With a cast that a lot of film-makers would die for, locations made for desolate western scenery, artistic cinematography and beautiful soulful music you could be forgiven for thinking that The Salvation would be some wonderful masterpiece western. A genre that whilst not in full revival has certainly moved off the slab and is staggering about the mortuary in recent years. Unfortunately the makers refused to take the bull by the horns but instead stayed safe and sure.

The set-up is interesting and different enough to grab the average viewers' attention. A Danish immigrant to the US awaits the rival of his wife from Denmark, having been in the harsh West for 7 years on his own. So far so good. Then have your hero being played by the enigmatic magnetic presence of Mads Mikkelsen and double that up with his brother, Mikael Persbrandt, both survivors the Second Schleswig War and you have an interesting and new twist on your traditional Oat Opera.

Unfortunately from this point on we get an Oat Opera. Which in itself this is not a bad thing personally I was hoping for a new twist on the tale. I did not get it.

What we get for our money is the senseless slaughter of innocents so that the protagonist has a just motivation for his slaughter. Very, very, film western. We are then treated to a very bad man in charge who seemingly enjoys murdering people willy-nilly for mainly money reasons and we are away. From this point on if you have watched more than two Westerns you know what is coming and how the film ends and so it does. This is the film’s biggest failing.

You have beautiful cinematography using South African vistas to reproduce the desolate and harsh west to impressive effect with atmospheric and haunting skies and lighting tying into the action on screen. Add to this, the aforementioned accomplished Danish actors and the ever consistent Johnathan Pryce, Jeffery Dean Morgan, the underrated and underused Eric Cantona and the wonderfully expressive, luckily for her, Eva Green, heroically eye-brow acting, which she nails easily, but I feel she done dirty in this role. Give someone as sublime and such a screen personality as her something to say for goodness sake.

The very atmospheric music is produced by Kasper Winding channelling The Last of Us’ Gustavo Santaolalla to such a point I kept expect Joel to pop up and get murdered senselessly but as similar as it seems it works perfectly. Jeffery Dean Morgan proves that his screen persona is pantomime baddy has his character that the audience must hate is so bad, so ‘evil’ it borders on comedy parody and as much as I enjoyed the film every time he spoke or did anything on screen it had a tendency to make me laugh or at best hiss and boo. Much more convincing was Eric Cantona as his number two, who with a few lines at best was left to portray the character with looks and posture. Less is more and in some ways at the least 'the Corsican' had more shades in there rather than just wearing a big black hat.

The plot is nothing you have not seen before time and time again, starting in Japan and culminating with Sergio Leone we really need a new angle, something fresh. When Leone brought the world the ‘Spaghetti Western’ he was trying to move on from the clean-shaven hero/baddy format with unshaven, unkempt, gunmen, blood, death and double-crossing. It was not new but it was in your face and sufficiently different enough to stimulate the imagination of the cinema-going public. In particular the motivation for the senseless murder and destruction is disappointingly trite and vanilla and also if just thought about for a few seconds collapses under the preposterousness.

The Salvation, whilst worth a viewing just due to the actors on display, is another slightly more modern version of the Spaghetti format. The story is, dare I say, melodramatic and somewhat simplistic, almost childish, none more so than Jeffery Dean Morgan’s 'set to 11' villain, and this detracts tremendously from the attempt at a western. It is not different enough to get excited about.

The visual effects are poor. The fires look like a video game’s fires and not a triple A video game either and for goodness sake have they never heard of squibs? Surely using electrical squibs and real controlled fires is cheaper than computer-generated effects?
I was looking forward to The Salvation and in some ways I enjoyed my viewing but I am left with the strong feeling that this was an opportunity missed. Still there is always next time.

Sometimes you gotta sacrifice a single sheep to save the rest.

The Salvation is directed by Kristian Levring and Levring co-writes the screenplay with Anders Thomas Jensen. It stars Mads Mikkelsen, Eva Green, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Eric Cantona, Mikael Persbrandt, Jonathan Pryce and Douglas Henshall. Music is by Kasper Winding and cinematography by Jens Schlosser.

1871 and ex-patriot Danish soldier Jon Jensen (Mikkelsen) is, after 7 years of foundation building, welcoming his wife and son to a new life in America. But after they all board a stagecoach bound for their homestead, events will see that journey not be completed. And thus begins a tale of retribution and redemption.

There are few smiles in The Salvation, in fact viewers will need to grab onto the sparse offerings of such very early in the piece. For it's a film of blood, brooding and misery, of intensity and a paucity of the good side of human nature. Levring has managed to successfully blend the traditions of the American Western with the feel of the Euro Spaghetti Oaters. There is so much for Western fans to enjoy here. It's a classic revenger pumped by a good versus bad heart, yet as pared down and as simple as the story may at first seem, there's interesting asides of worth.

The issue of Euro immigrants trying to make it in the Wild West is noteworthy, while there's a delicious juxtaposition between two soldiers from different continents, and different wars. Jensen fought the Germans in Europe, while his nemesis, Henry Delarue (Morgan), has been through the Indian wars. A most interesting comparison, one where the characterisations are vividly opposed to each other. Add in a good old town in the grip of a tyrant theme, and a bit of carnal desires upon thine brother's spouse, and it's a spicy hot pot.

Filmed at dusty South African locations, there's a scenic beauty surrounding the harsh story. Westerns don't have to be filmed in America to look authentic, and this is a case in point. The town of Black Creek has been called fake looking in some quarters, not so. This is a new up-coming town, it's meant to be wooden and sparse. Hell! The saloon is also the local store, the mayor is also the undertaker, this is a basic Wild West town without frills and fancy.

Elsewhere the costuming is splendid, especially Morgan who is nicely dapper in black hat and crimson mack, and there's a whole host of face fuzz on show, which is needed to keep up the whole mud and blood, hard West factor. Levring has an eye for a nice shot, such as a full moon bearing witness, even a traditional slow-mo piece. All that said, irks do exist, Green's character is sketchily drawn, but she's playing a heaving bosom mute (her tongue was cut out by the pesky Indians), so scope for development is admittedly limited. While Winding's score is a bit too modern sounding for the key shoot-out sequences.

Ultimately it's great to see the Western is still thriving in this day and age of CGI and blockbuster pandering. From the shattering and moody first quarter to the bloody and excellently staged finale, The Salvation keeps the Western genre well and truly alive. 9/10

> Revenge for a revenge.

It is a Danish western revenge flick set in the American soil, so 99 per cent it was in the English language. Well, in my opinion, it is underrated for sure. It was not anything stylish like QT's recent western films, but quite usual presentation yet very majestic. The story takes place in a couple of days in a small town in the 1871. The turnaround in the theme was great. Initially, it leaves an impression of a revenge based tale, but later becomes oil warfare, something quite resembles the original situation of the American at that time.

In the last few weeks I have been watching lots of comedies, dramas and other soft themed films, so suddenly I felt too much violence from this. But as always I get used to it after some time in the watch. Great cast and their great performances. The writing was superb along with the settings. I watched it quite late, but the best western I have seen in the recent time, so I strongly recommended for western fans and others who're seeking a fine entertainment.

7.5/10

This is a decent enough Danish-made spaghetti western. Nothing more and nothing less. It could easily have been a young Clint Eastwood in this movie. Instead the lead character is Mads Mikkelsen who makes a quite reasonable performance as far as I am concerned.

I have to say that it felt a bit funny when the characters spoke Danish in the first parts of the movie. It did add a bit of special touch, at least for me, to the movie though. I guess that people who do not understand Danish may be less thrilled about that though.

The movie itself is a fairly straightforward good guy versus bad guy revenge story. It is a good old-fashioned Western without any silly complicated plot and without trying to make any attempts to show the “real” west or put a social spin on it. It is clearly made to entertain those who like classical spaghetti westerns. Personally I find it nice that someone are still willing, and can get funding, to make those kind of movies. I liked both Mads Mikkelsen and Eva Green, although her role is mute, as well as Jeffery Dean Morgan as the bad guy.

Having said that, the movie falls a bit short of being a great spaghetti western. It never really manages to create that grim atmosphere around the lead character when he embarks on the road of revenge and I have to say that the end fight felt a bit meh.

Nevertheless this is a decent enough movie which should please most fans of classical old Western movies. I for one consider it a worthwhile addition to my collection.