The Salvation (2014)
Warning: Spoilers Ahead!
Kristian Levring's The Salvation is a rarity among Western/Revenge films. Jon Jensen (Mads Mikkelsen) and his brother Peter (Mikael Persbrandt) were soldiers in the Danish war against the Germans that ended in 1864. (I am not well versed in this area of history so, I'm going off of what the movie says in the beginning.) They move to America and after seven years, Jon sends for his wife and son who remained in Denmark. They arrive and while on the way to the homestead, a man (Michael Raymond-James) and his buddy forces Jon off the stagecoach, kill everyone on board, and Raymond-James rapes Jon's wife. To make a long story short, Jon kills the two men but, then is targeted by Raymond-James' brother (Jeffery Dean Morgan). In order to escape the oppressive power of Morgan's gang, the townspeople give Jon up as the killer. After being tied to a pole for a day or two, Peter comes and helps Jon escape before getting killed himself. Jon then proceeds to kill Morgan's entire gang before riding off in to the sunset.
Pros:
The film is well written and well made with the characters well developed. My favorite is Madelaine (Eva Green) who is Raymond-James' mute wife. She shows so much with just her emotions and actions. Mikkelsen is brilliant as a man who was not looking for trouble but, trouble found him and now he has to deal with it. The ending is especially satisfying when Jon basically tells the townspeople eff off after they thank him for getting rid of Morgan's gang.
Cons:
The kid in the final shootout did not need to die. It was very unnecessary by that point and added absolutely nothing to the story. The other problem is that with how skilled Persbrandt was as a soldier, the gang captured and killed him way too easily. These are only minor problems and do not detract from the film.
Overall rating: 4/5
