Review of Savages (2012) by Brice W — 15 May 2013

Oliver Stone splits me in half. Do I like him? Do I hate him? Hard to say. I've loved a number of his films, but HATED about half of the stuff he's done. So I went into the movie pretty open minded.

The movie is about these two friends who run a drug business (they grow weed). Ben (Arron Johnson "Kick-Ass" and "X-Men First Class"), is a peaceful and charitable hippy and is the brains and Chon (Taylor Kitsch "John Carter" and "Battleship"), is an ex-Navy seal and the muscle, and they are both in love with the same girl (Blake Lively). They get into a predicament with the Mexican drug Cartel (Salma Hayek) when they won't help them branch out into California. In return Hayek sends her in-forcer (Benico Del Toro) to kidnap the two friends' girl. To get her back they have to battle their way through many obstacles with the help of a crooked DEA agent (John Travolta).

After watching this film, one of the biggest things that stands out is the acting. It was exceptional. The only one I thought was weak was Taylor Kitsch, and he got better towards the end. My favorite to watch was Del Toro. He was cut throat and crooked and funny all at the same time. I also enjoyed Travolta.

The story moved pretty fast after the first fifteen minutes, and then the story really picked up. It was fast paced and emotion fueled. I felt invested in all the characters from all sides (which is something that is hard for a director to accomplish). I particularly enjoyed watching Ben make the transformation from peaceful hippy to gun toting killer to get his girl back.

I would say the only disappointing part was the end. It wasn't terrible, but a little too fairy tale for this type of movie.