The summer of comic book movies continues as the trailer for JONAH HEX hits the internet.

I guess it might not be that bad, even though Megan Fox appears to be a candidate for one of my friends’ “Worst Southern Accent in a Movie” list.

Maybe you should be better off taking your $10-15 movie ticket and buying one of the Jonah Hex trades by Jimmy and Justin or some classic ’70s Jonah Hex comics. Or track down that great episode of the Batman cartoon where Hex fights Ra’s Al Ghul’s son on a floating ship like something out of MASTER OF THE WORLD.

43 COMMENTS

  1. I’m a fan of westerns, but wow…this looks *awful*. This might be the nail in the “adapt any comic into a movie” coffin built by Kick-Ass and The Losers. This looks like a really bad western made by people who have no idea what a good western is. Ugh….

  2. Ugh, I feel so conflicted. I saw very little that is recognizable to me as a Hex fan, and I get the impression that those involved with the film paid less mind to the source material (there’s a rich character history to dip into) and more to putting an original spin on Hex. Since there has been more than one Hex origin story, and multiple incarnations of the character, this makes sense, but will most likely succeed only in pissing off disgruntled fans like myself.

    On the other hand, I feel obligated to see the film, as Hex is a favorite of mine. And, after all, it’s silly to completely write off the film simply because of a two minute trailer.

    One thing I can’t even begin to understand: Film score by Mastodon. Uh…

  3. It looks fun and crazy to me . Josh looks awesome as Jonah. It looks just like a summer movie…and to some, that might be all they want.

    The comicbook is the comicbook…if you want that, its out there…go out and give it a try. Please.

    The film is an amalgam of all the hex series…granted, not what I would have chosen…but in the end, its how it appears to those outside comics, since that will make up around 95% of the audience.

    I reserve judgment till I actually get to watch the whole film.

    I’m a positive guy… what can I say. I’m excited.

  4. I wish I shared Palmiotti’s enthusiasm for this movie now, as I love his take on Hex. This trailer looks awful.

    If Hex’s name weren’t on this, there’s no chance I’d see it despite my love of Westerns. As-is, I may wait until it’s either at the $1.99 theater or on DVD. I wanted something more like HIGH PLAINS DRIFTER (or, more recently, THE PROPOSITION) than LXG and WILD WILD WEST. Maybe President Grant will make another cameo.

  5. Maybe I’m an old fogey, but it spiritually lost me by seeing how Hex got the scar in the movie.

    (I don’t know if Jimmy and Justin have changed that story for the current series, as I’ve not read every issue.)

    I love Western steampunk (like the aforementioned Master of the World), but man, this movie reminds me of Wild Wild West and that’s not a compliment.

  6. Like I was going to take a Jonah Hex movie seriously to begin with. It does look fun, like when Hasselhoff as Nick Furry. I’d say it looks like Van Helsing, meets the Dark Tower, with a little bit of Hex and Wild Wild West thrown into a debilitating car crash. Already I’m thinking it must be better than the Dark Knight.

  7. Reminds me of the Thomas Jane Punisher movie, in terms of tone (and plot?). The Q-tech armaments and John Woo draws are just plain stupid, though. It’s “Death and the acrid smell of gunsmoke,” not “miniguns and crossbow pistols and ninja stars and cabers and sticky bombs.”

    I do like the lead actor, though.

    //Oo/\

  8. Yikes.
    Looks like another addition to producer Akiva Goldsman’s growing list of comic-book adaptation turkeys. Can’t that guy just leave a strong character alone without tinkering? I don’t think bigger guns and spooky powers make Hex more interesting or appealing to audiences.

    Oh, and a flashback within a two minute trailer? (geez, give viewers a little credit!).

  9. >> Hex gets the scar the same way as in the 70’s comic series…>>

    In the 1970s comics, Jonah’s scar happens when he has a red-hot tomahawk pressed to his face by the Apache, after he’s made to look “dishonorable” in a rigged fight, or at least that’s how I remember it.

    I’m glad to see Turnbull as the villain, though — he was around for a lot of the first series, wanting revenge on Jonah for (again) seeming dishonorable under unfair circumstances during the Civil War. Jonah got a lot of punishment for being dishonorable when he was the one who’d been dishonored.

    Brolin does look good as Hex. I dunno about the mystic powers (did they want to justify his last name?), but I’ll hope for the best. It looks like a handsomely-shot movie, at least.

    kdb

  10. I think it looks pretty good – the trailer sells me much more than the generic poster. Not having read a lot of the character over the years though I have to ask: has he always had that supernatural element? I always thought he was a more-scarred version of “the man with no name” archetype. Is this a new addition or had I just missed it?

    At any rate, based on the trailer I’d definitely give it a try.

  11. >> It’s “Death and the acrid smell of gunsmoke,” not “miniguns and crossbow pistols and ninja stars and cabers and sticky bombs.”>>

    To be fair, ninja stars, derringers and Gatling guns did crop up in the original series. I don’t recall any crossbows, but Jonah blew shit up when appropriate.

    kdb

  12. The latest poster and parts of the trailer looked alot like “Van Helsing 2” (the Hugh Jackman movie). And I don’t think that’s a good thing.

  13. Wow. I liked all the scenes except for the ones where there was dialogue, shooting and “rockin” music. Otherwise…

    oh man, okay… actually this looks awful.

  14. It’s Lansdales Weird Western Jonah Hex rather than theoriginal or latest versions. Look on the bright side though, It could have been based on Giffens Hex.

  15. I’ve recently burned through the Palmiotti/Gray and DC Showcase volumes of Jonah Hex and enjoyed them all tremendously, so I was curious about the movie. Based on this trailer, I’ll be taking the above advice and spending my money on more comics instead — sad to say, but my interest wandered off at the face branding scene.

  16. The trailer leaves me disappointed. The comic is at the top of my stack each week it comes out, a must read! The movie doesn’t invoke that same excitement for me.

    the Tiki

  17. “I guess it might not be that bad, even though Megan Fox appears to be a candidate for one of my friends’ “Worst Southern Accent in a Movie” list.”
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    A fact made more amusing when you consider she’s from Tennessee.

    I want to like this movie, Brolin, Malkovich, and Lance Reddick, add to it the music is by Mastodon, all actors music I enjoy. But something just doesn’t feel right, could be the typical Hollywood “popcorn movie” story, the “it’s fun”, “it’s got splosions”, “it’s got a hot chick that shows some skin and can’t act.”

    Sorry but I want something out my movies (I know, I know, I’m in the minority here) other than just another generic action movie.

  18. It looks like fun; it’d look even better if they just cut out all the Megan Fox moments (even in short clips her painfully lame acting shines brightly).

    If you’re looking for depth in this thing however, keep in mind it was written by Neveldine and Taylor, the writer/director duo behind the hyperkinetic “Crank” movies.

    And yes, I enjoyed the hell out of the Crank movies. So Hex is on my list of movies to see.

    I mean, really, you had me at HORSE-MOUNTED GATLING GUNS.

  19. This is a textbook example of the basic disconnect between Hollywood’s desire to pump comics for tentpole releases and the fact that some comics concepts just aren’t compatible with CGI and slick, bombastic Micheal Bay-style movie making. It looks like nothing more than a stack of studio notes on screen.

    Also, Batman aside, this trailer makes it plain that Warner’s still suffers from an inability (or basic unwillingness) to understand its own properties. I assume that for most of us, a Jonah Hex movie that felt “right” would look a lot grittier, would have a less goofy tone, would be shot in the New Hollywood style a la the Wild Bunch, would get a hard R … and probably wouldn’t make very much money. Then again, it’s a story about a hideously scarred, deeply unpleasant anti-hero, and no matter what you do, even patching in a PG-13 horror element, it’s hard to reconcile that with popcorn sales.

  20. Looks like a good popcorn movie.
    A bit heavy on the artillary angle: Rambo with a horse..
    And I was puzzled with Hex’s apparent ability to give life to the dead.
    Oh well, I love the comic, and will see the movie.

  21. Considering that when the original series came out in the 70’s the Leone Spaghetti Westerns were still on the minds of many western fans, that the comic seemed (to many who read it) as a Spaghetti Western on paper.

    Now that a film version is finally made, instead of going the way of it’s assumed roots (IMO) the producers instead decide to go the way of the abysmal “Wild, Wild West” feature.

    It’s unfortunate, and I may be stepping out by basing this on the trailer alone, but this film could give a stigma to the printed “Jonah Hex” like the film version of “Howard The Duck” did to the comic version of HTD.

    All that being said, the “Jonah Hex” film opens the same weekend as “Toy Story 3” so when it bombs it already has a built in excuse.

  22. I don’t know why anyone thought this movie was going to be any good, considering that Akiva Goldsman (Batman and Robin, Lost in Space) was the producer on it.

  23. It looks way too similar to Ghost Rider in style and tone, just with a Western twist and a face scar instead of a flaming skull. As much as I love bad action movies, Ghost Rider was a stomach punch I couldn’t handle.

    And let me add my voice to those who recommend the ongoing Hex run. It’s been one of the best monthly comics of the past several years.

  24. @jimmy palmiotti

    I dunno that Toy Story 3 and Jonah Hex are two different audiences. Who doesn’t like the Toy Story franchise? It’s a HUGE 4 quadrant movie. Jonah Hex is meant for…men over 35? That group is usually going to the movies with their families. I’m not sure what audience they were going for with Jonah Hex….

  25. I’m on the fence about this because Josh Brolin looks great as Hex but the supernatural stuff makes it look really silly, as in bad silly.

    More, I read an interview on CBR that ‘camp’ is what they’re going for and as Josh Brolin says, there’s a lot of stuff to ‘camp’ up in this cut.

    Whatever that means.

    I think the film would garner a more positive response if they instead cut the camp and supernatural. But I’ll probably go see it anyway because how can I not go and see a Jonah Hex flick?

    On the other hand, I am absolutely shocked –no, floored at how good well Thor came out in costume. That was unexpected.

  26. I love Hex, but have mixed feelings about this. Good westerns — like the Proposition — tend not to be big box office earners. So that’s the strike against doing a Hex movie that’s faithful to the series (as P&G are writing it). Add to that the fact that it’s about a guy who’s wearing a Confederate uniform — and the general unwillingness of many folks to concede anything remotely decent about the CSA — and you’ve got another strike against it (imo). So I guess they’re doing something off beat, to try and capture folks attention. I personally think a really compelling movie could be done along the lines of the “Origins” tpb, but it probably wouldn’t make a lot of money. So, we get Gatling gun horses, crossbows, and ‘splosions. It probably won’t do well, both with fans, the average movie go’er, or critics. Which is slightly depressing, since Hex is such a great character.

    I dunno — I hope it does well, but can’t say I’m encouraged by the trailer. It looks just a bit too outlandish.

  27. “What’s not to like about Lost in Space? Sure it was silly, but it’s pretty good if you take the time to have an open mind about it.”

    I think you just answered your own question. If you’re going to do an adaptation, make it at least as faithful as possible to the original as possible, instead of merely another, unrelated type of silly.

  28. “On the other hand, I am absolutely shocked –no, floored at how good well Thor came out in costume. That was unexpected.”

    Yeah, that promo bit worked out great by comparison.

  29. Here’s a movie that would have benefitted with a smaller budget. Like the spagetti westerns, which had smaller budgets, this movie could be great with a good solid script. Not sure we’re getting that, though …

  30. Yeah – like A1 said- I didn’t get that whole “Pushing Daises” motif at all.

    Like I mentioned to Jimmy on his facebook page- they had a test screening for it last Sunday here in LA and they didn’t allow anyone under the age of 39 to see it.

    What does that tell you?

    ~

    Coat

  31. “I think you just answered your own question. If you’re going to do an adaptation, make it at least as faithful as possible to the original as possible, instead of merely another, unrelated type of silly.”

    You never watched the Lost In Space TV show did you? One of my favorite episodes was with the beatnik space bikers. It was wild baby.

  32. Nate:
    the audience they are aiming the hex movie is between 16-40…one look at the trailer and you can see that.

    love toy story, but i would never ever in a million years see it on opening weekend because I dont like theatres filled with kids…but thats me.

    warner knows they have bleed over…but the weekend night audience is the exact group they are aiming for.

    I also think thats why the film was done for so cheap…they dont need to make a ton to get back their investment.

  33. Oh, lordy. This looks awful. There was a great tv show starring Robert Urich called “The Lazarus Man” that had more style and mystery than this film seems to have. Josh Brolin just looks kinda goofy with that latex snot over his mouth. Kinda reminds me of that crappy Lone Ranger movie from a few years back.

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