JONAH HEX (B-)

This movie is one that surprised me as I expected nothing more than to dislike it when buying my ticket. I am not a huge fan of Megan Fox’s typical attempts at acting, especially trying to pull off a southern accent like this role required. Even with her being a vital piece to this project, she did a suitable job with her part and helped make Jonah Hex a decent movie. Considering I walked in expecting failure because of the atrocious ratings it has received (14% approval on RottenTomatoes), I walked out appreciating the movie as a success for what it was trying to achieve. Jonah Hex is a respectable western. 

The film is an adaptation from the popular comic-book series about an outlaw who lost everything and seeks revenge against the man who took everything from him. After watching his wife and child burned alive by his mortal enemy in the story Quentin Turnbull played by John Malkovich, his life is changed forever. The murder of Hex’s family is at the very beginning of the story and quantifies the new “lifeless” cowboy who murders the scum of the earth to fill the void left by his dead family. Surprisingly, Malkovich’s portrayal of his character was one of the worst pieces of this movie.

The narrative itself was nothing special, but it was elemental. By that I mean that the tale played out in a predictive manner, but featured all the elements of a reasonably well told story. While Jonah Hex is the only character the script really focuses in on, Turnbull and his thugs are despicable enough to create loathing for their gang and their plan of destruction for the growing United States. Every time I had a question in mind about the story, the script seemed to provide a competent explanation for my inquiry. Not always the best reasoning mind you, but enough to create understanding.

From some of my past reviews, many of you can garner that I am usually a cynic when it comes to cliché blockbuster movies or mindless comedies. For some reason, even though this movie is almost as much a cookie cutter product as The A-Team, I thought it had at least a beating heart with some emotion where The A-Team did not. Despite most of Jonah Hex fitting the blockbuster design, it had enough originality to give it distinction amongst the other common action movies.

Overall, Jonah Hex was not anything I would go out of my way to see again, but I would check it out for a second time if the opportunity presented itself. The action is solid and fun to watch, especially some of the gun fights. The story is easy to follow and interesting enough to keep the viewer entertained til the conclusion. And most of all, Josh Brolin pulls off his part as Hex almost masterfully. If you have already seen the gems Toy Story 3 and The Karate Kid, give this western a chance.

What Should You Do? Don’t see this in place of either of those movies, but as far as entertainment goes, it is definitely an enjoyable flick.

Today I’ve got a slew of new movie posters for you. One is for a comic-book action movie, the other is for an anticipated summer comedy, and the last one is for a secretive and mysterious upcoming thriller. The first comes from the bewilderingly quiet big summer release from Warner Bros., Jonah Hex. The film is of course the first big-screen adaptation of the popular DC Comics series, where Hex (Josh Brolin) is a scarred bounty hunter tracking down the voodoo practitioner Turnbull (John Malkovich), who wants to raise an army of undead to liberate the South. The film started production over a year ago and we haven’t heard ONE peep via viral marketing, trailers or posters until now. And the film is set to release in just over two months on June 18. Very perplexing, Warner Bros.

Anyway, the poster looks pretty cool. It features all the main characters, including Megan Fox (who plays the love interest). It also gives us a glimpse on just what the action may be like, featuring Brolin holding two badass exploding weapons. The first trailer for Jonah Hex will drop next week in front of a Nightmare on Elm Sreet. Check out the poster below (via Slashfilm).

Next up we have a pretty funny poster for Get Him to the Greek. The film is the unofficial sequel to Forgetting Sarah Marshall, and reunites Jonah Hill and crazy British comedian Russell Brand, each reprising their former roles. This time, it’s several years later and Hill’s character is now an assistant to a mega record producer, played by none other than P. Diddy.

As I said, the poster made me chuckle, and I’m really looking forward to this comedy. Get Him to the Greek opens everywhere July 29. Check out the international poster (via Collider).

The last poster I have for you is from Buried. We reported on this mysterious thriller last summer and now we have the first official poster. The film stars Ryan Reynolds as Paul Conroy, a U.S. citizen working as a contract driver in Iraq. After a swift and sudden attack on his convoy, he awakens to find himself buried alive inside a coffin with nothing more than a lighter, a cell phone, and little memory of how he ended up there. Faced with limited oxygen and unlimited panic, Paul finds himself in a tension-filled race against time to escape this claustrophobic deathtrap before it’s too late.

It’s a pretty unprecedented concept as the entire film takes place inside the coffin with Reynolds. It sounds extremely intriguing and I’m really looking forward to seeing a film premise that I’ve never even thought of, let alone seen on screen. The poster is terrifying and makes me really claustrophobic (shivers). Buried is set to release in October. Check out the poster exclusively from FirstShowing.

What Do You Think? Discuss.

We have some first glances at two movies coming out next year that are on my must-see list, both from Warner Bros. The first is writer-director Kevin Smith’s first major studio-financed movie titled A Couple of Dicks. It teams up the guaranteed hilarious duo of Bruce Willis and Tracy Morgan as two cops whose adventures include locating a stolen baseball card, rescuing a woman and dealing with gangsters and their laundered money. The film is only directed by Kevin Smith, not written by (the film is written by the Bro-tandem of Robb and Mark Cullen) but Smith’s signature outrageous comedic-style should be all over this film, especially since it will inevitably be rated R.

If that wasn’t enough to get you to the theater, it was announced just last week that Minnesota-native funny man, Sean William Scott and the O.C.‘s Adam Brody were signed on to join the cast  of A Couple of Dicks, boosting the sarcastic element of the comedy.

The film started filming this week in New York and several set pics have already surfaced. Accidentalsexiness has the first photo featuring Willis and Morgan sitting in a car, see the enhanced pic below:

The second picture from the A Couple of Dicks set is one of the funniest set pics I’ve seen in a while. It comes from ComingSoon and it features Tracy Morgan dressed up in a cell phone costume, riding a tricked-out tricycle, while being chased by a pit bull. This film is starting to look good. Check out the photo below:

The second movie on my most anticipated list is Jonah Hex. Continuing to best utilize the endless amount of comic-book source material at their disposal, WB is bringing the western-action-adventure comic from DC to life. I’ve written posts about this film before, mostly regarding casting. It stars Josh Brolin as Jonah Hex, a scarred bounty hunter during the days of the wild west, who has the daunting task of tracking down an evil vodoo practitioner (played by the brilliant John Malkovich) bent on liberating the South by raising an army of the undead. Pretty epic adventure story. The film also stars Megan Fox, Will Arnett and Michael Shannon. Below is the first set pic of Brolin as the scarred bounty Hunter. Check out the pic below and compare it to how Jonah Hex looks in the comics:

See all the pics of Josh Brolin as Jonah Hex in HD at LaineyGossip.

What Do You Think? Discuss.

At the beginning of April, I posted an article discussing the casting additions of Michael Shannon and Will Arnett to Warner Bros.’ upcoming comic-book western adventure Jonah Hex. The film also stars Transformers hottie Megan Fox, who’ll play the pistol-toting vixen opposite Josh Brolin (Hex). MovieGab.net has the first set photos of Fox in costume. Now, there’s no denying Megan Fox’ beauty (she was voted Sexiest Woman in the World by FHM last year). But her waist looks unhealthy, unusually thin and almost cartoon-like in these photos; similar to Jessica Rabbit in Who Framed Roger Rabbit? Now I’m not saying it’s bad one way or the other, just an observation. Mic check 1, 2.

What Do You Think? Discuss.

Well this cast is starting to look damn impressive. The Hollywood Reporter confirms that the Oscar nominee  Michael Shannon (photo left) and comedic genius and the former star of the beloved Arrested Development Will Arnett, (right) have been cast in roles in the upcoming superhero-action-comic-western, Jonah Hex. THR says Arnett will play a Union soldier who enlists Hex and is blindsided by the dirty fighting style of his enemies. The role is not inherently comic. And that Shannon plays Doc Cross Williams, the bizarre ringleader of a brutal gladiator circus event. The character might appear in sequels.

Shannon is an amazing actor. If you need proof, please see Revolutionary Road and Bug; the guy can play creepy, bizarre personalities like no other. I also am very intruigued by the report that Arnett’s character will not be comedic. The guy has only done outrageous, hilarious characters and it will be really interesting to see how he approaches the sadistic, hell-whole of the Jonah Hex comic world.

I’m really starting to get excited for this film. As you recall, I posted just last week that Megan Fox had been cast as pistol-toting vixen in the flick; on top of the already awesome good vs. evil showdown between Josh Brolin, who’ll play Hex and John Malkovich, who’ll play the villain Turnbull.

For a quick re-cap, Jonah Hex is a dark and graphic western-comicbook series from DC Comics that has been running for nearly 30 years. In this movie the scarred bounty hunter must track down the voodoo practitioner Turnbull (John Malkovich) who wants to raise an army of undead to liberate the South.

Needless to say after The Dark Knight & Watchmen, I’m seriously impressed, wowed and grateful for Warner Bros. continued commitment to adapting gritty, dark comic-books; making them work on film, but staying true to the source material. Paramount and Fox have been playing it safe lately and I give mad props to WB and their large balls.

What Do You Think? Discuss.