Review of The Salvation (2014) by Brett H — 06 Dec 2015

An old-school, atmospheric Western film starring one of my favourite actors working today, Mads Mikkelsen that doesn't add a lot of "wow factor" or originality, but boy is it shot beautifully.

This is a Danish-made film and the European influences of vibrant colours and lingering camera shots really stood out to me which was refreshing to see so much brightness in a Western who's colour-pallet is usually pretty slim.

The story is quite tragic with our protagonist, who's a Danish immigrant to America and upon waiting 7 years, finally is reunited with his wife and son only to have them taken from him by a pair of criminals which starts him on a revenge path until he ultimately winds up in the sights of the local gangster, played brilliantly by Jeffrey Dean Morgan.

The acting is all really good with Eva Green playing a mute, and disfigured wild card in the story, Jonathan Pryce playing a slimy, mayor, and Mads Mikkelsen as the stoic hero trying to come out on top.

There are a few surprises in the film that come in the last act which shook things up a bit and were greatly appreciated given how conventional the story was until then. I will say, that the inevitable final shoot-out was only decent and could've been staged a bit better, but the movie had a modest budget and acted accordingly.

It's not the fresh, new take on Westerns I had hoped it would be, and I more admire the film than truly love it, but if you're a fan of classic cinema, there's plenty of nods and throwbacks to that style and it should satisfy any Western fan.