Jimmy Hayward directs Josh Brolin, Megan Fox and Michael Fassbender in this supernatural steampunk western based on the far simpler DC comic character.

I loved Jonah Hex comics as a teenager (in fact, a run written by Hap and Leonard author Joe R Lansdale served as a primer to my favourite genre writer) so I avoided this knowing good and well its deserved reputation as a stinker. A fantastic cast , well attired, struggle in a sliced and diced hot mess. You can see where it has been truncated, reshot and then overstretched – a stock recurring shot of Brolin on horseback racing to the next gorefree and tensionless rushed setpiece almost plays like unintentional pop art on its third inclusion. A barely followable opening sequence where Hex is disgraced, bereaved and left for dead should have been the meat of the film… all the mechanical megadeath weapons and such distract. There are glimmers of hope; a late addition sequence where Hex revives an uncredited Jefferey Dean Morgan from his grave has the rare luxury of breathing room given to it – the mere fact it moves at a pace where you can enjoy the interaction means it stands out like a sore thumb – and I actually credit that non-canon supernatural superpower given to the anti-hero, here’s hoping the future comics or reboot make some use of it. That’s not enough to justify wasting 80 minutes of your life on this effects heavy abortion though. Joins Fantastic 4 and Suicide Squad as an incomplete puzzle of a former film completely scrambled by post production interference. You want to decipher and excavate to see the whole experience hidden within but know the wreckage is not worth spending any more time exploring.

3