DVD Review: The Salvation

What do we say to the God of death?

"NOW. Please now. Please kill everybody"

Okay, so maybe that's not what Syrio teaches on Game of Thrones, but it absolutely applies to this movie.

The setting is 1870. Jon (Mads Mikkelson) is a Danish farmer who moved to America to try to make a better living. When he finally gets his wife and child to move to America to see him seven years later, of course his wife gets raped, then murdered, and his son murdered after only being there for a few hours. Jon manages to kill the men that did this, but unfortunately the dead man's brother is Henry Delarue (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) who is a notorious gang leader. He terrorizes the small town where the murders happened until someone gives up Jon. His dead brother's wife, who he calls "Princess" (Eva Green) is also by his side, and he decides that he's going to be her new lover now, because of course he did. He's a big baddie and women exist in this movie only to be raped. (Or have their husband shot point blank in front of them)

This does to show that even someone as wonderful as Mads Mikkelson can't save a movie. I love Eva Green too, but she's mute, so she doesn't have anything to work with. I'm not crazy about westerns, so I was probably destined to never like this. But the whole thing was just ridiculous. There's a scene where Henry is standing in a crowd shooting innocent people because no one found his brother's murderer. Yet, there's all these dudes standing around with guns, and no one thinks to shoot him while he's going on this rampage? Jon has a brother, Peter (Mikael Persbrandt) that gets to do a few badass things in the beginning, but it all gets cut short.

I spent this entire movie just wishing Mads would hurry up and shoot everybody.

Recommended: No

Grade: F

Memorable Quote: "I learned something from war. Never start a fight you can't win." - Peter (Mikael Persbrandt)