Savages

SAVAGES

Oliver Stone's newest is high-octane, hyper-violent, summer fun

Blake Lively's makeup has nothing to do with this movie.

2012, Action/Drama, Rated R

Distributed by Universal Pictures

          Everything about Savages is a success. What did you expect? Violence? Check. Sex? Check. Stylized action? Check. Lots of stuff blowing up? Check. People smoking refer? Check. If you expected anything more than what was just listed, look elsewhere. You won't find it in Oliver Stone's Savages. Oh, except a pretty good story: it has that too.

          The only issue one may find with Savages would come up in any comparison to its cast and director's previous films. Savages is minor Oliver Stone. He has made some clunkers, yes, (W., World Trade Center, etc.) but normally he pushes boundaries, makes a film no one saw coming, and just blows you away (JFK, Natural Born Killers). Savages finds itself somewhere in the middle, closer to his good stuff, though. It is gritty and feels real. Characters are fully realized and there is no stopping the violence or drug use. It's a great and exciting R-rated action film, but does, in the end, feel somewhat disposable, like I'll never watch it again. It also benefits entirely from its mid-summer release.

          Savages is essentially about these two guys who start a marijuana-growing operation. One is a smart business man type, and the other is the muscle: the one with all the guns. Together they grow and sell the best pot in the world. A Mexican drug cartel has decided that the boys are making too much money and wants some of the pie. The two guys (Taylor Kitsch and Aaron Johnson) have a girlfriend whom they share, played by Blake Lively. A powerful drug lord (Salma Hayek) gets her henchmen (Benicio del Toro among others) to kidnap the girl and force the boys to play nice and cut them in on their profitable operation. Things get violent and explosive from there. I'm sure you've seen the trailer.

          The cast in Savages truely delivers. If you read this blog often you probably know I'm a huge Taylor Kitsch fan. He is superb as the badass with all the guns who shows no mercy. Like I said though, everyone has done better in other movies. Kitsch, I now realize, is much better at playing the lead of an action-packed PG-13 romp. The R-rating felt like a bit too much for him. I wanted him to crack more jokes. Aaron Johnson plays the business end of the grow operation and does a fine job. Those dreads looked believable on him and he played the part well. The two actors bounced off of each other well, also. The two characters were well-written and balanced eachother's "fire and ice" demeanour perfectly. Blake Lively plays the girl that they are both dating. This is an odd love story, one that rarely shows up in a Hollywood film. She explains in the beginning of the film why this three-way relationship works and through that and all three performances I bought it. Not everyone is "just male/female". Proof that this type of relationship is very un-Hollywood is that the last time I saw it show up was in Woody Allen's Whatever Works. Lively is an okay actress. Between her obnoxious character and her decent line-delivery, her scenes were the least enjoyable to watch.

          On the bad guy side, Benicio del Toro shines most brightly. He is pitch-perfect for the terribly creepy henchmen to Hayek. I very much enjoyed how each character, bad or good, had depth. There is a scene where del Toro messes something up and we see him and his boss talk in ways you never witness elsewhere in the film. Salma Hayek was wonderfully evil in her role as the Mexican drug lord. She had many sides to her character as well. Her daughter, for example, hates her, and their sub-plot is interesting and thoroughly fleshed-out. John Travolta, sort of a good guy and a bad guy, gave my favorite performance in the whole film. He plays a cop who helps the boys out in securing information on the Mexican cartel. It's safe to say Travolta hasn't been in any incredible movies recently and Savages will hopefully mark the beginning of his return to great films.

          The action in this film is also a highlight. Some scenes were incredibly tense and in-your-face violent. There is one action sequence in particular that blew me away. It was all done practically, too, because you could tell those were real cars hurtling through the air after being hit by rocket propelled grenades. The action was top-notch, so was the story; what's not to like? Besides Blake Lively's acting...nothing. Go see this movie if you thought it looked good. You will love it. If you saw the trailers and though it wasn't for you...it probably isn't. I thought it was great and totally worth a trip to the theater.

          Side note: Oliver Stone is no stranger to excellent soundtracks (see Natural Born Killers soundtrack). Savages is no different in its ability to manipulate the audience through carefully chosen songs and score. I heard a remix of a Massive Attack song. I heard a cover of a Talking Heads song. Every note of music was perfectly placed with the visuals and story that went alongside it.