When people think about movies based on DC Comics, they usually think about superhero stories and characters like Superman or Batman or even Wonder Woman and The Flash, but that isn’t always the case. DC is the home of a wide range of stories and characters that go well past capes and tights to give fans stories that cross into other genres, like fantasy, sci-fi, and even westerns all while delivering interesting characters and plenty of action, too. Those are the stories that make for some of DC’s most strange and interesting movies and now one of them is about to leave HBO Max.
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With Jonah Hex leaving HBO Max on February 28th, movie fans have just a few days left to stream the 2010 Western superhero film. Directed by Jimmy Hayward and based on the DC Comics character of the same name, Jonah Hex stars Josh Brolin as the titular Confederate soldier turned bounty hunter but there’s a twist: Hex, having cheated death, has the supernatural ability to speak to the dead. He’s hired by the Army to track down his own nemesis Quentin Turnbull, who killed Hex’s family and disfigured him, in order to stop Turnbull from carrying out a grave attack. The action-paced film was a box office bomb but is easily one of DC’s most unusual films.
Jonah Hex Isn’t a Great Film But It’s Exciting, Entertaining and Unlike Anything Else
No one is going to confuse Jonah Hex for a great movie. The story itself is a little erratic and not necessarily well written with underdeveloped characters, particularly Megan Fox’s Lilah Black. There are also issues of tone, specifically that the film doesn’t seem to know quite how to align its more fantasy-oriented elements with the very serious approach being taken to a bounty hunter who literally talks to the dead. The actors also take things pretty seriously, though Brolin and John Malkovich (who plays Turnbull) are also pretty clearly doing the best with what they’ve been given.
Despite the weaknesses in the film, Jonah Hex is an entertaining and at times exciting watch. It has a short runtime of just 81 minutes it is full of action pretty much the whole way through. The story, despite its strange tonal dissonance, moves quickly and there is something unique and interesting about this particular supernatural take on a Wild West story. There’s really not anything else quite like Jonah Hex and there hasn’t really been anything like it since. In the 16 years since its release, comic book movies have become a lot more focused on more traditional superhero fare as well as stories that fit within larger superhero franchises. Jonah Hex does neither of those things and it’s a huge part of its charm.
Jonah Hex leaves HBO Max on February 28th.
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