Jonah Hex

2 stars

An unsuccessful attempt in bringing the supernatural anithero from his comic book to the big screen.

Rating: 14A
Stars: Josh Brolin, John Malkovich, Megan Fox

What's the story?
While fighting on the side of the Confederation during the American Civil War, Jonah Hex (Brolin) betrays his commanding officer, Quentin Turnbull (Malkovich), leading to serious consequences. After surviving the near death experience at the hands of Turnbull, Hex is given supernatural abilities allowing him to communicate with the dead. Following the news of Turnbull’s death, Hex focuses his energy on becoming a successful bounty hunter, but later hears that his oldest enemy has resurfaced with plans for a terrorist attack. At the request of the U.S military, Hex, with the help of prostitute Leila (Fox), embarks on a journey to stop Turnbull before it’s too late.

Why see it?
Josh Brolin delivers a strong, believable performance as the supernatural gunslinger, making up for the lacklustre performances of his cast mates. The film also brings some enjoyable action scenes and for those not familiar with the comic, an interesting story line about an antihero.

Problems?
Brolin's costars, Fox and Malkovich do not hold very strong performances and seem unable to keep Southern accents despite the setting of the film. At 80 minutes, the film is not long enough to tell a successful story and has far too many loopholes, unfortunately creating a very unsatisfied audience. Perhaps with stronger costars to keep up with Brolin, and a longer film, Hex could have lived up to its comic book movie potential.

All in all:
A barely satisfying portrayal of the DC comic.