Jonah Hex

Most know that when it comes to comic book films there are two studios who tend to do the competing. These two studios are Marvel and DC. Most also know the much more successful studio when it comes to their films...Marvel. Yes for some reason most DC films (the only major exception being "The Dark Knight") tend to not be as successful as Marvel films. Well here we are again, DC is trying to create a successful comic book film with the help of A-listers Josh Brolin and John Malkovich (if you thought I was going to say Megan Fox...no comment). Unfortunately, "Jonah Hex", a western-esque film about vengeance, fails to capture the heart and brilliance that "The Dark Knight" and "Superman" captured.

At the start of the film, (set shortly after the civil war) we are introduced to Jonah Hex (Brolin) who is being tied up outside his home by the antagonist, Quentin Turnbull (Malkovich). Soon after, he burns Jonah's house with his wife and son inside. After this sight, Turnbull brands Jonah with his initials to remind him of the man that took everything from him. This whole scene sets the DARK tone that will be present for the rest of the film. Why did Turnbull want revenge on Jonah? A quick line at the beginning of the film states that Jonah killed Turnbull's son but unfortunately, the film does a bad job of explaining the whole situation. Anyway, Turnbull is said to be dead and Jonah is now a vengeful bounty hunter that has a price on his own head. However, the U.S. government learns that Turnbull is alive and out to destroy the U.S. Jonah is recruited to help bring down Turnbull and a quest for vengeance and murder is started. Congratulations, that was a summary of about 45 minutes of an 80 minute film (saved you all nine bucks at the theater).

Even the plot summary seems a little confusing and full of twists doesn't it? Well, I'll start off by saying that one of the first problems with "Jonah Hex" is that unfortunately the film does a bad job of explaining the several back stories it tries to tell. As if the several plot twists are not enough, the storytelling and plot of the whole film is scattered and confusing. More problems include that there are some elements that simply should have been kept out of the film. For example, Megan Fox's character, Jonah's slight love interest, has probably less than ten minutes of screen time. So why was she in the film? Most likely to get people to see it...that's the only reason. The character has no value whatsoever.

Unlike most comic-book films, there is not one happy or redemptive thing about "Jonah Hex." The whole movie consists of murder, hate, anger, and at no point does the protagonist question his motives. SPOILER ALERT!!! Even if the film claims to have a happy ending, I couldn't feel happy because what it boils down to is that Jonah, whether he gets his revenge or not, will always carry his hate with him and never have a decent life. Hands down, "Jonah Hex" is the darkest film since "The Dark Knight."

"Jonah Hex" has entertaining action sequences. There. That's pretty much the only positive thing I have to say about the film. Sadly, the action couldn't hide the other flaws in this film. "Jonah Hex", mostly due to the fact that it is a comic book film, suffers from over the top plot twists, unneeded elements, and to top it all off, half of the time I couldn't even understand what the actors were saying. Once again DC has proven that they can't consistently keep up with Marvel and their plethora of comic book films. I give it one star out of four.

"Jonah Hex" has a running time of 80 minutes and is rated PG-13 for intense sequences of violence and action, disturbing images and sexual content.