'Jonah Hex' movie wasn't as bad as folks made out

I finally got around to watching the movie, “Jonah Hex,” the other day, and I knew going in that it was generally considered a critical and commercial failure. That being said, I didn’t think the movie was as bad as everyone made out.

Released on June 28 (the same weekend as the blockbuster, “Toy Story 3”), “Jonah Hex” posted gross revenues of $10.9 million. That might sound like a lot of money, but it cost over $47 million to make, that is, the movie lost about $36 million.

For those of you who haven’t seen it, this Warner Bros. movie is about Jonah Hex, a disfigured Confederate veteran turned bounty hunter. Hex eventually finds himself on the wrong side of the law, but the U.S. government offers him a deal if he can help them bring in a terrorist who’s bent on toppling the federal government with a super weapon.

This movie was directed by Jimmy Hayward and reminded me a lot of 2003’s “The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.” “Jonah Hex” starred Josh Brolin in the title role and also included John Malkovich, Megan Fox, Michael Fassbender, Will Arnett and Michael Shannon.

Many of you may not know that the “Jonah Hex” movie is based on the DC Comics character of the same name, and this was the main reason I wanted to see the movie. I can remember reading the Jonah Hex comics as a kid and was eager to see them adapt the character for the big screen.

The Jonah Hex comics character was created by writer John Albano and artist Tony DeZuniga. He first appeared in “All-Star Western” No. 10, which was published in Feb.-March 1972 by DC Comics.

In both the comics and the movie, Hex is portrayed as a rough and tough bounty hunter whose face is horribly scarred on the right side. Despite his demeanor and bad reputation, he lives by a code of honor that requires him to protect and help the innocent and those who can’t protect themselves.

In the comics, Hex has no supernatural or superhuman abilities. He’s kind of like Batman in that he relies mostly on his resourcefulness and physical abilities. However, the motion picture version of Hex has the ability to temporarily resurrect and talk with the dead. He develops this ability after a group of Native American’s use mystical powers to bring him back from a near-death experience.

In the end, I personally enjoyed this movie. It wasn’t as bad as everyone seemed to make out, and I’d have no problem watching it again.

Have any of you out there seen this movie? If so, what did you think? Let us know in the comments section below.