” in corsets and tough guys who shoot first and ask questions later. Hex is a bizarre looking man – he cut Turnbull’s brand off with a hot axe – with a scarred face that features a distinct hole in his left cheek. This, coupled with the loss of his family, creates the perfect western anti-hero. He seeks revenge, but at the same time fights evil in his role as a bounty hunter. This gives him the opportunity to hide behind being “well-paid,” like Humphrey Bogart’s Rick in “Casablanca.”

Setting the film in the post-Civil War era gives it some nice atmosphere, although comic book-like. Will Arnett gives a tight performance as a U.S. officer who aids President Grant (Aidan Quinn), and his presence adds an intentional (or unintentional) humorous air to the proceedings. Michael Fassbender’s Irish character Burke is also a memorable role, as his bowler derby and tattoos give him a wicked super villain persona.

Brolin’s performance as Hex is intense and well acted, despite some clichéd dialogue and seen-it-before action sequences. This is in contrast with Megan Fox, who as a prostitute with several customers a day, still manages to learn all the nuances of weaponry and keep those costumes crisp and revealing. And within the western grit, she manages to find the only teeth whitening service in the territory. Eye candy, thy name is Fox.

The talking to the dead power is pretty cool, especially when they revert back to the corpse after conversation (and luckily Hex has the additional power to burn them), but most of the film, opposite to its notable cast, is just another super villain vs. hero scenario, with sky high explosions tossed in that look really pretty. There is nothing interesting about the main conflict, and director Jimmy Hayward was able to wrap up everything in a scant 80 minutes. Has there been a shorter major summer movie in history?

Hayward, to both his credit and distress, throws everything at the screen to tell the Hex tale – flashbacks, dream sequences, animation and CGI – at times it works and adds interest. But when it’s bad, as in the dream/fantasy sequence between Hex and Turnbull, it makes the film confusing. There are several times that there may be a “now who’s that guy?” moment, especially when navigating the main story.

This is a film that screams summer marketing rather than art. Comic book hero, check. Name star playing said hero, check. Hot up-and-comer adding sex, check. Lots of explosions, check. The idea that we’ve seen it all before, check and checkmate.

“Jonah Hex” opens everywhere June 18th. Featuring Josh Brolin, Megan Fox, John Malkovich, Will Arnett, Michael Shannon, Aidan Quinn and Michael Fassbinder. written by Ma
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Post by Admin Mon Jun 21, 2010 1:38 am

http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/get_out/movies/article_8e4c8616-7a5f-11df-b6c9-001cc4c002e0.html

Characters, animation, costumes keep ‘Jonah Hex’ interesting

Grade: B

Jamie Trueblood In this film publicity image released by Warner Bros., Megan Fox, left, and Josh Brolin are shown in a scene from, "Jonah Hex."

Posted: Friday, June 18, 2010 12:00 am | Updated: 3:30 pm, Thu Jun 17, 2010.

Hayley Ringle, Tribune

A scarred bounty hunter, a tyrannical murderer and a beautiful prostitute cross paths in "Jonah Hex," a Victorian sci-fi film interspersed with violence and animation.

Josh Brolin ("Milk") is Jonah Hex, a soldier whose life was changed forever when his wife and son were burned in front of him. He was being punished for killing the brother of Quentin Turnbull (John Malkovich, "Burn After Reading"), and in retaliation, Quentin burns his initials on Jonah's cheek so Jonah will forever remember what he did.

Jonah is left for dead on a cross in front of his burned house, until Native Americans bring him back to life. Jonah's wife was Native American.

Because of Jonah's near death, he has the new ability to touch dead men and bring them back to life, until he stops touching them. This proves useful for interrogation purposes.

Jonah roams around, killing people as a bounty hunter, and randomly checks in with Lilah (Megan Fox, "Transformers"), a feisty prostitute with an impossibly small waist.

Supposedly Quentin died in a hotel fire, but the military comes to Jonah for help when they discover Quentin is indeed alive and ready to unleash violence and mayhem at an unknown Independence Day event. Jonah is re-energized because his quest in life is to kill Quentin.

Quentin, meanwhile, is amassing an arsenal of weapons and a plan to create war on American soil. He is ruthless and practices his violence on innocent towns with his firepower.

The film has some great cameos, including the hilarious Will Arnett ("30 Rock"), who plays a serious Lt. Grass. Michael Fassbender ("Inglourious Basterds") plays an awesome member of Quentin's gang who has a tattooed face and a thirst for death.

Director Jimmy Hayward has mainly worked as an animator on such movies as "Finding Nemo" and "Monsters, Inc."

The movie goes along at a good pace, and although it's very violent, the intermittent animation scenes, ruthless characters and steam punk style costumes make Jonah Hex.
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Post by Admin Mon Jun 21, 2010 1:40 am

http://www.cleveland.com/sun/intermission/index.ssf/2010/06/jonah_hex.html

'Jonah Hex' hits mark
Published: Friday, June 18, 2010, 6:14 PM Updated: Saturday, June 19, 2010, 6:07 AM
John M. Urbancich, Sun News Straight shooter: Josh Brolin targets vengeance as "Jonah Hex."

Jonah Hex: PG-13: intense violence/action, disturbing images, sexual content; 1:21; $ $ $ ½
“Jonah Hex” sounds like a good name for a card game or maybe a spiritualist, but it’s really a dark, sinister and quick little summer diversion of good vs. evil, supernatural effects and even terrorism.

Think cable’s “Tales from the Crypt” meeting the old network version of “The Wild Wild West,” with the fine Josh Brolin orchestrating as a kind of troubled and tortured cryptkeeper and Megan Fox as his more sexy and serious Artemus Gordon.

The latter — not exactly the proverbial hooker with a heart of gold — is the only character willing to reach out to Brolin’s mysterious and ugly Hex, an ex-Confederate soldier-turned-bounty hunter. Badly disfigured by the zealot (John Malkovich) who made him watch while a psycho henchman (Michael Fassbender) burned Hex’s family alive, Jonah wanders the world with a huge chip on his shoulder and one hand in the grave. After all, he can communicate with the dead.

Scenes opposite informant/souls played by Michael Shannon and an uncredited Jeffrey Dean Morgan are among comic-bookish visions offering the title character scraps of knowledge to gain revenge on Malkovich’s truly nasty Quentin Turnbull. Of course, it also helps that U.S. President Grant (Aidan Quinn) himself enlists Hex’s aid to stop Turnbull from some dastardly doings against a country still tending to the after-burns of the Civil War.

As based on a series from DC Comics, “Hex” gets going quickly in the hands of director Jimmy Hayward (“Horton Hears a Who”) and the screenwriting team of (Mark) Neveldine & (Brian) Taylor, the guys who gave us “Gamer” and the “Crank” films. While the film falters a bit down the stretch, Oscar-nominee Brolin still manages to end it with a patriotic bang. May he and Jonah ride high somewhere again.
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Post by Admin Mon Jun 21, 2010 1:59 am

http://www1.voanews.com/english/news/arts-and-entertainment/Jonah-Hex-Comic-Book-Gunslinger-Comes-to-the-Screen-96761259.html
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Jonah Hex: Comic Book Gunslinger Comes to the Screen

Alan Silverman | Hollywood 20 June 2010

"Jonah Hex." "Are these the boys you wanted?" "You surely have done us quite a favor." "A transaction is all it was. I'll collect my hundred dollar bounty on them and be on my way."

From "Superman" and "Spider Man" to "Josie and the Pussycats," Hollywood has a long history of drawing film ideas from the pages of comic books. The latest is a scar-faced gunslinger from the wild West starring Oscar-nominee Josh Brolin and action movie siren Megan Fox.

"Jonah Hex" is a tortured soul. A veteran of the Civil War between the states, he's seen more than his share of killing; but it is also something he does really well and that skill is in demand on the lawless frontier of the late 1800's.

One side of his face is hideously scarred - the result of a run-in with a Civil War veteran from the other side, the truly bad Quentin Turnbull. When Hex gets offered the chance to clear his own name by stopping Turnbull from using terror to launch a new civil war, it is an offer the bounty hunter can not turn down.

Josh Brolin, a co-star of the 2007 Academy Award winner "No Country For Old Men" and Oscar-nominated for his role in the 2008 drama "Milk," plays the title character in "Jonah Hex." Brolin says it took three hours in the make-up chair every day to give the character his disfigured look. "To be honest with you, I think that it lent to the kind of curmudgeon-like feel of the character itself," he says.

Like the comic book on which it is based, "Jonah Hex" explodes with violent outbursts; but Brolin says it is appropriate to the story and the genre. "This movie, when you watch it …at least when I do …you expect it to be gratuitous and it is not. I think that is much more interesting," he says.

Also confounding expectations is the character of Lilah, a frontier prostitute who is the only person Hex feels he can really trust.

Megan Fox, who plays Lilah, says, "Josh and I had a conversation about what their past relationship could have been and why she would be so dedicated and so in love with someone who treated her the way that he did and was not able to love. We came up with a back story between the two of us about what things had gone on in the past and why she was so dedicated to him, so loyal and hurt for him so badly."

She admits to having trouble with some of the big guns her character has to wield. It was really difficult for me to shoot the old-style 'gunslinger' guns because I have tiny little baby hands and (the guns) are really large and heavy, so just the physicality of actually having to pull that off was really difficult. This was more action-heavy for me …the action in this movie was more intricate than in previous movies that I've done," she says.

Fox, now 24, became a pop culture phenomenon after co-starring in the first two "Transformer" action films and says she is at home in genre. "I like working on action films and I like working on movies that are comic book based or have sort of this theme because there are things that I watched or loved when I was a kid," she says.

"Jonah Hex" made its comic book debut in the 1970's and has gone through several incarnations: a history that Brolin says allowed the film to be a bit more innovative and risky. "(It comes) from a comic book that has had three lives and wasn't necessarily successful, but I love the idea that it refused to die. So it was a 'survivalist' comic book, but it allowed us to take luxuries and do what we wanted to do as long as we had the blessing of the comic book artists. The core of the comic book character is there, but we kind of go off on all these different tangents," he says.

Fox says she wants the comic book 'fanboys' to like the film, but adds that, to be successful, it has to reach beyond that small but loyal fan base. "I feel like it's impossible to please the hardcore comic book fans because they'll never be happy no matter what you do. You can't focus completely on pleasing them because you'll never win and then you're excluding a whole other world of people who weren't aware of the comic in the first place. So I think you have to take some liberties to make it into a live-action film or it wouldn't work," she says.

"Jonah Hex" co-stars John Malkovich as the villain, Turnbull. The cast also features Michael Shannon, Michael Fassbender and Will Arnett. After achieving success as an animator, Canadian-born Jimmy Hayward makes his live-action directing debut with "Jonah Hex."
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Post by Admin Mon Jun 21, 2010 3:49 am

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Jonah Hex

One critic I read described ‘Jonah Hex’ as ‘truly awful’. It wasn’t awful…I thought it was very ‘comic book’, with the theme of revenge and Jonah’s ability to talk to the dead. But it was fun! Is it the highest level of cinema as art? Of course not. But Brolin, Fox, & Malkovich made it great junk food for the brain and a fun 90 minutes…Loved the Mastodon score and cameos too…
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Post by Admin Mon Jun 21, 2010 5:00 am

http://gloriaoliver.livejournal.com/25854.html

Movie Review - Jonah Hex
Jonah Hex

Staring: Josh Brolin, John Malkovich, Megan Fox, Michael Fassbender, Will Arnett, John Gallagher Jr, Tom Wopat, Michael Shannon, Wes Bentley, Jeffrey Dean Morgan

Premise: Jonah Hex chose doing right over friends and country and paid the price. His family killed before his eyes, he's left marked and tied up to live or die at nature's whim. Rescued by Indians when on the verge of death, Jonah returns to the world of the living not quite all back from the dead, revenge and violence all that's left to him. When the government hunts him down and tells him his nemesis is not dead and is after destroying the still blossoming reunited North and South, Jonah sets out after him with a vengeance.

Review: I got pretty excited when I heard this movie was coming. I'd read some of the DC comics for Jonah Hex years and years ago. The distinct disfigurement of Jonah's face was as memorable as Harvey Dent's in Batman. So I really liked that they worked real hard to keep that signature look, including the Confederate hat and coat as well. For even more fun, at the beginning, they switch to cartoon mode to cut back on the horror of the brand placed on his face and make surreal his close brush with death and the birth of the man he then became.

Jonah doesn't come back untouched from stepping into the other side. Supernatural elements now crop in as he is always dogged by crows and he's gained the ability to bring the dead back to life just enough to talk to them. Some really neat rules and scenes on the talking to the dead ensue. Was a lot of fun when he dug up his friend Jeb (Jeffrey Dean Morgan (uncredited role)) and the latter tries to fight him every time his body is brought back. Some very nice flip-flops between live and dead body in these scenes.

Great shootouts and fights. Even an element of James Bond and Wild Wild West as technology way past what was available at the time makes a showing. Johan even has his own Q. Malkovich makes a great bad guy and Megan Fox a sexy spitfire, who sees the man beneath the scars.

Some great effects, some cool mystic stuff, wonderful surreal scenes, standard old bad west doggie-dog set up. So nothing too surprising, yet all the support cast did an awesome job. So a neat cool romp with loads of action and some massive, and I mean massive destruction scenes!

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
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Post by Admin Tue Jun 22, 2010 12:53 am

http://www.boxofficeprophets.com/column/index.cfm?columnID=12954

Movie Review: Jonah Hex
By Tom Houseman
June 21, 2010
Warner Bros. has a chat with Josh Brolin's about Jonah Hex's opening weekend performance.

As a lover of action films, I am always excited to see a movie that truly wows me, and this weekend Jonah Hex had me walking out of the theater with a big wow. From the very first trailer, I thought that this movie looked awesome, and I decided to ignore the reviews and give it a shot. I went in expecting dumb summertime escapist fun with some cool action sequences, and not only was I not disappointed, I was actually surprised by how much better Jonah Hex was than I expected.

As far as films that are completely defined by the action in them, not many beat Jonah Hex. A train robbery near the beginning, which included men on horseback, some well-placed dynamite, and a few bad guys disguised as soldiers, was an incredible experience, and is further proof that Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor are the William Goldman of action movies; nobody does it better than these guys, who made a splash with Crank and continue to wow me with every film they write.

Jonah Hex is a dark film, an angry film, and with good reason. Its titular character (played by Josh Brolin) is a former Confederate soldier whose near death experience left him with a strange connection to the underworld. He is bent on getting revenge on another soldier, Quentin Turnbull (John Malkovich) who killed Hex’s family in front of him. In his quest Hex finds himself working for the U.S. government, which is trying to stop Turnbull from unleashing a terrifying weapon on the country on the Fourth of July.

e truly breathtaking, and handing the directing duties to Jimmy Hayward did not detract from their skill. These aren’t your typical Michael Bay action scenes, in that they won’t have you laughing and cheering. These scenes are so aggressive, so confrontational, that you almost feel that you are the one being attacked. The last film that boasted such incredible action sequences was Neveldine/Taylor’s last film, Gamer, and before that I’d have to go back to 2006, to Timur Bekmambetov’s Day Watch, another film that made up for its shortcomings with brilliant visuals.

Yes, there is a plot in this film, and honestly, it’s not that interesting, leaving you waiting for the next bout of explosions and gunshots. Particularly at the beginning, the film has serious pacing problems, which makes it feel longer than its svelte 80 minutes. Had the relationships been better developed, Jonah Hex might have been a very good movie, but instead they’re glossed over. But the hatred between Hex and Turnbull is woefully shallow, and we barely get to know prostitute Lilah (Megan Fox) at all beyond the fact that she hates being a prostitute and loves Jonah.

What keeps the film going between the action is the performances, and without them Jonah Hex wouldn’t be worth watching. Josh Brolin is always a commanding presence on screen and takes complete control of the film. His terrifying glare is mesmerizing and you can’t tear your eyes away from him. Surprisingly, Megan Fox matches him beat for beat in the scenes they share, proving that she has truly matured as an actress. She owns her character and shows no fear, an attitude that we first saw of her in Jennifer’s Body. Her effortless onscreen grace and power prove that, in the right hands, she could turn out to be a very good actress.

In fact, there is not a single bad performance in the film, and with the exception of an out-of-place Will Arnett, every major actor is great. The most memorable performance, not surprisingly, is Michael Fassbender, who made a splash in the indie scene with his performance in Hunger. He gets the role of the psychotic supporting villain and does not waste it, stealing every scene he is in.

But you’re going to see this movie for the action, and you are going to be impressed by what you see. Every sequence is brilliantly crafted by Neveldine and Taylor and beautifully executed by Hayward. Every sound is overpowering and perfectly augmented by Marco Beltrami’s incendiary score. It seems like the only holds barred were those barred by the MPAA, as some moments are truly outrageous and shocking. If there was a little meat to the story, Jonah Hex would have been a very good movie, but I was perfectly satisfied with the memorable action extravaganza that it was.
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