Comic book Western with an excellent metal score
I was never a big Jonah Hex fan, but I have a handful of the comics from the 70s and was therefore mildly interested in this cinematic adaption from 2010, especially since Megan Fox looked so good in the promo pics, lol.
"Jonah Hex" reminds me of those gazillions of spaghetti Westerns from the 60s and 70s, like "Django" and Leone's "Man with No Name" trilogy except that it's more modern and entertaining.
To be expected, the atmosphere is very comic booky and the filmmakers do an outstanding job with the title character's hideously scarred face. It's like the comic come to life. Josh Brolin is fine in the eponymous role. On top of this, Megan Fox proves in her peripheral part that she was the foxiest woman in Hollywood at the time.
At only 82 minutes, the story is simple and the pace is fast, which I don't mind since too many films overstay their welcome. But the writers did strive for some depth and that's commendable. If there was more depth and epic-ness I wouldn't hesitate to raise my rating. As it is, "Jonah Hex" plays like a spaghetti Western that's actually decent. Imagine the style and pizazz of "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" updated to 2010, but half as long, no tedious stretches and less one-dimensional characters and you'd have a pretty good approximation of "Jonah Hex."
One of the film's highlights is the incredible metalized score by Marco Beltrami and none other than Mastodon. The movie's worth seeing for the music alone, no kidding.
The film was shot in Louisiana with some re-shoots in California.
GRADE: B
