Jonah Hex (**)

Not only is this not the season’s best action movie, but it’s not even the best one to draw on war-on-terror analogies for its tired plot. At least Prince of Persia had an exotic setting and some swordplay. It even had more of a story, despite not having this effort’s nearly 30-year-old DC Comics pedigree on which to draw. (Hex creator John Albano died before production on the movie began.) The particulars of the title character (Josh Brolin) are that the right side of face is horribly scarred and that he can communicate with the dead. The scars come from an encounter with the film’s villain, Quentin Turnbull (John Malkovich); the power to talk to the dead—not in the comics version—presumably comes from Neveldine & Taylor, the screenwriting duo (Crank) credited here. Without this fantasy element, the movie would simply be a bad western. With it, it has some creepy sequences in which Hex raises the dead, only to abuse them some more.

There’s more creepiness, but aside from atmospherics and the crisp direction provided by Jimmy Hayward, there’s little else to recommend. The plot is more than a little reminiscent of Wild Wild West, the Will Smith-starring turkey that similarly featured a Confederate-sympathizing villain, a superweapon, and President Grant. Neither villain nor hero are memorable, though Brolin tries, conveying the literal and figurative wounds of a man forced to watch his family burn to death. In a scene meant as dark comedy, Hex shoots a man for asking about his scar. The government comes calling with an opportunity at revenge, and he becomes a good guy.

I guess, it being 1876, Turnbull and his henchmen haven’t seen enough action-thrillers to know that you shouldn’t stop and say things like “you're not going anywhere” rather than quickly finish off the guy you’ve just wounded. However, the more sophisticated 21st-century moviegoer may feel justified at groaning at such clichés. Though Megan Fox has a supporting role as a tough prostitute (and love interest), there aren’t enough tricks to make Jonah Hex anything more than yet another action movie sporting an anti-terrorism patina while reveling in the spectacle of mindless violence.

IMDB link

viewed 6/16/10 at Ritz 5 [PFS screening] and reviewed 6/17–19/10