Hi, Bryan Here….
After a few years of getting a softer side of Oliver Stone, Savages brings the director back to his ultra violent, drug induced, sex crazed, and savage side. Based on Don Winslow’s novel, Savages tells an intense tale of drugs, sex, and betrayal. I really missed this side of Oliver Stone. I’ve been hoping for a film that can be put in the same cookie jar as Natural Born Killers, Platoon, and U Turn. Instead, we have received films like Wall Street 2: Electric Boogaloo, W., and World Trade Center. By far not his best work nor interesting. So the big question is, “Did Oliver Stone deliver the goods on his return to a more sadistic film?”
Unfortunately, it’s not the answer you were hoping for. While there are some very good elements to Savages, its three main actors and story takes a faming nose dive right into the ground. In it’s 129 minute runtime, I had hoped for something a little better and satisfying. Instead I had to settle for something that felt thrown together at the last minute and ultimately was served up as a complete mess.
The film centers on California’s most successful, high-end independent pot growers and dealers with their free-spirited girlfriend. Chon and Ben make up our pot dealers. Chon (Taylor Kitsch) is an ex-marine who served in Iraq and is a hard-as-nails guy who would more prefer to
Needless to say the two guys have made a fortune with their top notch weed and their friendly attitudes. That is until the Mexican cartel wants a piece of the action. The Mexican drug queen Elena (Selma Hayek) has put the squeeze on Chon and Ben and has her minions set up a meeting with them to get their business. Chon and Ben are up for selling their business and getting out of the drug business, but Elena wants them to stay in the drug game to use not only their recipes for golden weed, but their contacts, business practices, and branding. When Chon and Ben refuse, Elena sends her right-hand-man Lado (Benicio Del Toro) to kidnap O and guarantees Chon and Ben that the worst will come to O if they don’t follow orders.
Chon and Ben decide to only put one thing on their mind. Save O by any means. Chon and Ben use their friends to help ensure their safety by going to that next level of brutality and ultra violence in taking on the Mexican cartel. Add to that a DEA agent by the name of Dennis (John Travolta), who is playing three sides of the game. Can two men take on a drug lord and her army? You’ll have to see the film to find out.
One of the film’s problems are its main three actors. Aaron Johnson, Taylor Kitsch, and Blake Lively. I actually love Aaron Johnson’s work,
Another problem I had with the film was it’s failure of a third act. Savages had a really solid two acts in the film, but in the last 20 minutes or so, everything fell apart really fast. I don’t want to spoil anything, and I’m not, but it didn’t work on film, nor did it make any sense to the overall goal of the story. It was a let down and completely ruined the film. I expected better.
Let’s move onto the aspects of Savages I did like. Benicio, Hayek, and Travolta were all amazing in this film. Benicio plays a sadistic bad guy
Another aspect I enjoyed was Stone’s return to his trademark editing style. There were tons of creative visuals in the form of different color hues in specific moments, solarizing the film, the alteration of time an color to accentuate emotions. Think back to Natural Born Killers with all of its insane visuals. There is a bit of that in Savages and it is a nice welcome back for Stone in that regard.
Savages on a technical aspect is great. The sound, score, music, and cinematography are all top notch. It really looks and sounds flawless. But, there were some poor decision-making during the making of this film that savagely killed it. I hope next time, Stone can conquer his third act.
-Bryan Kluger