The genre of the western has been slowly dying over the years but I had some interest in seeing the salvation and this film is just pretty forgettable which is a shame. The premise of this film is after a man has his family taken away from him he goes on the hunt for those responsible. Mads mikkelsson is the lead in this film and he does a really good job, he gives a subdued performance but one that you can tell has the anger and emotion in it to make you root for him in this film. Jeffrey dean Morgan plays the villain in this film and he does a good job, he is a pretty cliché villain but he manages to add some of his charisma to the role which makes him entertaining to watch. Eva green plays a mute character in this film and I never really cared about her in this film, I struggle sometimes with mute characters to connect with them and I think this was one of the problems with green here. All the other characters are paper thin in this film and it is hard to really Care about them in this film. The story is a simple revenge story and when it focuses on that it does work like most films of this sort do. Its when this film tries to focus on other things that it falls down as you really won't care about it. The script is really poor in this film, there is nothing here that stands out or does a good job at making you care about the dramatic scenes and there is no humour to be seen here. The style of this film is very much a straight up western here and some of the action scenes are pretty cool. But this film feels really short and I do feel like this film could have done with being a little longer to help flesh out some of the motivations of some of the characters in the film. Overall this is a film that is just there, it isn't bad but it isn't good so it probably isn't worth a watch.

I'm finding it hard to believe that this Western was made by a Danish film company. Apparently director Kristian Levring did his homework on the genre and the era he was filming because this had the gritty feel of some of the best American Westerns like "Unforgiven" and "3:10 to Yuma". In it's way, it's a pretty typical revenge Western, but I don't think that should be taken as a negative. Mads Mikkelsen find himself up against the brutal leader of an outlaw gang, who's brother was killed after raping the wife of Jon Jensen (Mikkelsen) and leaving her and their young son dead.The town of Black Creek is understandably in fear of Henry Delarue's (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) crazed killers, with the town mayor and sheriff willingly agreeing to offer two victims for Delarue to kill if the man who did his brother in isn't found in an impossibly short time frame. A third random victim is added to the body count just for being in the wrong place at the wrong time.The wild card in this scenario turns out to be the wife of the slain brother, a good looking but disfigured woman who was scarred by an Indian tribe at a young age. The mute Princess (Eva Green), with her tongue cut out and slashed lips, becomes a patient observer who plots her revenge against Delarue after he takes her for his woman following brother Paul's (Michael Raymond-James) death.One would never recognize the South African filming locations utilized in the story; the resemblance to the arid regions of the American Southwest are striking. The cinematography is nothing short of excellent, with such attention to detail as a fly making it's way across the face of the dead Delarue following the final confrontation between his gang and Jon, with a significant assist from the Princess. Though some may find fault with the final ride into the sunset with Madelaine the Princess accompanying Jon, I didn't take it as the beginning of a romantic entanglement, but the mutual respect accorded by two unwilling victims to each other for what would be the start of a new life.

Just another "perfect" example of demoralization of the human spirit in the form of relived tragedies! Simply a one up on who can make a more graphic movie! Our society and the media continues to desensitize our minds to such graphic death, and places a dollar figure on our souls! Don't watch this soul sucking movie.

The American West in the 1870s. A European settler, Jon Jensen (Mads Mikkelsen), has just welcomed his wife and son to the country when they are kidnapped and murdered. He takes revenge on the murderers, only to discover that one was the brother of a local land baron, Henry Delarue. Delarue runs the local town with a brutal hand. Now he wants vengeance on the man who killed his brother and the local townspeople are too scared of him to stand up to him. Jon is fighting more than just the local thugs, he is facing the entire town...Pretty good, though had the potential to be great. Started very well, with a grittiness not always found in westerns. Jon Jensen's predicament was very intriguing and seemed hopeless, making it very engaging. The feeling of powerlessness and injustice added to this.Some good action scenes too, especially towards the end.However, from a point the plot becomes rather one-dimensional. The end result is far too neat, predictable and easy. There's no twists, no real dilemmas, no development, things just happen without much impediment or anything unexpected occurring.Ultimately, still reasonably good, but a bit disappointing in that it was set up for something even better.