"JONAH HEX" (2010) (Josh Brolin, John Malkovich) (PG-13) Alcohol/ Drugs Blood/Gore Disrespectful/ Bad Attitude Frightening/ Tense Scenes Guns/ Weapons Mild Heavy Extreme Moderate Extreme Imitative Behavior Jump Scenes Music (Scary/Tense) Music (Inappropriate) Profanity Heavy None Extreme None Mild Sex/ Nudity Smoking Tense Family Scenes Topics To Talk About Violence Heavy Minor Heavy Heavy Extreme QUICK TAKE: Action/Western: A bounty hunter sets out to find and kill his former Civil War commander, not only to avenge his family's murder by that man's hands, but also to stop him from destroying the nation with a weapon of mass destruction. PLOT: It's 1876 and President Grant (AIDAN QUINN) and the rest of the nation are preparing for the centennial celebration of America's independence. Yet, Grant has a major worry on his hands and that's Quentin Turnbull (JOHN MALKOVICH), a former colonel in the Confederate army who wants to destroy the nation. And now that he has his hands on a weapon of mass destruction, it's imperative that he be stopped. Accordingly, Grant orders Lieutenant Grass (WILL ARNETT) to find and enlist the aid of the only man who can probably accomplish that -- Jonah Hex (JOSH BROLIN). A former Confederate soldier turned gunslinger and bounty hunter who enjoys the company of prostitute Lilah (MEGAN FOX), Jonah has another reason to find Turnbull. And that's because his former military commander killed his wife and child -- as an act of revenge for Jonah killing his adult son during the war -- disfigured his face, and then left him for dead. The latter resulted in Jonah's ability to converse with the dead simply by touching their bodies and briefly reanimating them, and the bounty hunter uses that on his quest. With his right-hand man Burke (MICHAEL FASSBENDER) clearing the way, Turnbull is headed for Washington to destroy the city, but he must contend with Jonah who's determined to stop him and dole out his own revenge on the man. WILL KIDS WANT TO SEE IT? If they're fans of the comic book character, westerns, and/or anyone in the cast, this might prove enticing to them. WHY THE MPAA RATED IT: PG-13 For intense sequences of violence and action, disturbing images and sexual content. CAST AS ROLE MODELS: JOSH BROLIN plays a gunslinger and bounty hunter who wants revenge on Turnbull for the past atrocities he committed on Jonah and his family, and is hired by President Grant to thwart his nefarious plan of mass destruction and death. Sporting a severely scarred face, he's quick with the quip or killing various bad guys, and can converse with the dead simply by touching their corpses. He has sex with Lilah and drinks in several scenes. JOHN MALKOVICH plays the film's central villain, a former colonel in the Confederate army who wants to destroy the U.S. via a weapon of mass destruction, and is responsible for Jonah's current state (scarred face, no family). He briefly drinks and kills many people and is responsible for the deaths of many others. MEGAN FOX plays a prostitute, prone to wearing form-fitting and cleavage-revealing outfits, who has sex with Jonah and others, and ends up kidnapped and threatened by Turnbull and Burke. She uses some profanity. MICHAEL FASSBENDER plays Turnbull's maniacal and tattooed right-hand man who beats up and kidnaps Lilah and tries to kill Jonah. WILL ARNETT plays a former Union lieutenant ordered by President Grant to find Jonah in hopes of stopping Turnbull. AIDAN QUINN plays President Grant who wants Jonah to find Turnbull and thwart his plan. CAST, CREW, & TECHNICAL INFO HOW OTHERS RATED THIS MOVIE Curious if this title is entertaining, any good, and/or has any artistic merit? Then read OUR TAKE of this film. (Note: The "Our Take" review of this title examines the film's artistic merits and does not take into account any of the possibly objectionable material listed below). OUR WORD TO PARENTS: The following is a brief summary of the content found in this action/western that's been rated PG-13. Profanity consists of at least what sounded like 2 "s" words, while other expletives and colorful phrases are also uttered. Some non-explicit, but sexually related dialogue is present, and off-screen sex is implied between a prostitute (always seen in a form-fitting and cleavage revealing corset) and various men. Violence consists of people being killed by various means (gunfire, explosions, etc.) while various scenes feature hand-to-hand fighting. A little bit of blood is seen as a result of that, while various corpses are seen in various states of decay. Those scenes and some moments of peril might be unsettling and/or suspenseful to some viewers, while the fighting, stunts and other behavior might be enticing for some kids to imitate. Bad attitudes are present, as is tense family material, thematic elements, some drinking, and brief smoking. Should you still be concerned about the film's appropriateness for yourself or anyone else in your home, you may want to look more closely at our detailed listings for more specific information regarding the film's content. For those prone to visually induced motion sickness, some camera movement (occasionally a bit bouncy) occurs from time to time in the film. ALCOHOL OR DRUG USE Jonah has a drink, but some of that flows out of the hole in his cheek, so he has more (while others also drink in the bar/tavern). Jonah has a drink in bed. Turnbull mentions fine cigars and hundred-year old malt while talking with a man, and then pushes a decanter and glasses off a table. Turnbull has what appears to be a drink. A miscellaneous person has a drink. BLOOD/GORE In a cartoon type sequence, we see some shooting, and one character with what appears to be blood from a hole in his head. Jonah has a badly scarred face from Turnbull's earlier branding, and we see a hole in his cheek, meaty membranes and such. We see Jonah dragging three dead bodies behind his horse into a town. When he's reminded that there were four wanted men, he pulls out a sack and tosses it to the town's leader. The sack is tinted red from blood and the man nearly retches when he looks inside (we don't see anything, but do hear flies), with Jonah saying the man was too big for his horse to pull. We see many old bullet and other such wound scars on Jonah's bare chest. Jonah grabs a corpse that then comes back to life, with the discolored skin looking normal. The longer Jonah keeps him that way, however, the man's skin starts to blacken and burn away into sores. Jonah then heals those with a handful of dirt, but when he lets go of the man, he quickly dies and goes back to appearing discolored and slightly decomposed (with bad looking eyes, etc.). Jonah goes into a graveyard at night and digs up the corpse of Turnbull's son (badly decomposed). When Jonah touches him, he springs back to life (with normal skin) and then pins and chokes Jonah. Jonah punches and then hits the man with a shovel, knocking him off. With the contact broken, the man turns back into a decomposed corpse. Jonah then touches him again and must control the man, but when his skin starts to blacken and burn, Jonah puts him back in the grave and he goes dead again, with the same decomposed look. We see many small holes and such in Jonah's bare chest as he's treated by an Indian medicine man. Jonah grabs and slowly pushes a man out toward a revolving propeller (or similarly slowly spinning thing) and that strikes and kills the man. We don't see the impact, but see him dead on the ground with a small pool of blood behind his head. Jonah then grabs the body to bring it back to life and then punches him in the face, causing him to explode in a fiery burst. Turnbull has a little blood on his face after fighting Jonah. DISRESPECTFUL/BAD ATTITUDE Turnbull and his minions, including Burke, have bad attitudes for murdering others and behaving like terrorists. We see a flashback to Turnbull having Jonah's wife and child murdered in front of him. Some small town leaders renege on their deal with Jonah and then try to kill him. A man doesn't think Jonah looks so tough, and thus pulls a knife and starts to approach him. Jonah then shoots him dead, blasting him out through a window. We hear that Jonah did kill Turnbull's son in the past, but only because that son drew his gun on him after Jonah refused Turnbull's war order to burn a hospital. Lilah's male client returns, states that he owns her, and grabs her by the throat and holds a gun to her head. FRIGHTENING SCENES Scenes listed under "Violence" and /or "Blood/Gore" (including views of various corpses in the latter) may be unsettling, suspenseful or scary to younger viewers and/or those with low tolerance levels for such material. In a cartoon type sequence, we see a dead man hanging from a noose where the man's arm comes to life to point Jonah in a certain direction. Jonah grabs a corpse that then comes back to life, with the discolored skin looking normal. The longer Jonah keeps him that way, however, the man's skin starts to blacken and burn away into sores. Jonah then heals those with a handful of dirt, but when he lets go of the man, he quickly dies and goes back to appearing discolored and slightly decomposed (with bad looking eyes, etc.). During that, we hear dogs barking and Jonah says those are Hell-hounds headed that man's way. Jonah goes into a graveyard at night and digs up the corpse of Turnbull's son (badly decomposed). When Jonah touches him, he springs back to life (with normal skin) and then pins and chokes Jonah. Jonah punches and then hits the man with a shovel, knocking him off. With the contact broken, the man turns back into a decomposed corpse. Jonah then touches him again and must control the man, but when his skin starts to blacken and burn, Jonah puts him back in the grave and he goes dead again, with the same decomposed look. We see Jonah convulsing from something an Indian medicine man has applied to his chest wounds, followed by an eye appearing inside his mouth and that then turning into a large crow that emerges from his mouth and flies off. We see that Turnbull and his men are headed toward Washington, D.C. on a boat and plan on destroying the city with their weapon of mass destruction. GUNS/WEAPONS Pistols/Rifles/Knives/Crossbow arrows/Various explosives/Axes: Carried and/or used to threaten, wound or kill others and/or cause property damage. See "Violence" for details. Lilah holds a small pistol on a client when he won't leave. Government men burst into Lilah's room and aim their guns at Jonah who aims his pistol back at them. A man shows Jonah various weapons he's created, and Jonah chooses two compact crossbow guns. Burke spins his knife around several times while carrying it. Turnbull's men fire their weapons into the air. Turnbull holds his gun on Lilah to make Jonah drop his, followed by one of Turnbull's men knocking out Jonah with his rifle. IMITATIVE BEHAVIOR Phrases: "Christ, woman, how many men are you seeing today?" (sexual), what sounded like "balls," "Son of a whore," "Old bastard," "Oh hell," "Now get lost or get dead," "Band of bastards," "You degenerate bastards," "God, you're such an asshole," "A hell of a lot like..." "You're gonna have to get the hell out of my room," "Will know Hell," "Jonah bloody Hex," "What the hell's wrong with you?" "The hell you think you're going mister?" "Wise ass," "Freak" and "What the hell?" The fighting, stunts and other action might be enticing for some kids to try to imitate. Burke has various tattoos on his body. We see a flashback to Jonah using a fire-heated axe head to cauterize his own facial wound (from Turnbull). Burke spins his knife around several times while carrying it. Turnbull's men fire their weapons into the air. JUMP SCENES None. MUSIC (SCARY/TENSE) An extreme amount of suspenseful, ominous and action-oriented music plays in the film. MUSIC (INAPPROPRIATE) None. PROFANITY At least 2 possible "s" words, 9 hells, 3 asses (2 used with "hole") and 1 use each of "Christ," "God," "Lord" and "Jesus Christ." SEX/NUDITY We see Lilah, a prostitute, getting dressed after having had sex with a male client (not seen). We see her pulling up a garter (on lots of bare thigh) and then showing cleavage and a tiny waist in her ultra-tight corset. Jonah visits Lilah and we then see her snuggled up next to him (in her corset, etc.) while he's shirtless. She then kisses one of his various scars and then him on the mouth, followed by climbing onto him, but the scene ends there. We then see them, presumably post-sex, with her under the covers (we see bare shoulders). When a bunch of government men suddenly barge in, Jonah jokes, "Christ, woman, how many men are you seeing today?" We see two shirtless men (one large and muscular, the other small and wiry) fight in a ring for the entertainment of others. Lilah shows cleavage. Jonah is referred to as the "son of a whore" (we don't know if that's meant literally). Lilah shows a tremendous amount of cleavage in her outfit. While tied up with Lilah, Jonah asks about the various weapons she keeps hidden in her sexy outfit, but she says Turnbull's men found all of them. Jonah replies that they searched her pretty good, with her suggestively asking, "Wouldn't you?" SMOKING Turnbull mentions fine cigars and hundred-year old malt while talking with a man. An Indian medicine man spokes from a pipe, and some of that smoke goes into and then back out of Jonah's mouth as he's healed by that man. TENSE FAMILY SCENES Turnbull has Jonah tied up to watch his (Jonah's) family be murdered as revenge for Jonah killing Turnbull's son during the Civil War (all in a flashback to introduce the back-story to the plot). One man throws a lantern into the home and it quickly ignites and spreads flames. We hear screaming, but don't see anything else as the door is closed. Turnbull then takes a hot branding iron and presses it to Jonah's cheek. We see a flashback to Jonah being punched and his wife and child grabbed and manhandled. TOPICS TO TALK ABOUT Revenge. Prostitution. The Civil War. America in 1876. Westerns. There's talk of inventor Eli Whitney being contracted by the government to build a massive weapon of mass destruction, but that it was never manufactured. Turnbull, however, does build it and intends to use it on America. VIOLENCE We see Civil War action, with people being shot with pistols and rifles, hit by explosions, and otherwise struck or manhandled by others (no blood). Turnbull has Jonah tied up to watch his (Jonah's) family be murdered as revenge for Jonah killing Turnbull's son during the Civil War (all in a flashback to introduce the back-story to the plot). One man throws a lantern into the home and it quickly ignites and spreads flames. We hear screaming, but don't see anything else as the door is closed. Turnbull then takes a hot branding iron and presses it to Jonah's cheek. There's talk that Turnbull perished in a fire, but we later learn that was faked. In a cartoon type sequence, we see some shooting, and one character with what appears to be blood from a hole in his head. We see Jonah dragging three dead bodies behind his horse into a town. When he's reminded that there were four wanted men, he pulls out a sack and tosses it to the town's leader. The sack is tinted red from blood and the man nearly retches when he looks inside (we don't see anything, but do hear flies), with Jonah saying the man was too big for his horse to pull. Some small town leaders renege on their deal with Jonah and then try to kill him. One shoots at him from a tower but Jonah simply avoids the shot and then opens fire on most everyone else with two massive Gatling guns that mow down people and cause property damage. He then shoots at the tower man with a pistol and avoids a shot back at him. He then shoots the tower bell and then the man next to it, and he falls from that down the roof and into a trough. Another man tries shooting Jonah but shoots someone else by accident, followed by Jonah shooting the first man dead, as well as several others. On his way out of town, Jonah shoots a lantern or something similar, resulting in a huge explosion that destroys several buildings. Train robbers ride up alongside a train, and army men atop a car prepare to do battle. But two of them turn out to be plants and shoot others, but show that they've rigged their chests with dynamite to avoid being shot back. Further down the track, we see a lot of dynamite and a man pushes the plunger resulting in a massive series of explosions that take out the entire train, save for the locomotive (meaning many people are killed). Turnbull shoots a man dead, but we don't see the impact. A man doesn't think Jonah looks so tough, and thus pulls a knife and starts to approach him. Jonah then shoots him dead, blasting him out through a window. A man is shocked and falls to the ground while working on electrical or telegraph wires. Turnbull holds his cane hard to a man's throat. We see various dead or injured people on the floor (the result of Turnbull's men attacking them - not seen). Turnbull executes a man with a shot to the head, but we don't see the impact. We see two shirtless men (one large and muscular, the other small and wiry) fight in a ring for the entertainment of others. They bash and knock each other about, with the big man coming at the small man with an axe, but the latter eventually gets the upper hand (and his mouth seems to stretch wide open in a snake-like fashion). As that occurs, Jonah grabs another man in the audience by the throat for information on Turnbull's whereabouts. Two men then hold their guns on Jonah, but he easily disarms and knocks them about while throwing the first man into the fight pit with the wiry man who then attacks him. Jonah hits other men outside a carnival of sorts and we then see the main tent (or something similar) on fire (from a distance). Jonah goes into a graveyard at night and digs up the corpse of Turnbull's son (badly decomposed). When Jonah touches him, he springs back to life (with normal skin) and then pins and chokes Jonah. Jonah punches and then hits the man with a shovel, knocking him off. With the contact broken, the man turns back into a decomposed corpse. Jonah then touches him again and must control the man, but when his skin starts to blacken and burn, Jonah puts him back in the grave and he goes dead again, with the same decomposed look. Lilah's male client returns, states that he owns her, and grabs her by the throat and holds a gun to her head. She hits him and breaks free, he shoots at her but misses, and she then stabs him with something, killing him (the gun he used was a single shot so he fails when he tries to shoot at her again). Jonah throws an axe into one guy and then hits another. Jonah shoots and kills many men with crossbow arrows equipped with explosives, resulting in many explosions. Burke shoots Jonah, and he and others then hunt for him, with Jonah shooting one of them (we don't see the impact). Jonah then throws something that hits someone on the head, but he's then shot by Burke. Jonah then tries shooting him, but hits a box of dynamite instead (it doesn't blow up, but instead just lights the fuse of one clump). As Jonah races off on his horse, Burke throws the dynamite at him and it explodes in the air above and near Jonah. We hear Jonah talk (in voice over narration) about resolving matters when one is near death, so we see an imagined fight between him and Turnbull. He hits and kicks the latter, but Turnbull then shoots Jonah with two pistols, downing him. Large explosive balls are fired into a town. When the residents come out to look, Turnbull orders the detonator fired into the town. It is, and the other balls then explode, destroying the entire town (and that kills 324 people). Burke holds his knife on Lilah. She hits him and he slaps her down, grabs her by the hair, and then carries her out over his shoulder. We see a flashback to Jonah being punched and his wife and child grabbed and manhandled. Jonah throws a knife into one man. Turnbull shoots and kills a man (we don't see the impact). Jonah lands on one man, they struggle and fight, and Jonah then throws him down through some stuff. Burke bashes a board across Jonah's back and the two fight, including Burke trying to hit him with a lit torch. They bash each other around and Jonah must avoid Burke's knife, and eventually ends up pinned down by him. Jonah then purposefully sets his hand on fire and then punches Burke in the face twice with that. He then grabs and slowly pushes him out toward a revolving propeller (or similarly slowly spinning thing) and that strikes and kills Burke. We don't see the impact, but see him dead on the ground with a small pool of blood behind his head. Jonah then grabs the body to bring it back to life and then punches him in the face, causing him to explode in a fiery burst. Turnbull holds his gun on Lilah to make Jonah drop his, followed by one of Turnbull's men knocking out Jonah with his rifle. Turnbull's ship fires large explosive balls into another ship, followed by the detonator ball. That results in a huge explosion and various deaths. Jonah hits one man and Lilah struggles with another before Jonah shoots that second man. Both then proceed to shoot various men, resulting in one being on fire. Jonah then uses a flamethrower of sorts to torch several people (we see one engulfed in flames) and then grabs Turnbull, but appears to be shot and both of them fall back down inside a ship. Turnbull's crew then fires large explosive balls into Washington, D.C. (that cause some damage upon impact, but don't explode). Lilah then tries to hit a man with an ax, but he grabs her arm, throws her down, and pins her with his foot to her throat. Down below, Turnbull and Jonah fight, both there and in a pre-death netherworld (punches, shootings, etc.). Back in reality, an axe Lilah was reaching for falls down below and Jonah uses that to strike Turnbull and stop the detonator ball from being fired. After shooting him in the near-death netherworld, Jonah then places Turnbull in a large cog or something similar and then jumps off the boat with Lilah as the ball detonates and blows up the boat. Reviewed June 16, 2010 / Posted June 18, 2010

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