the audience applauded

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

The joyful confection is coated in a sparkly gloss, bright enough to gleam from the darkest, most cynical corners.

The movie's not perfect, but it sticks the landing of its message. It was engaging - thrilling at times - and I personally thought it was a great time.

Wasn't sure what to make of this when I first saw it on Netflix, but because I like Westerns thought it was worth a try. Not going into details but at a high level, the villain and his brother were truly evil. The action built slowly but in the end it came down to the last man standing. Sort of like the Unforgiven but in my mind better. You will not be sorry you watched this. Needless to say it's violent and definitely R rated.

Bought this DVD as I fancied a decent western, especially one that had been labelled as gritty. Unfortunately the reviews failed to mention that the script only extended to about 5 pages, the accompanying music was handled with the subtlety of a deaf child and the whole look of this borefest was that of a TV movie with it's woefully cheap CGI rendered fire and patched in monument Valley backgrounds. I'm all for moody films but spend a little coin on some originality rather than assuming that decent actors on the billing can make a good film just by their very presence. It really couldn't have been more clichéd, more predictable or more tedious than had it been on the True Movies channel. What a literal waste of a couple of hours on an afternoon.

As Jon faces lost of his wife and kid he goes on mission of redemption that will change many more lives. This one is visually impressive movie with some of very nice scenes shoot and pretty violent ending of movie. Otherwise movie brings nothing new to screen except a great performance by Mads Mikkelsen which magnified it's impact. As Jon faces loss of his brother Peter that helped him a lot and how he managed to return into town to get his vengeance but also relieved town sheriff from Delarue. Delarue is gang leader he is played by Jeffrey Morgan and he was also a pretty good in the movie. From all torture that Jon went through finally helped even Madelaine that was being taken by Delarue. Madelaine is played by Eva Green and she did a great job in portraying her emotions. Directing of the movie is at moments great but sometimes sloppy but movie has a continuity in story development. 3/4

I've been watching westerns lately. "Unforgiven" was a high point of this so-called marathon I've been having with these films, but it's cool to see some "smaller" movies too. I thought "Bone Tomahawk" was an interesting little flick, but this one was a nice surprise too."The Salvation" is a simple movie. What it lacks in budget, originality or set pieces, it makes up for in intensity and effective flow of the story. This is a revenge movie, as pure as they come. It never pretends to be anything else. And if a revenge movie starring Mads Mikkelsen exists, I'll be sure to watch it.Our main character (Mads Mikkelsen) is a danish settler and a war veteran who's been a few years in America. His brother is there already with him. He's waiting for his wife and child to visit him for the first time. And while this movie is nowhere near original as a concept, I did love this little setup about people who traveled so far to make ends meet. The spirit of hard times is captured well enough, and there is a sense of change in the air. The settlers even speak danish to each other, and English to everyone else (90% of the spoken language is in English, so don't fret). All of this is set up quickly, and that's where the subtleties end."The Salvation" doesn't waste your time after it sets up the stage. Very soon things start to go south. Bad things happen, bad people are presented, and the struggle begins. It's extremely straightforward. There are only few surprises, if any, but the movie is just too effective to be brushed away. In a sense it's also brutal, but it's not very graphic. This can be a missed opportunity, because I normally want explicit, graphic violence in my revenge movies to satisfy my weird needs, but then again this movie has other strengths. In fact, the most tense and disturbing scene of this movie did not involve any visible violence, which is a sign of writer/director Kristian Levring knowing how to do his job.The actors are fine. Mads Mikkelsen is always intense. He can bring tons of emotion without even trying. He's got the knack for that certain visible raw emotion while restraining himself just enough, and that's exactly what he does in this movie as well. Jeffrey Dean Morgan is serviceable as a Hollywood B-lister rental, and Eva Green along with veteran Jonathan Pryce is fine too, but Michael Raymond-James was really good with his limited screen time, he nailed it. Special mentions go to Nanna Oland Fabricius and Toke Lars Bjarke. They had small roles but they were important ones, and I believed what they were selling. Mikael Persbrandt was alright as Mads' brother. Good job, danes! The budget wasn't huge, and it shows. Sometimes there is a bland look to this film. There is a weird amount of poor and strangely placed CGI and some of the effects are very noticeable, but once you get past that you will find some raw beauty in this movie too. Some night scenes, for example, are beautiful. Not necessarily scenery-wise, but execution-wise. I found some cool visual elegance in the simple things, such as light coming through bullet holes, and some nice camera-work here and there. This movie is well-shot without resorting to pretentious trickery, and there is a sense of style. That style is certainly fluctuating in quality and sometimes brought down by the budget limitations, but it's there.I liked "The Salvation". It's not spectacular, original or even deep, but it knows exactly what it is and it's loyal to its roots all the way. The simple, effective nature of it overcomes some budget restraints and weird effects choices. There are well-directed scenes in this, one tense scene in particular left a lasting impression on me. There is actual talent involved. If these movies can be charming, I would call this one charming. Check it out if you're in the mood for a good old-fashioned revenge western.