The Salvation **** (2014, Mads Mikkelsen, Eva Green, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Douglas Henshall, Jonathan Pryce) – Movie Review

This tremendous revenge Western from co-writer/director Kristian Levring has everything you’d expect, or hope for, except American filming! But it looks just great shot in South Africa, with a little help from CGI.

Mads Mikkelsen suffers and retaliates for Denmark in a brilliant performance as Jon, a peaceful American settler whose wife and boy are killed by a couple of vicious heavies. His subsequent swift revenge on his family’s murderers unfortunately unleashes the fury of a notorious gang leader called Delarue (Jeffrey Dean Morgan).

The cowardly fellow townspeople, led by Mayor Jonathan Pryce and Sheriff Douglas Henshall then betray Jon, and hand him over to the outlaws. His brother Peter (Mikael Persbrandt) comes to the rescue and a boy (Alexander Arnold) whose grandma is killed by Delarue tries to help him out. But Jon ends up in best Western tradition fighting the gang alone.

The film moves along at a tense, brisk pace, and packs in a heck of a lot of drama in just 90 minutes, building to a thoroughly satisfying climax and conclusion. Mads wastes the landscape of bad guys in tremendous style. Eva Green may be playing a character who is mute but her eyes speak volumes. She’s just great too!

Brits Pryce and Henshall survive their awkward casting and manage to impress a lot. Morgan hits the villainy button perfectly, evil but not moustache twiddling evil. Eric Cantona has star billing but fortunately doesn’t have much more to do than be there. He looks just right, though, as the Corsican, in 1870s America.

It’s a Danish, UK, South African co-production, so it adds to the tiny band of British Western that include Shalako and Carry On Cowboy. Though it cost only 10million euro, it really looks a treat and somehow that’s important, actually vital here, offering a strong and poignant flavour of the mythical West it accesses.

If there are still any Western fans anywhere, get to see this at once. It’s got major studio Warner Bros to back the release, so here’s hoping it will do well.

© Derek Winnert 2015 Movie Review

Check out more reviews on http://derekwinnert.com