Jonah Hex – Blu-ray Review

The Film:

Personally, I’m not that familiar with DC Comics western anti-hero Jonah Hex who first appeared in All-Star Western #10 in 1972, but I have no doubt where John Albano’s and Tony DeZuniga’s creation came from. There’s no denying that Jonah Hexas a film in particular, is pure pulp fiction. Young kids were “rotting their brains” with dime novels in the 19th Century, stories filled with the superficiality aimed at nothing more than getting your dime for a quick read’s worth of entertainment. Cheap entertainment was as disposable then as it is still now, it’s just now we collect them. For all good intentions those pejorative writers had, as well as Jimmy Heyward-Jonah Hex‘s director-the film is pure ridiculousness that your teachers warned you about as you were reading comics during class, yet as simple as that is, Jonah Hex is still entertainment aimed our new dime (the ten dollar bill).

Like the title hero, the film quickly bares its mark that we will judge it by. It’s a lean 81-if that-minutes on a skeleton of a story. Outside of an extended opening exposition, Crank‘s Neveldine & Taylor’s script is literally just scraps on the bone of the lesser known, but popular comic book. Outside of Hex’s back story, we really know nothing more about him, his relationship with a whore, or his mysterious abilities. The film was subject of reshooting and editing, almost all the way to its release, yet if anything, it doesn’t hurt the film like one would expect. The film glides by with some pulpy action hero antics, with Josh Brolin grunting his way as a Snake Plissken-like character with a heart. John Malkovich is grand and loud as a pissed off old Confederate, and Megan Fox sizzles and proves that “no Michael Bay, no problem”, as she showcases some action chops. Michael Fessbender steals his scenes as well.

Jonah Hex in this form we see at the theater just doesn’t give the actors much to do. It’s broad strokes and that, to me, is the shame of the film. If the film offered more to some of these relationships and subplots, Jonah Hexcould have been a bigger blast. Laced with a rocking score from the alt-metal band Mastodon, the film offers that low-rent B-level entertainment Roger Corman used to give us many years ago. Much like the dime books 150 years ago, we still like rotting our brains for a Hamilton. Jonah Hex isn’t destined to ‘wow’ all, just those who are looking for some late night cheap thrills on the TV. That isn’t necessarily a bad thing, son.

The Blu-ray:

Audio/Video: In typical Warner fashion, we’re given a solid HD presentation. Deep blacks and details, some eye-popping colors and clarity, it’s a great transfer. The DTS audio is loud, bass-heavy, active, as all action films are now days, with clear dialogue and the music (from Mastodon) adding to the aggressive mix.

The Weird Western Tales of Jonah Hex: This is WB’s picture-in-picture option they love doing, with the film playing along a pop-up window of the film making team chatting about the production. There’s no chat about the drama in the post-production of the film, but as a standard issue making-of, it’s decent, if not a little fluffy.

The Inside Story of Jonah Hex: In HD, here’s a brief but good historical look at the character from DC Comics to the film.

Deleted Scenes: Don’t expect anything, despite the rumors of a slew of footage being cut out and reshot, but there’s nothing really interesting or good here. It’s just three scenes, running five minutes. Lame.

Conclusion: Okay, under certain expectations, even in this lean running time, I dug it, but it’s a rental. WB delivers a good Blu-ray, but the lack of footage in deleted scenes is a missed opportunity.

The Film: Rating:

The Blu-ray: Rating: