Post by Eddie Love on Jun 19, 2010 11:34:02 GMT -5
I have a policy that I go and see every new Western that comes out – in the theater. I consider it my bit to keep this dying genre alive. Hence, the reason I dragged a co-worker to see JONAH HEX opening night.
However, like Humphrey Bogart in CASABLANCA, I was misinformed. This isn’t a Western. Except for a Leoneian opening sequence in a desert Hell town, this entire film takes place on the Eastern seaboard.
I’ve never read a Jonah Hex comic, so I can’t speak to the source fanbase. In the film he’s a scarred and snarling bounty hunter who can commune with the dead. As played by Josh Brolin, he’s pretty compelling, if one-note. (Though I confess, I laughed out loud at two of his growled one-liners.) The plot here concerns the Confederate officer Jonah betrayed (John Malkovich), having killed Jonah’s family, trying to start…oh Hell, why bother, it’s essentially the same plot as THE PUNISHER. What people really want to know is: is JH as bad as the benchmark for crappy exploitative, anachronistic big-screen action westerns: (…shudder…) WILD, WILD, WEST?
That answer is: no, it’s not as bad. In fact, there are some good things in this movie. The cinematography is wonderful. There’s a sequence, the best in the film, where Malkovich’s men rob a train. It’s shot in this lush green outdoor setting, and captures the gritty, naturalistic production design perfectly. The look of everything here is marlevous, it could have come from some lost Australian film from the 70s or 80s.
Elsewhere, the filmaker’s have a certain Southern gothic mood they convey pretty well. One such scene has Jonah in a cemetery at night, “waking” the dead friend (Malkovich’s son), he’s killed. Each time he’s animated, the friend starts beating the crap out of Jonah. When Jonah lets him go, he’s a rotting corpse. This is pretty cool, and when things settle down the two have a tense and well acted scene, captured in a nice two-shot, that hints at the dramatic heft Brolin and others in the cast are capable of. I was just thinking the other day, what happened to Aiden Quinn? He shows up in a few scenes as President Grant. Also, we’re teased with appearances by Wes Bently and Will Arnett (playing it straight), but then nothing really comes of either. Michael Fassbinder (who electrified as the film critic Basterd in IB) is Malkovich’s main henchmen. Expertly employing an Irish brogue, he’s sensational.
All these actors are lit and shot, terrifically, such that we see their ruddy, sun-burnt (but healthy) faces, in contrast to Jonah’s. And, also, I’m sorry to say, in contrast to Megan Fox as the hooker with a heart of gold. I’m not a Fox-hater, but here she's distractingly bathed in a halo of light so her skin positively glows, they may have used Vasoline. It’s really distracting. I thought she looked cute all banged up and dusty in the first TRANSFOMERS, why couldn’t they have added some grit to her look here? She could be Barbara Walters hosting a special. There’s nothing really bad about her performance otherwise, and when she wields a gun and kicks ass, she does look pretty hot.
I guess I was too busy marveling at the fact that the movie didn’t suck, that I didn’t mind that it’s not particularly enjoyable either. At 83 minutes (?!?) it feels like a smash and grab job to get those summer movie dollars. If I had taken my 12 year-old brother-in-law, who I usually use as an excuse to watch stuff like this, I don’t feel like I’d have subjected him to something totally worthless. Except for the standard explosion fetish we have these days, it's not sadistically violent. And, there’s some filmmaking chops here, I never felt like the filmmakers didn’t give a shit. Though the action isn’t all that great, they punch it up with some hard cuts and swift transitions. Plus the climatic fight is inter-cut with a kind of red-brick dust dream sequence fight between the two antagonists, that isn’t brilliant, but it’s a bit more daring than what you saw in GHOST RIDER.
Unfortunately, the whole thing ends with a bloated set-piece that does skirt WWW territory. It’s the only point where I found the movie cynical and frankly moronic. (This scene involves the “Independence Harbor” that sits in front of the Washington Monument, where no such thing exists.) I wish the filmmakers had resisted the convention of adding this big stupid sequence. Why not cut the $30MM the sequence cost and just shoot something tense and good? You know why many Westerns had showdowns in the street as their climax, with close-ups back and forth to ratchet up the tension? They didn’t cost anything! Save the giant sets and do something cheaper and better.
One other thing that bugged me. Jonah, who wears his confederate uniform in the office of President Grant, we’re told – by a former slave, no less – was one of those good rebels who believed in state’s rights. You see, he wasn't fighting for slavery. Ahhhhhhh yes, one of those. Good to know. Later, Jonah says "a country doesn’t need a sheriff." Whatever the Hell that means. Not sure why this stuff was included, unless it’s a confusing sop to the confused-enough-already tea-party crowd.
JONAH HEX is not as bad as you think it will be, not as good as it could have been. I was surprised it wasn't terrible, and distracted enough that I wasn't thinking about the really good film the same cast and filmmakers could have produced, if they weren't running in the big summer opening weekend sweepstakes.
However, like Humphrey Bogart in CASABLANCA, I was misinformed. This isn’t a Western. Except for a Leoneian opening sequence in a desert Hell town, this entire film takes place on the Eastern seaboard.
I’ve never read a Jonah Hex comic, so I can’t speak to the source fanbase. In the film he’s a scarred and snarling bounty hunter who can commune with the dead. As played by Josh Brolin, he’s pretty compelling, if one-note. (Though I confess, I laughed out loud at two of his growled one-liners.) The plot here concerns the Confederate officer Jonah betrayed (John Malkovich), having killed Jonah’s family, trying to start…oh Hell, why bother, it’s essentially the same plot as THE PUNISHER. What people really want to know is: is JH as bad as the benchmark for crappy exploitative, anachronistic big-screen action westerns: (…shudder…) WILD, WILD, WEST?
That answer is: no, it’s not as bad. In fact, there are some good things in this movie. The cinematography is wonderful. There’s a sequence, the best in the film, where Malkovich’s men rob a train. It’s shot in this lush green outdoor setting, and captures the gritty, naturalistic production design perfectly. The look of everything here is marlevous, it could have come from some lost Australian film from the 70s or 80s.
Elsewhere, the filmaker’s have a certain Southern gothic mood they convey pretty well. One such scene has Jonah in a cemetery at night, “waking” the dead friend (Malkovich’s son), he’s killed. Each time he’s animated, the friend starts beating the crap out of Jonah. When Jonah lets him go, he’s a rotting corpse. This is pretty cool, and when things settle down the two have a tense and well acted scene, captured in a nice two-shot, that hints at the dramatic heft Brolin and others in the cast are capable of. I was just thinking the other day, what happened to Aiden Quinn? He shows up in a few scenes as President Grant. Also, we’re teased with appearances by Wes Bently and Will Arnett (playing it straight), but then nothing really comes of either. Michael Fassbinder (who electrified as the film critic Basterd in IB) is Malkovich’s main henchmen. Expertly employing an Irish brogue, he’s sensational.
All these actors are lit and shot, terrifically, such that we see their ruddy, sun-burnt (but healthy) faces, in contrast to Jonah’s. And, also, I’m sorry to say, in contrast to Megan Fox as the hooker with a heart of gold. I’m not a Fox-hater, but here she's distractingly bathed in a halo of light so her skin positively glows, they may have used Vasoline. It’s really distracting. I thought she looked cute all banged up and dusty in the first TRANSFOMERS, why couldn’t they have added some grit to her look here? She could be Barbara Walters hosting a special. There’s nothing really bad about her performance otherwise, and when she wields a gun and kicks ass, she does look pretty hot.
I guess I was too busy marveling at the fact that the movie didn’t suck, that I didn’t mind that it’s not particularly enjoyable either. At 83 minutes (?!?) it feels like a smash and grab job to get those summer movie dollars. If I had taken my 12 year-old brother-in-law, who I usually use as an excuse to watch stuff like this, I don’t feel like I’d have subjected him to something totally worthless. Except for the standard explosion fetish we have these days, it's not sadistically violent. And, there’s some filmmaking chops here, I never felt like the filmmakers didn’t give a shit. Though the action isn’t all that great, they punch it up with some hard cuts and swift transitions. Plus the climatic fight is inter-cut with a kind of red-brick dust dream sequence fight between the two antagonists, that isn’t brilliant, but it’s a bit more daring than what you saw in GHOST RIDER.
Unfortunately, the whole thing ends with a bloated set-piece that does skirt WWW territory. It’s the only point where I found the movie cynical and frankly moronic. (This scene involves the “Independence Harbor” that sits in front of the Washington Monument, where no such thing exists.) I wish the filmmakers had resisted the convention of adding this big stupid sequence. Why not cut the $30MM the sequence cost and just shoot something tense and good? You know why many Westerns had showdowns in the street as their climax, with close-ups back and forth to ratchet up the tension? They didn’t cost anything! Save the giant sets and do something cheaper and better.
One other thing that bugged me. Jonah, who wears his confederate uniform in the office of President Grant, we’re told – by a former slave, no less – was one of those good rebels who believed in state’s rights. You see, he wasn't fighting for slavery. Ahhhhhhh yes, one of those. Good to know. Later, Jonah says "a country doesn’t need a sheriff." Whatever the Hell that means. Not sure why this stuff was included, unless it’s a confusing sop to the confused-enough-already tea-party crowd.
JONAH HEX is not as bad as you think it will be, not as good as it could have been. I was surprised it wasn't terrible, and distracted enough that I wasn't thinking about the really good film the same cast and filmmakers could have produced, if they weren't running in the big summer opening weekend sweepstakes.