Jonah Hex Oscar possibility?

Yeah, it is true. Jonah Hex is on a short list of nominations for an Academy Award for Best Makeup. According to Hollywood Reporter:

Alice in Wonderland and The Fighter are among the seven films that remain in the makeup competition of the 83rd Academy Awards.
The additional titles are Barney's Version, Jonah Hex, True Grit, The Way Back andThe Wolfman.
On Jan. 22, members of the Academy's Makeup Branch will be invited to view 10-minute excerpts from each of the shortlisted films. Following the screenings, members will vote to nominate three films for Oscar consideration.
The 83rd Academy Awards nominations will be announced Jan. 25.

Let's take a look at what I think should be the final three and why:

The Way Back: Appears that the makeup consists mainly of horrible effects of brutal weather and aging of actors. A possibility, but it has been seen/done before.



Barney's Version: Again, showing actor's through various stages of life. Seen it quite often

The Wolfman: Transformations into frightening creatures? Yeah, I think this should make the final three.




The Fighter: Boxing wounds? Uh, been done before and I don't see anything ground-breaking here.



Alice in Wonderland: I think I enjoyed the makeup more than the film itself, but I wonder how much was makeup and how much was CG? Still, one of my picks for final three.



Jonah Hex: I'm not being partial here, but I know some of the new techniques they developed for Brolin's makeup and I think they pulled off an entire film with very good makeup. Last of the final three.



True Grit: Last of the bunch and best film of the year (that I have seen) including best actor. However, there is nothing here, makeup-wise, that we haven't seen in any other film nominated.



My picks? Jonah Hex, The Wolfman, Alice in Wonderland. We'll find out on the 25th.

Jonah Hex movie in the news once again!

Yup, the words JONAH HEX are being uttered again and at this time of year it can only mean one thing.... awards. Not just ANY awards.... THE RAZZIES!!!

From Moviefone:

Start rooting for your favorite bad movie of 2010 because the Golden Raspberry Award (aka Razzie) nominations will be announced Jan. 24. A shortlist of possible Worst Picture nominees has just been released.

According to the Los Angeles Times Awards Tracker blog, the 12 finalists are 'Little Fockers,' 'Sex and the City 2,' 'The Expendables,' 'Grown Ups,' 'Clash of the Titans,' 'Killers,''The Bounty Hunter,' 'Yogi Bear,' 'Jonah Hex,' 'The Last Airbender,' 'Vampires Suck' and 'The Twilight Saga: Eclipse.'

That is some tough competition.

More DC movie info

I got to thinking, since someone mentioned Swamp Thing, that there were more movies made of DC products that what were listed in BoxofficeMojo's DC Brand. So I hunted up Comic Book Adaptations and came up with this list:

The Dark Knight	$533,345,358	7/18/2008
Batman	$251,188,924	6/23/1989
Batman Begins	$205,343,774	6/15/2005
Superman Returns	$200,081,192	6/28/2006
Batman Forever	$184,031,112	6/16/1995
Batman Returns	$162,831,698	6/19/1992
Superman	$134,218,018	12/15/1978
Superman II	$108,185,706	6/19/1981
Watchmen	$107,509,799	3/6/2009
Batman and Robin	$107,325,195	6/20/1997
Road to Perdition	104,454,762	7/12/2002
Red	$87,991,858	10/15/2010
Constantine	$75,976,178	2/18/2005
V for Vendetta	$70,511,035	3/17/2006
League of Extraordinary Gentlemen	66,465,204	7/11/2003
Superman III	$59,950,623	6/17/1983
Catwoman	$40,202,379	7/23/2004
The Shadow	32,063,435	7/1/1994
The Losers	$23,591,432	4/23/2010
The Spirit	19,806,188	12/25/2008
Superman IV: The Quest for Peace	$15,681,020	7/24/1987
Supergirl	$14,296,438	11/21/1984
Jonah Hex	$10,547,117	6/18/2010
Batman: Mask of the Phantasm	$5,617,391	12/25/1993
Steel	$1,710,972	8/15/1997
Return of the Swamp Thing	192,816	5/19/1989

I added Road to Perdition (it WAS Vertigo, wasn't it?) League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, The Shadow, The Spirit, & Return of the Swamp Thing. There was no data available for the original Swamp Thing in 1982 or the original 1960's Batman.

Then I adjusted them for inflation and got this list:

The Dark Knight	$533,345,358
Superman	$436,208,559
Batman	$429,533,060
Batman Forever	$255,803,246
Superman II	$252,072,695
Batman Returns	$245,875,864
Batman Begins	$217,664,400
Superman Returns	$212,086,064
Batman and Robin	$142,742,509
Superman III	$127,694,827
Road to Perdition	$124,301,167
Watchmen	$107,509,799
Red	$87,991,858
Constantine	$80,534,749
LoEG	$77,099,637
V for Vendetta	$74,741,697
The Shadow	$45,850,712
Catwoman	$45,428,688
Superman IV: The Quest for Peace	$29,166,697
Supergirl	$29,164,734
The Losers	$23,591,432
The Spirit	$19,806,188
Jonah Hex	$10,547,117
Batman: Mask of the Phantasm	$8,257,565
Steel	$2,275,593
Return of the Swamp Thing	$329,715

The biggest jump is Superman up to #2. Let me know if I missed any other DC properties and I'll make the needed adjustments.

Things are crazy around here, so I doubt that I will be posting prior to the New Year. You can catch me on Twitter @MatchingDragoon (like THAT is interesting) and I hope that you all have a blessed Christmas and a Happy New Year.

See ya in 2011.

Another little tidbit about the Jonah Hex film...

Yeah, I just can't lay off it. I was looking at Boxofficemojo and they have a little thing called a brand. Hmmm. I click on DC BRAND and I see a list of all the DC movies and guess what? Jonah Hex isn't the worst DC movie!!!

Rank	Title (click to view)	Studio	Gross / Theaters		Opening / Theaters		Date
1	The Dark Knight	WB	$533,345,358	4,366	$158,411,483	4,366	7/18/08
2	Batman	WB	$251,188,924	2,201	$40,489,746	2,194	6/23/89
3	Batman Begins	WB	$205,343,774	3,858	$48,745,440	3,858	6/15/05
4	Superman Returns	WB	$200,081,192	4,065	$52,535,096	4,065	6/28/06
5	Batman Forever	WB	$184,031,112	2,893	$52,784,433	2,842	6/16/95
6	Batman Returns	WB	$162,831,698	2,644	$45,687,711	2,644	6/19/92
7	Superman	WB	$134,218,018	817	$7,465,343	508	12/15/78
8	Superman II	WB	$108,185,706	1,878	$14,100,523	1,397	6/19/81
9	Watchmen	WB	$107,509,799	3,611	$55,214,334	3,611	3/6/09
10	Batman and Robin	WB	$107,325,195	2,942	$42,872,605	2,934	6/20/97
11	Red	Sum.	$87,991,858	3,349	$21,761,408	3,255	10/15/10
12	Constantine	WB	$75,976,178	3,006	$29,769,098	3,006	2/18/05
13	V for Vendetta	WB	$70,511,035	3,365	$25,642,340	3,365	3/17/06
14	Superman III	WB	$59,950,623	1,763	$13,352,357	1,759	6/17/83
15	Catwoman	WB	$40,202,379	3,117	$16,728,411	3,117	7/23/04
16	The Losers	WB	$23,591,432	2,936	$9,406,348	2,936	4/23/10
17	Superman IV: The Quest for Peace	WB	$15,681,020	1,511	$5,683,122	1,511	7/24/87
18	Supergirl	TriS	$14,296,438	1,620	$5,738,249	1,608	11/21/84
19	Jonah Hex	WB	$10,547,117	2,825	$5,379,365	2,825	6/18/10
20	Batman: Mask of the Phantasm	WB	$5,617,391	1,506	$1,189,975	1,506	12/25/93
21	Steel	WB	$1,710,972	1,260	$870,068	1,260	8/15/97

It is the third to worst theatrical release that they have had, financially. I think Mask of the Phantasm was a darn good film, so you can't just go based on dollar amount. But here is an interesting question: Of the films that you HAVE seen, how would you rank the films, best to worst?

Me?

1. Dark Knight
2. Batman Begins
3. Superman
4. Superman II
5. Batman
6. Mask of the Phantasm
7. Red
8. Batman Returns
9. Watchmen
10. Jonah Hex
11. Batman Forever
12. Batman and Robin
13. V for Vendetta
14. Superman Returns
15. Superman III

I haven't seen the rest and don't have much desire to except for the Losers.

The main problem with the Jonah Hex movie storyline

It's all right there for everyone to see, right there on the poster in the tagline "Revenge Gets Ugly!" Let me elaborate by examining the characters in the movie vs the characters in the book. Blue is the book, Purple is the movie. First up:

Quentin Turnbull:

• Book: Plantation Owner
• Movie: Former Confederate Commander
• Was father to friend of Jonah Hex
• Was Commanding officer of Jonah Hex
• Son died while escaping Union fort, Jonah Hex blamed
• Son shot by Jonah Hex
• Prominent man in politics and business for years after war 
• Faked death in a hotel fire

Jonah Hex:

• Served in Confederacy and surrendered to the Union
• Served in Confederacy and went against direct orders of commanding officer
• Scarred by Indians after perceived violation of tribal rule
• Scarred by Quentin Turnbull for killing Jeb and then scars self to cover the original branding
• Years after being a bounty hunter marries Mei Ling, a Chinese woman
• Shortly after war and prior to being bounty hunter, marries and Indian woman
• Has a son named Jason
• Has a son named Travis
• Mei Ling takes Jason and leaves Jonah
• Wife and Travis murdered by Turnbull as Jonah watches.
• Expert marksman
• Can talk to the dead
• Spent time with the Apache
• Saved by the Crow

Revenge as a motive:

• Quentin Turnbull has vowed to make Jonah pay dearly for the death of Jeb Turnbull
• Jonah Hex has vowed to make Quentin Turnbull pay dearly for the death of his wife and son

THAT is main problem with the storyline in this film. This movie does not contain Quentin Turnbull, it doesn't contain Jonah Hex. It contains two people that may resemble the characters, but the entire history and motivation of the characters is wrong and inverted. Jonah Hex is a man who has been beaten on by life, has found a narrow ledge of society to walk on but he wants to be left alone. Turnbull is a man deeply ingrained in politics and society and he wants Jonah Hex dead...at least in the books.

In the movie, Turnbull is thought dead, is working outside the bounds of normal society and is trying to destroy the country. Hex appears to have no problems working as a bounty hunter, is vaguely sought after for 'killing' some 'lawmen' but has spent time trying to get his revenge on Turnbull.

The film is not about Jonah Hex, it uses the name as a lame attempt to cash in. The film revealed this when we learned who Tallulah Black was, a hooker (she wasn't), a beautiful woman with flawless skin (she was scarred). We got Tallulah Black in name only. We got a Jonah Hex film in name only.

I'm still waiting for a Jonah Hex film.

Jonah Hex - DVD & Blu-Ray review

Well, I dropped the big bucks and picked up the DVD Blu-Ray digital copy version of Jonah Hex and I watched it and the special features. Let's take a look at it together, shall we?

Since the special features are only available on the Blu-Ray, a lot of folks won't be seeing them but I'll try to recap what little you're missing. First up, the deleted scenes, all three of them. We get to see a very rough scene of Jonah at night walking into a cemetery in the French Quarter, rough CGI crows following along with him. A weird Cajun funeral procession meets Jonah and a young Black boy with no pupils sits up in the casket and points across the graveyard. Jonah heads the direction the boy pointed.

Second scene is Jonah riding along, another rider on a horse following him, the rider is obviously dead. Lt. Evan and several soldiers appear to take Jonah to Grass. Jonah states that they should at least bury his partner first. Evan gets a puzzled look on his face and Jonah turns to find the horse and the dead rider are gone. Evan offers him a drink, Hex takes it, spilling quite a bit through his cheek and he sorta growls (this was seen in the trailer after Fox asks him "Can you?")

Next we have a scene on a stagecoach with Lilah and Doc Williams. Remember Doc Williams? He was the guy that had one line in the fight tent (not the guy Hex was talking to). Anyway, this takes place after the tent burns down and it is basically Williams being creepy and Lilah being bored.

The next special feature is the history of Jonah Hex comprised of talking points from Dan Didio, Jimmy Palmiotti, Justin Gray, Tim Truman, John Landsdale and Tony DeZuniga (wearing the worst wig I have ever seen in my life!). It was good to hear Jimmy and Justin talk about Hex, Tony was fantastic to watch, Didio? meh. Landsdale? Dear lord in heaven, I wanted to punch the man in the face. On camera he confesses that his stories were based on a faulty memory that he had of the character. Joe thought that Hex always had heavy supernatural elements so he wanted to recreate that. So DC decides to publish stories based on a bad memory? ARRRRGHHHH. I almost laughed as some of the folks talk about the wide range of writers and the several incarnations that there has been of Hex. Hmm, Writers? How about FOUR (counting J&J as one)! Incarnations? Three!! Superman has gone through more. Firestorm has gone through more!!!

And, of course, there is no mention whatsoever of Michael Fleisher, the man who wrote more Jonah Hex stories than everyone else combined!!! I can see why I wasn't contacted to be in the special features, I would have probably gone ballistic halfway through any interview. (hmmmm, I might have to shoot my OWN interview. Hmmmmm)

The last special feature is one that runs alongside the movie as a picture in a picture and it talks about how they shot various scenes, built sets, did special effects. I haven't watched the whole thing with this feature but it is fairly interesting so far (I have gotten up to the train explosion).

Tomorrow, I'll cover what I think is the main travesty of the whole Jonah Hex movie.

Now about that Jonah Hex Director's Cut DVD

Reader Andrew sent this tidbit my way:

These days it’s fairly common for movies to feature unrated editions on DVD. Jonah Hex would certainly qualify for one, as its director Jimmy Hayward edited the film to achieve a ‘PG-13’ rating. The comic book Western stars Josh Brolin as a burned avenging hero, and Hayward thinks he’ll restore his cuts for the home video release.
“We had an ‘R’-rated movie that we had to trim down,” Hayward says. “It’s a very fine line between what makes it there. We made the decision to go ‘PG-13’ quite a long time ago, well before we started shooting, and we all agreed that was the way to go. So we just had to nip and tuck some stuff.”
The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) has specific requests for what they’ll classify as ‘PG-13’ violence.
“You know the MPAA is, ‘Can you have him punch him three times instead of five times?’ Stuff like that,” Hayward says. “There certainly is a version of the movie that has a lot more violence in it, but we never had a lot of blood or anything like that. Just more people died, and there was more punching and beatings.”
Even his star, Brolin, agrees with the cuts made for the theatrical release. He’ll be happy to see Warner Home Video’s DVD and Blu-ray version though.
“I think it belongs on a DVD,” Brolin says. “This movie, when you watch it — at least when I do — you expect it to be gratuitous, and it’s not. I think that’s much more interesting than if it were like the Grindhouse kind of thing where it’s just out there.”
The film runs a lean 82 minutes, including titles and credits, so there is certainly room to expand the story in a longer cut. However, Hayward intends to make only slight adjustments for an alternate version.
“Not super long, not really,” Hayward says. “All those scenes expand and have more violence and stuff like that. There’s definitely deleted scenes that we’re going to put out for sure.”

Somehow I'm not buying this "rah rah rah" about the DVD version. In the interviews the question came up about if they were shooting an R or a PG-13 and the responses were "we're just shooting a great film and we'll let the rating fall where it falls" type things. Now Hayward is saying they were aiming for a PG-13.

I call BS on that. Also Brolin's quote "it belongs on a DVD." is mysterious. Does he means it was straight to DVD quality? It should be on DVD like every other film ever made? I'm convinced now that actors and folks associated with film have this jargon that they toss out no matter what the question is, probably because they get the same questions over and over and over.

I'm sure I'll buy the DVD because I DID like the film but it doesn't sound like we'll ever get to see all the footage that was shot. Ah, well. At least I still have a monthly title to read.

Kevin Williamson revisited and his reply.

As you may remember, I had a few points of contention with Keith Williamson's review of Jonah Hex and I sent him an email. He was kind enough to respond and granted permission to post our exchange:

Mr. Williamson wrote:
Thanks for your remarks, but my comments weren't erroneous, as you suggest. But we do have a difference in perspective.

While you cite the three mini-series in the 1990s, the fact is, Hex hadn't carried an ongoing title of his own for a period of almost 20 years. And the fact the character has varied, sometimes wildly, between genres suggests neither he nor his central story have ever really connected with comic fans en masse. That can't be said of Superman, Batman, Spider-Man or Wolverine, to name a few.

Does that make Hex a failure? Well, it doesn't make him a big success. It makes him what he is: a cult figure with a faithful following. And so I was questioning the logic of making a big-budget film based on a hero who, in the eyes of even most comics readers, is more a cool image than a fully-dimensional character. What Hex storyline was dying for the big-screen treatment? What about Hex cried out for a film? Unlike, say, Swamp Thing, there's no one run that elevated the genre or redefined the medium. Kick-Ass, like its source material, feels fresh. What new would a Jonah Hex movie have to say?

That doesn't mean I think all Hex comics suck or Hex is a crappy character. I certainly remember him from my childhood in the 1980s. And, as I pointed out, he is a long-running creation. But after four decades, he has never truly caught fire as a solo act. So couldn't Hollywood have better spent its money elsewhere? Just because it's a comic doesn't mean it should automatically be a movie. But that shouldn't negate your enjoyment of the title either.

Kevin

I replied:
Mr. Williamson,


Thanks for your response. I agree that we have a difference in perspective and we may have to agree to disagree.


  What jumped to my eyes in your review was the phrase "oft-canceled" which conjures a picture of a character being canceled more than twice (Jonah Hex & Hex). I don't consider the mini-series as cancellations because mini-series, by their very nature, are limited runs. The fact that DC went back to the Vertigo version of Jonah Hex twice more shows that the sales were there to warrant the effort (the success of that effort is probably a whole other slew of emails. :) )


Granted, Jonah Hex didn't carry an ongoing book from approx 1987 until 2006, but does that indicate the character is "failed"? I can name a lot of other literary characters that have longer gaps in publishing than 19 years that aren't considered failed.


But again, I think we may be disagreeing on definitions.


Did a Jonah Hex movie NEED to be made? No, not really, and certainly not the one they made. I'm sure there are a lot of other characters that could have used and carried a better film. Nobody was more surprised than I that the film was being made and I think the major failure was trying to rewrite the character and bring in elements of the mini-series, rather than dipping in to the current series or the original run. As far as a run that changed the genre, I would probably point to Jonah's marriage to Mei Ling, his drunkeness, and the arc where Jonah went to China to rescue Mei Ling. These were stand-out stories for a western comic in the 80's. (But contain far too much story for a two hour film)


Since I did make mention of your review on my blog as well as posting the email I sent, I would like to receive your permission to post your previous response as well as any response you send to this email. If you rather that I don't post either response, I'll respect that and not post this email as well.


Again, thanks for your time.


Dwayne Hendrickson

Mr. Williamson replied:
Feel free to post my response to your e-mail.

What is unusual is that we're not debating the movie itself. It's too bad how it turned out because Josh Brolin is perfect casting and the ensemble cast - Michael Shannon, Michael Fassbender, John Malkovich - is exceptional.

Turns out that Neil over at The Bleeding Tree also took time to write to Mr. Williamson. We didn't plan that, honestly we didn't.

Susan speaks out on Jonah Hex

Susan Hillwig, she of Weird Western Quarterly and sometimes alias of Jonah Hex, wrote her review of Jonah Hex, tossed it into an email for me to read and I knew I HAD to share it with everyone else. Here, for your reading pleasure, Susan Hillwig:

Been hearin’ the rumors for months now, crazy talk ‘bout how he’d changed so drastically, how he wasn’t the same person.  But me and him, we go back a ways, and I figured the only way to get the truth was to go seek out the man himself.  So I met up with him in a darkened theatre, and we had good long talk for about 80-odd minutes.

And let me reassure you, friends, that Jonah Hex (in the guise of Josh Brolin) may look and act a bit different than what we’re used to, but on the inside, he’s the same man we’ve known for over 38 years.

It was kind of a shock, in a way.  Everything I’ve been hearing had lowered my expectations to near-zero, so I thought I’d be groaning under my breath for most of the film.  I will concede that those who don’t know the character at all might not like it because, as those that do know him are aware, Hex is not an easy character to love: he’s dirty, he’s surly, he’d sooner spit in your eye than offer a kind word...and I’d say that Brolin nails every bit of that attitude.  Unfortunately, movie franchises are not usually based around guys like that, so I reckon the critics are a little taken aback by what they saw, but as a Hex-nut, I was pleased.  He does show a soft edge here and there, but only when appropriate, and that’s not out-of-character for him either...Hell, I was damn-near moved at one point because, once again, Brolin nailed it.  Either he or the writers studied Hex real close, because I can’t think of one line coming out of his mouth that rang false.

Hex’s backstory took a few bad lumps, though, which is understandable: in this knee-jerk, politically-correct age, no studio would likely let ritual scarring by angry Apaches hit the big screen.  So instead, the honor of administering it goes to Quentin Turnbull (Malkovich), but don’t worry, kids, they still manage to work in a red-hot tomahawk to the face later on, much to my surprise.  There’s also the garbling of the Turnbull/Hex feud, taking away the element of Hex’s accidental betrayal of his unit and making it deliberate, but with good reason, as Turnbull was steering them towards wholesale slaughter as opposed to simple battlefield tactics.  The full details behind the betrayal are never made clear, but they do say that Hex shot Turnbull’s son Jeb, so on that count at least, Hex is guilty, and this leads directly to Turnbull’s eye-for-an-eye vengeance.  Another alteration on that, as Hex is given an Indian wife and son (and going by the kid’s age, I’d say this marriage predates the War).  Sadly, their only reason for existence seems to be as sacrificial lambs and possibly a tenuous link to Hex’s brief Indian upbringing (if we miraculously get a sequel, I’d like to see that explored).  Luckily, those Indians are also the ones who pull Hex back from the brink of death after Turnbull shatters his life.

And that brings us to a major change in Hex’s character: he talks to dead people.  Before going into the movie, I psyched myself out by saying that Brolin’s Hex was nutters and he imagined this ability, but nope, he’s really doing it...and Lord help me, Brolin makes it believable.  In his hands, talking to the dead becomes simply another tool in Hex’s arsenal, and he treats it as such.  For the record, we only see him use it three times: the first establishes the parameters of how it works, the second provides us with a scene that lays out a remarkable depth of feeling for Hex that I really don’t want to spoil, and the third is over with lickety-split but it’s so creative and mad-dog mean that you know the comic-book Hex would do it too if he could.  I still think they shouldn’t have saddled an all-too-human character with a supernatural trait, but they made me accept it within the confines of this flick, so I’m okay with it.

As for other oddities...well, some work and some don’t.  The acid-spitting weirdo in the pit-fighting scene seems to have no purpose but to up the crazy factor a bit (though the conversation between Hex and Tom Wopat’s character happening just above the pit-fight works well).  Hex’s specialty weapons look like stuff he might consider using if he could actually get his hands on them (though that horse of his must be very well-trained to tolerate the noise of twin Gatling guns like that!), and Turnbull’s “nation-killer” gun is the ultimate in steampunk, reminding me of the Nazis’ actual “Big Bertha” gun in a way.  I give the writers props for working in Eli Whitney (and accurately mentioning that he’s responsible for modern manufacturing as well as the cotton gin...both of which are inadvertent causes of the Civil War, by the by), but for the life of me, I can’t think of what in blazes those flaming dragonballs the cannon spews out are supposed to be made of!  Oh, and I take points off for giving the thing Capitol building-shaped crosshairs...that’s just plain silly.

I suppose I should take a second to review the other characters in this flick.  John Malkovich does a good job as Turnbull, and though he’s more physically active than his comic-book counterpart, I noticed that, as with Brolin/Hex, the attitude is the same: he spends more time playing mastermind and directing others to do his dirty work than he does getting his own hands dirty.  Even the way he talks, all blustery and spelling everything out, conforms to the original character.  Megan Fox’s character of Lilah doesn’t get as much screen-time as the ads would have you believe, but she does a decent job when she’s there.  The age difference between Brolin and Fox is a mite distracting, but since I remember Hex one time bedded down with a gal half his age, I could excuse it.  What surprised me about Lilah was how well she handled her weapons...but since I knew what her full name was before it was said on film, I shouldn’t have been surprised at all.  The biggest pleasure for me was watching Michael Fassbender as Turnbull’s Irish crony Burke.  This guy was just wicked fun every time he was on screen, and a real threat to Hex.  Plus he made me grin when he kept calling Hex “little flower” as a put-down.

Now to address two problems that keep coming up in other reviews I’ve seen: the length and the editing.  Honestly, I didn’t feel that the movie clocked in too short, though I could’ve sat through at least another hour of it and not complained.  Not once did I look at my watch, which I normally do at least once during a movie, so if they can keep my eyes on the screen and not on the time, then that’s a plus.  As for editing, it doesn’t get choppy for me until the end fight (I swear there’s one split-second scene that they showed twice within maybe five minutes, but that might’ve been my eyes playing tricks), but where I can see what might be off-putting for some folks in the interspersing of the actual fight between Hex and Turnbull alongside a “internal” fight of those same guys on a field of red clay (which also pops up here and there throughout the film).  If I understand from other sources, the red clay sequence was supposed to be the original end fight, but they nixed it in favor of steampunk cannons.  Luckily, somebody found a way to work it back in that’s artsy as Hell, and I loved it.  Personally, I could probably spend a paragraph dissecting the meaning of the red clay sequence, but I’m trying to be brief here.

All in all, I had a good time, and best of all, I don’t think they insulted Jonah Hex one bit.  That was my biggest concern from the moment they announced there would be a movie: the notion that they’d toss any old junk together and call it good because he’s a lower-tier character.  There are a few bumps in the road that I could’ve done without, but I’d go see it again, and I hope the inevitable DVD comes with so much extra stuff that they need 5 disks to pack it all in.

Now I just have to find a way to explain this flick to anybody that isn’t a Hex-nut...

Guest Review at Comics Bulletin

Through various channels, I was requested by Comics Bulletin (a great site that I had never seen) asked if I would compose a review of the Jonah Hex. Having already posted my bullet-points along with my rant against other movie critics, I decided to wade into the deep end of the pool and submit my own review of the movie.

Once you've finished reading it, be sure to browse around the rest of the site, it has a lot to offer.

Official Jonah Hex film review

Caught the early show with my Lovely Wife and I was gritting my teeth (in fear) as we went in. We sat down, watched a ton of commercials aimed at kids (my wife kept asking "What the Heck? Are we in Toy Story?") and the film finally started. We watched it. I neither screamed at the screen nor threw things in disgust.

Don't forget to link to your own review in the comments or even leave your review in the comments in order to be entered in the Sweepstakes for mediocre Jonah Hex loot.

The short and sweet? Lovely Wife enjoyed it and wants to see it again. Me? I give it a 6 out of 10 and will probably see it twice more. If you want more details and spoilers, you can check below my favorite picture of Jonah Hex below. It will be safe to read again after the second picture.

* The opening of the film had a nice style with the animation. Wife noted that it was the only way they could present the branding of Hex's face in a PG-13 film.

* The scene with the Gatling guns on the horse actually worked for me. That entire scene and the train explosion scene (as seen in the pre-released clips) were a cinematically beautiful. As a matter of fact the bulk of the film looked really really good. The colors were outstanding and we were treated to some nice vistas and mood pieces.

* The character of Burke was an enjoyable one. Wife asked if the actor was actually Irish. Accent FTW!

* The whole speaking to the dead? To me it seemed as if it were thrown in to save time. Being able to talk to the dead who see everything is a lot quicker that doing actual tracking or searching down facts. There was another twist or two thrown in along with it that made it interesting, but not enough to convince me that it had to be in there. Wife enjoyed it and thought it gave the film a nice quirkiness.

* Megan Fox as Lilah? Was she in the film? I didn't notice. (I'm being sarcastic.) Her performance was standard.

* I think the film suffered from the short running time. It had interesting characters that we didn't get to know very well and I wanted to see more of Lt. Grass, more of Burke. During my interview with the cast, there was some interesting aspects to the characters that we were not even allowed to get a hint of and I think the film was less for the exclusion. I wonder if the cuts were to get it down to a PG-13? Jonah Hex is definitely an R rating character.

* There were some rather abrupt cuts. The love scene between Hex and Lilah, Hex leaving the fort with the aid of his horse, Hex recovering with the aid of the Indians to the scene of him riding his horse. All of these left me thinking "Wow, they cut something there."

* The dog, the crows, the horse. All of these were nice touches that I think did add to the film.

* At times it was difficult to understand Brolin but I don't fault him for that. It must have been hell working with that makeup.

* The weird freak in the fighting ring seemed to be something leftover from a prior shoot to the film. It wasn't explained very well and left Wife scratching her head.

* Now some detail stuff, the relationship between Hex and Turnbull was pretty much turned on its head from the comics. I asked Wife to explain it and she got the movie version 99% correct. Now for a little bit of a rant, I have read more than one review where the reviewer got facts of the movie wrong such as saying that Hex killed Turnbull's brother among other things. That makes me wonder if reviewers are actually watching the damn film? I believe that this film is getting a short end of the stick. Way too often, reviewers want to be 'hip' and 'current' and rather than actually talking about the film, they toss in quick insults about the actors or flippant political remarks (I have seen more than one review making negative comments about the Tea Party movement (Jonah Hex and Prince of Persia come to mind)) So rather than giving an actual review, they pile on Megan Fox, the short run time, and on and on.

* "This country could use a sheriff." Someone actually thought that was a good line? Sheesh.

* Having read the original script and knowing the ending (a fistfight on a field of red clay), I recognized it when it was intermingled throughout the film. It made me think that they shot a lot of the original script and went back for a rewrite and a new ending but realized how well staged and photographed the original ending was and decided to keep it. They did weave it into the film and Wife, not knowing of the original script, thought the whole effect was unique and enjoyed it.

* Watching it at a 10:30 am showing there were about a dozen people in the theater and I noticed four folks leave and not come back. Hmmm, that doesn't bode well. You can't even suffer through a 80 minute film?

* There was actually more sex in the trailer than in the film. Again, hmmmmm.

* When will folks realize that when we see a reflection of someone with a scar on their face, the scar should be on the opposite side of their face?

As I said above, I would give it 6 of 10 stars. I would put it in the middle of the pack regarding comic book movies, better than either Hulk or Men in Black and I might even place it above all of the first boot of Batman movies. Just wish it had been longer. The more I think of it, the more likely that I will be talking more about this film. Please bear with me.

Lovely Wife places it slightly above X-Men, way above Daredevil, a whole heck of a lot better than the first Hulk, much better than Batman Returns and Batman and Robin. She actually said if Jonah Hex had been given more time it would have been just below Spider-Man