As a Mads Mikkelsen fan, I was excited to watch the latest film he was starring in called The Salvation. He is a fantastic actor, that I have come to enjoy watching in the last few years. He has a way of captivating the viewer with his performances and his strong expressions. My review will contain spoilers.

The Salvation is a Danish Western Drama about the American settler who kills the murderer of his family. In his revenge on the murderer of his family, he awakens the fury of the killer's brother Delarue, who happens to be a gang leader.

It's a basic storyline, one the revolves around revenge, but it's well put together that the viewer is sucked into the action right in the beginning. It's not a slow pace, but a study build of tension.

The scene of Jon meeting his wife and child, was absolutely adorable. They are excited and can not wait to settle in town with Jon after being apart for seven years.

As they are aboard the coach for the trip, and talking to the passengers, two unknown men demand their seats. The couple complies, leaving Jon and his family alone with them. This in turn makes for an uncomfortable ride.

Conflict begins to arise when one of the men decided to mess with Jon's wife. Which quickly escalates to weapons being drawn. It first seems like the two men have the upper hand, and then the table turn briefly and Jon has it. By this time I am sitting on the edge of my seat, wondering what it's going to happen next.

At gunpoint, the men order Jon out of the moving coach. When he doesn't move he is forcefully pushed out and left to chase after the coach. He runs, until his legs can't carry him any futher.

Jon stumbles outside of a deserted house before spotting his son's lifeless body. He then carries the dead child, as if he was merely sleeping until he spots the coach's dead driver and then the coach itself.

Jon grabs a discarded weapon, and begins to fire at the men that kicked him out of the coach. He wastes no time murdering the men, making sure that they are loaded with bullets. He then strings up his family's bodies onto the horses, and rides along to a deserted house. With these chain of events, a batch of revenge is in order.

The gang leader Delarue is in town and is trying to buy off the entire town. He has instilled fear in everyone in town including the sheriff and the Mayor. He's a shoot first and ask questions later kind of person.It grows worse when he finds out that his brother has been murdered.

In Jon's quest for revenge, he is betrayed by all the people in town which leads him to have to hunt down Delarue and his members.
Delarue is ruthless, and evil to the core. He all but rapes his brother's widow, and since she is mute, and the town is afraid of Delarue, she can't do anything.

The movie is action packed, in such a way that I was holding my breath for certain parts of the movie. The movie has its twists and turns and quick zips that left my mind spinning. At certain scenes, I was rooting, and flinching when something didn't go as planned.

The Salvation is an entertaining movie that is straight forward. The story line stays on point. I like that the film doesn't drag on. The film runs about an hour and a half, but given all that happens, I didn't even feel like the movie was even that long.

Mads Mikkelsen was fantastic in his role. His portrayal of grief was realistic. The other actors were also amazing in their roles and really made watching this film much more pleasant to watch.

I would recommend this movie to a friend or someone looking for a good western drama.