Bullet Points: The Salvation
I’m always on the lookout for a quality foreign film and when I can find one that not only stars an awesome actor like Mads Mikkelsen but also tells the story of a grief-stricken husband/father who gets the ultimate revenge on a bunch of assholes in a Western atmosphere then I am all in. The Salvation snuck up on me unlike most films because I hadn’t heard of it prior to watching it and when I saw the lovely Eva Green show up on screen I had to catch my jaw from hitting the floor. I’ve spoken of my lust love for her in earlier posts and there isn’t much you can do to her to make her look unattractive; no matter how covered in dirt and unwashed she looks. So allow me to continue this special REVENGE WEEK theme with one of the better Westerns I’ve seen in recent years, The Salvation.
The Gist: After toiling for seven years, a former Danish soldier has finally earned enough money to bring his family to live with him in the American West. Tragedy upon their arrival, however, forces Jon to fight against a group of men who are holding the town for ransom.
The Cast: Mads Mikkelsen is absolute gold! I loved his character in Casino Royale and whether or not you liked Valhalla Rising or not, Mads killed it! The guy has such a quiet cool about him and I really enjoyed seeing him in a Western. He brought a really great quality to the character where you feel for the guy and that empathy leads to the need for some delicious kind of vengeance.
Mikkelsen pours on the badassery as he inflicts the type of punishment only a scorned man can inflict.
The Villain: While he doesn’t commit the horrible act that turns Mads into a killing machine, it’s because of Jeffrey Dean Morgan’s character Delarue that Jon skips the grieving stage and goes straight into the rampage stage. Morgan and his gang have a pretty simple goal; make money. When you put Delarue and his crew together they aren’t good for much but killin’.
I’m lukewarm on Morgan but he does play a fine Western gunslinger. Green is always a GO for me!
The Action: The fighting in The Salvation is quick, dirty, and effective. Jon and his brother Peter are both veterans of the Civil War in Denmark so they’ve been in a scrape before. People think they would know how they would react but you never know what you’ll do when the bullets start flying until you feel them break the air next to your face. Every vengeful action by Jon is warranted and quite frankly I was looking forward to a more personal level of killing than we were given.
The setting and grim nature of the environment plays into the story really well.
Take it Home:
- Must see: Telling me Mads Mikkelsen and Eva Green are in a movie together is a sure-fire way of me watching that movie.
- Geography: A film made by a Danish Company filmed in South Africa.
- Unofficial Sequel: Let’s just say that Jon is “One Eye” from Valhalla Rising…yes, that would be amazing.
Rating: 3.75/5
