Jonah Hex!

Blockbuster is running a special this month, one free movie everyday (if it's not too new). Since I live right next to a Blockbuster, I've been taking advantage of that and yesterday I took a gander at the Jonah Hex movie from last year. It left the theaters so quickly I didn't get a chance to see it, and frankly I'd forgotten about it until I saw it on the racks.

It's sure a short movie, the whole thing like just over eighty minutes long including some lengthy credits. The movie got almost universal pans, but I have to say I found virtues in it.

Josh Brolin is a worthy Hex, his grumbly exterior suits the character well. I read that Thomas Jane wanted the part, and frankly I think he would have been better, at least in looks. He's got a great glare too.

Megan Fox is a lovely girl, but she has almost no part in this movie other than being eye candy. They want to suggest otherwise, but frankly she has little to do and her contributions at the end seem forced.

John Malkovich does one of his usual baddie jobs, but it's become rather typical for him.

Michael Fassbender as the psychotic Burke is interesting and was worthy of more screen time. His demise was easily the most interesting of any of the characters in the movie.

This movie seems to have been a tight flick with the back story melded in to the main plot through flashbacks, but clearly someone thought that wasn't going to be clear enough so they added an odd partially animated "origin" at the beginning which frankly took away from the impact of the movie.

I could almost see where those scenes were supposed to go originally and it would've been best to leave them there. Hex is supposed to be a mystery at first, one that we unravel, but someone didn't have confidence in our ability to do that.

This isn't a great movie by any stretch, but it was entertaining enough with just enough occult and Wild West moments to keep it fresh. You sure can't say it drags, because it is a brisk adventure with some wild violence, for those who must have violence.

I paid nothing to see it, and I didn't feel cheated.

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