Savages

There are many bad things about this movie, but let's list the good things first. The plot makes sense, kind of. It's nicely shot, and the beach looked pretty. And... I guess John Travolta looked as though he was having fun? Which is more than I could say for the poor buggers who had to sit through this mess.

Your two leads, ladies and gentlemen, are Aaron Johnson, last seen being upstaged by a preteen girl, and Taylor Kitsch, who Hollywood keeps casting as the lead in blockbusters which then tank spectacularly at the box office. You know why that is, Hollywood? It's because Taylor Kitsch has no charisma. None. The furniture was more interesting than he was, and had more emotional range. Even he's better than Johnson, a black hole of tedium from which nothing interesting can escape. These are two of the blandest leads I've ever seen, and I've seen movies that starred rappers.

But dear God in heaven, they are much, much better than Blake Lively. I haven't seen much else of her acting, so I can only think she can do much better than this. But here she's playing a 30-year-old ingénue, a woman-child who knows Shakespeare but doesn't know what 'savages' means. She's meant to be sexy and alluring, but she comes across as so boundlessly stupid that no man could seriously find her attractive. I don't think that's her fault, but the no-nudity clause that made the sex scenes in this movie so absurd? Yeah, that was her fault.

Even that isn't the worst. There's still... that voice-over. The narration that infests this whole movie, but especially the early scenes, is some of the worst writing I've ever heard. 'I had orgasms, he had wargasms' is a phrase that will live with me until I die. And now, even if you haven't seen the movie, it'll haunt your nightmares, too. You're welcome.

I know of acclaimed director, Oliver Stone, who released one stylish, deep-thinking, gritty classic film after another. Now, we find that someone else has only gone and stolen his name and is releasing films, pretending to be him... oh, wait, my mistake - it IS Oliver Stone.

Perhaps, Oliver Stone has suffered a nasty knock to the head recently and been duped into taking on this film when he wasn't thinking straight? Or maybe he was kidnapped by aliens and replaced with an identical clone who makes this sort of movie. Either way, it's hard to believe that the man who made Platoon, JFK and Natural Born Killers would stoop so low. Actually, that's unfair. If you're into gangster-type films and you just so happened to watch this, you may think it wasn't that bad. Nothing brilliant, but certainly not rubbish. And you'd be right. However, it's an OLIVER STONE film, therefore with that sort of quality name attached to it, you just expect much more.

It's about a trio of drug dealers (two men and one woman), all of which are 'in love.' Then, one day their threesomes are interrupted by a nasty ol' Mexican cartel demanding they take over their business. Then, to make matters worse, the Cartel Cliché only go and kidnap the two guys' girl, leaving them with no one for their ménage a trois. Therefore, they have to go on a rampage to get her back.

Now, this set-up leaves us with some awkward questions. First of all the three 'heroes' are all drug dealers. They live a carefree and lavish lifestyle and it's hard to give a damn whether they get completely wiped out by the Mexicans or not. Secondly, the girl (or Blake Lively) is possibly the most annoying on-screen character this side of Jar Jar Binks. The whole first half hour of the film is taken up with her voice-over, making her come across as a voice in your head which just won't go away. Then, even when she does get kidnapped, she starts complaining about the accommodation and food the drug dealers are offering. Seriously... if I was those two guys I would have placed an add for a new threesome partner online and left her to the Mexicans a long time ago!

Plus the film is long. It tries to be epic, but it does drag in places. Then you have John Travolta, popping up occasionally to majorly overact. To counter this you have the - normally excellent - Benicio Del Toro coming across as if he's half asleep.

Don't get me wrong, the film isn't bad. There are a few cool scenes to make you sit up and take notice, but the whole package just seems a bit underdeveloped and not worthy of Oliver Stone's name.

If you really like gangster/drug deal films, then give it a go - you might like it. But, a lot of criticism has been poured on its ending. I won't give anything away, but I'll certainly say it's novel. You'll either love it or hate it.

It was OK enough---it was definitely well directed--but the film would've benefited a lot from three better actors in the central roles. Don't get me wrong--its not that Taylor Kitch or Aaron Johnson aren't decent enough--both play their roles with exactly the same kind of stiffness that i guess suit their characters' circumstance but neither really add anything beyond what the screenplay has already provided them.. like if this were made say 10-15 years ago and you'd of had Steve Zhan and Ben Affleck in it i'm not saying it would've been batter but the two of them would've made you care for what might happen to the main characters a bit more i feel like. I'd rather not get into the lack of any kind of convincing emoting from Blake Lively here--- (She's supposed to be afraid for her life here--and somehow its like she's barely miffed---its as if instead of her life that's being threatened its her wi-fi connection.) having read the book this was based on--the character O in the story was a lot more resourceful and a lot more crazy then Blake Lively ever suggests in the two hours of running time---would that they had cast literally anybody else in her part,just off the top of my head would Lauren Ambrose from six feet under have been considered too old??? would Krysten Ritter??? would Kirsten Bell?? hell Alexis Bidel might of been able to pull this off better (and as much as i love Rory Gilmore emoting was never exactly her strong suit) at least Blake Lively's narrating was OK...i just really wish they could've found someone who could have really put this movie over the top here. God again if this was made like 10-15 years ago--imagine what a younger Juliette Lewis or a younger Illeana Douglas could've done with this.

That's really all i actually wanted to say cause everything else was fine enough--i was kind of expecting it to be more over the top if anything given that its Oliver St one's first crime film in a little while but its definitely over the top enough to satisfy anyone looking for an over the top crime movie. Its good enough that it overcomes the somewhat major obstacles in its path to keep you watching and keep you entertained but again with a little different casting--this could of been first rate.

I got a kick out of reading the popular Hated It reviews about Savages. It's all very funny. It's the same with some other films that Oliver Stone made in recent years. But is Savages really that bad? In my opinion it's not that bad. It's a fine film actually. But its flaws can be irritating. When I began watching the film I wondered if I turned on a dirty movie. But no. That was just Chon (Taylor Kitsch) and Ophelia (Blake Lively) having their special time. Maybe it's not that special because later Ophelia has the same time with Ben (Aaron Taylor-Johnson). I hope Stone included these scenes just to show that these three are very close. Fine. A little later though viewers are treated to what passes as a commercial promoting the use of marijuana. Fine. The three lead actors show little range throughout the film. But I didn't think that this was a problem because it keeps the film entertaining instead of too dramatic. It's entertaining but it's not easy to watch sometimes. It's a simplified, glossy, watered-down and often violent representation of the War on Drugs and Mexican drug dealing. The Mexican Drug War is still ongoing and several dozen thousand people have been killed because of it. For anyone who doesn't know I'll mention that the war is just a result of America's economic policies. So-called free trade drove millions of Mexicans out of work and into poverty and crime. On the other side of the world, in Afghanistan, the Americans and the British have deliberately increased opium production for export to neighboring countries, especially to Russia. Genocide as a result of drug use and drug trafficking is an old British trick that goes back centuries. It's an interesting topic but I don't pay much attention to it. Savages is kind of a peek inside, though it doesn't get into the seriousness of the issue. Even if Kitsch, Johnson, and Lively aren't sympathetic leads the film still has memorable performances from Salma Hayek, Benicio del Toro and John Travolta. The screenplay by Shane Salerno, Don Winslow and Stone can be considered a cheat. It doesn't just raise a question mark at the very beginning of the film, which I didn't like. It also tarnishes the ending. I would have just preferred the upbeat version without the downbeat version. But, like I mentioned, it's an entertaining film that does have something to say. Its running time is a little over two hours, however the time goes by fast. For me Savages turned out to be an engaging film. Dan Mindel's appealing cinematography is a benefit too. I didn't think that I'd like it when I saw the trailer, but it's a well-directed crime thriller. I recommend it.

Chon (Taylor Kitsch) and Ben (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) coexist in a drug filled love triangle with O (Blake Lively). They become successful high grade weed dealers north of the border. Their lives get complicated when the Mexican Baja Cartel leader Elena (Salma Hayek) muscles in on their business.

Oliver Stone is putting all his skills into making a flashy crime action. But it just seem more flash than substance. Mind you, I appreciate the flash. There isn't anything original to the story. Certainly Oliver Stone has done better. Yep, there is definitely better Oliver Stone works out there.