Jon (Mas Mikkelsen) is an ex-Danish soldier who moves to the American West (with his brother (Mikael Persbrandt)) in 1864 after the Danes lose a war against the Germans. He has waited seven years to be reunited with his wife Marie and their son, but the reunion is short-lived when his family is murdered.  He kills the strangers who did it, but his troubles aren’t over as a small town is held liable for the death of one of the men.   One of the murderers is the brother of Delarue (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) who wants revenge against Jon and wants the town to find him.   Meanwhile, Delarue is buying up all of the land in the area (because the ground is rich in oil) while making the moves on Madelaine (Eva Green)- the mute widow of his brother.   THE SALVATION is an intense tale of sin and revenge.   Jon just wants to move on with his life only to be pulled into extreme circumstances along with his brother.   Kristian Levring has fulfilled his lifelong dream of directing this taut action filled Western.   Mads Mikkelsen burns with intensity as Jon- a man with few words.  Jeffrey Dean Morgan is the perfect Western antagonist that sets himself on a collision course with Jon while Eva Green is fantastic as the mute widow (who had her tongue cut out by the Indians who kidnapped her as child) and still looks attractive with a scar across her lips.  If you want a great Western tale to rent, THE SALVATION won’t disappoint fans of the genre.

 

SPECIAL FEATURES:

45 minutes of interviews with Mads Mikkelsen (Jon), Jeffrey Dean Morgan (Delarue), Douglas Henshall (Mallick), Eva Green (Madelaine) talks about why the role appealed to her and how it is to work with Mads, Nanna Oland Fabricius (Marie) who looks sexy with blue hair, and screenwriter Anders Thomas Jensen.  It seems like it was everyone’s dream to do a Western which continues as part of the theme into a series of behind-the-scenes featurettes (seven minutes total).   Previews for other IFC Films releases play before the main menu and also the theatrical trailer for THE SALVATION is included among the extras.

 

FINAL ANALYSIS: THE SALVATION won’t disappoint fans of Westerns and fans of the actors involved.

 

This review is ©8-5-2015 David Blackwell and cannot be reprinted without permission.  Send all comments to feedback@enterline-media.com