Jonah Hex (2010)

-

 HALLOWEEN REVIEWS 2023

Director: Jimmy Hayward

Writers: Neveldine & Taylor, story by William Farmer and Neveldine & Taylor

Stars: Josh Brolin, John Malkovich, Megan Fox, Michael Fassbender, Will Arnett, John Gallagher Jr., Tom Wopat, Michael Shannon



Left for dead and resurrected by Indian magic, Jonah Hex (Josh Brolin) is a disfigured bounty hunter who can communicate with corpses.

 


He accepts a charge from the US government to track down the man who murdered his family (John Malkovich), a Confederate general who plans to destroy the nation's capital with a super-weapon.

 


I haven't seen a movie this bad in a long time.

 


Apparently, director Jimmy Hayward and screenwriters Neveldine & Taylor strung together a bunch of stupid ideas that they thought were cool, tacked on an overpowering and totally inappropriate soundtrack, and didn't worry too much about tying it all together with a cohesive story.

 


The supernatural aspects of the story provided glimpses of what could have made this movie more than just a dismal Western, but Hex's ability to communicate with the dead was treated as nothing more than a convenient plot point to get him where he needed to be for another dull shootout. 



I've never read any of the comics, but I know the character has been around for a long time.

 


A quick look at the Wikipedia entry shows that this film bears little resemblance to the published origin story.

 


Looks like another case of Hollywood hacks thinking their own lame ideas are superior to source material developed by better writers and which has maintained a fan base for decades.





















Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The End of the Affair (1951)

-
Image
by Graham Greene Maurice Bendix, a writer in WWII London, becomes  obsessed with learning the reason a married woman, Sarah Miles, broke off her love affair with him.   She never explained, and he feels there must have been another man.   When he gets his hands on her diary, he will learn how profoundly Sarah's world changed on the day a bomb struck the building they were occupying, and his own world will be shaken as well.   This is the last of Graham Greene's overtly Catholic novels, and it is fascinating.   Graham Greene Although I found Sarah's abrupt conversion unconvincing (the same problem I had when I saw the film adaptation), I was quickly won over as the consequences played out.   Religious faith can place a burden on the faithful, and Greene often describes it as if it were some form of affliction.   Many Christians say that accepting God will improve one's life here on earth, but in Greene's world, believers often endure terrible suffering and loneliness
Read more

The Thing (1982)

-
Image
Director: John Carpenter Writers: Bill Lancaster, based on "Who Goes There?" by John W. Campbell, Jr. Stars:  Kurt Russell,  A. Wilford Brimley, David Clennon, Keith David, Richard Dysart, Charles Hallahan, Peter Maloney, Richard Masur The crew of an Antarctic research station (Kurt Russell,  A. Wilford Brimley, David Clennon, Keith David, Richard Dysart, Charles Hallahan, Peter Maloney, Richard Masur, Donald Moffat, Joel Polis, and Thomas G. Waites) finds itself in conflict with an alien life form that can change its shape in this classic horror film that was considered both an artistic and commercial failure at its time of release.   Once the creature’s abilities are understood, we are treated to an object lesson (more relevant now than ever) in the destructive effect of division and mistrust on efforts to deal with an existential threat.  This is John Carpenter’s best film.   In addition to building a tremendous atmosphere with a wonderful sense of setting, the constricted
Read more

The Man of Bronze (Doc Savage #1) (1933)

-
Image
by Kenneth Robeson AKA Lester Dent An attempt on the life of Doc Savage--genius, crime fighter,  supreme physical specimen--takes him and his crew of loyal specialists to South America, where they will uncover the secret that Doc's father has left in the care of the people of a lost civilization.   All criticisms of this book concerning clunky prose and mechanical construction are entirely beside the point.   No one should read a pulp adventure novel expecting anything more than a quick, fun read--and Lester Dent (writing as Kenneth Robeson) delivers one.   Lester Dent Pulp authors worked fast and trod a well-worn path traveled by hundreds of other writers telling thousands of similar stories.  However, only a small percentage is remembered today, and Dent surely deserves to be included among their number.   "The Man of Bronze" (French) "The Golden Pyramid" (Italian)
Read more