1. JordanRyan17

   9

   "Savages" was a very entertaining piece of work that i enjoyed from the moment it started all the way to the trip out ending! i had read the book right before i went to see the movie, which gave me a better appreciation for the story and characters. I suggest you go out and see this bloody, thrill ride because its one of the better and story-driven movies to come out this year.… Expand

   • Helpful? 1 of 1 users said Yes.
2. mschoa

   5

   There was too much violence for me - some of it gratuitous violence. But I guess with news stories of the drug-related killing in Mexico, it must be realistic. Sad to see that this is reality. Good acting by the principals.… Expand

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3. certified_hater

   3

   To open this review I’m going to ask the question that will undoubtedly be on the minds of many Latino audience members after going to see Oliver Stone’s new action film “Savages”: Who are the savages that the title refers to; the hippie, philanthropist, white drug dealers, or the ruthless, ultra-violent Mexican drug dealers? If you haven’t seen it, keep this question in mind as you read on. “Savages”, directed by Oliver Stone and horribly adapted from a beloved novel by Don Winslow for the big screen by Shane Salerno, Don Winslow and Oliver Stone himself, stars Taylor Kitsch (Battleship) and the almost unrecognizable Aaron Johnson (Kick-Ass) as two tanned (but still very white) pot dealers, named Chon and Ben respectively, who live in the lap of Laguna Beach, Blake Lively (Gossip Girl) as their love interest O (stupidly short for Ophelia) John Travolta (Pulp Fiction) as the friendly local federal agent , and Benicio Del Toro (Traffic) Selma Hayek (Desperado) and Demian Bichir (A Better Life)as parts of the power-hungry, blood-thirsty, rapist cartel out of Mexico that want to take over Chon and Ben’s pot business. Basically the plot is: The good white drug dealers face off with the heartless evil brown drug dealers…and John Travolta. Racial undertones aside, there are some major problems with “Savages”. This is truly an action film as seen through the eyes of Oliver Stone, and so, for much of the film Stone unnecessarily add his visually weird style to scenes which are meant to be straight forward. There are a few points, mostly amidst the violent sequences, when Stone does demonstrate his unique ability to garner a rather strong emotional response out of the audiences, but those moments are few and far between. Also the tone of this film is all wrong. Stone makes this out to be more dramatically driven than the silly, exploitive shoot-em up that many or expecting. And for that reason, the story suffers immensely. In short, one can tell that within the context of this particular story, Stone is out of his element. In saying all of that, this film does truly line and die on the performance of Blake Lively, playing the central character whom is entrenched in a sexual relationship which may be even too progressive for Californian’s. Furthermore, Lively’s narration throughout is just awful. Yes, you did not just misread. Not only does this film fall back on the easy way out, storytelling tactic that is voiceover narration, BUT the narration is conducted by none other than the lifeless voice of Blake Lively. Her narration is heard for about 50 percent of this film, but it gets worse, because Lively’s horrid skills as an actress (and or orator) are in no way as obnoxious as the character of O that she plays. In the first hour of the film, which centers around O and her sexual exploits with her two lovers, this female character is so poorly written that after only a short while, to not only the audience but seemingly to the Chon and Ben characters as well, O seems to be more of an annoyance than a love interest or muse. And on top of it all, O is foolishly written to be so stuck up and/or pretty much everything you hate about rich girls from Laguna Beach, that when the film does become a revenge story and Stone asks his audience to root and feel sorry for her as she is taken hostage (not a Spoiler) audiences will undoubtedly find it hard not to wish this abysmally self centered character anything less than a slow painful death. Final Thought: Again “Savages” only becomes the slightest bit interesting when it turns into a full on revenge story almost an hour in. Also, I can’t forget to mention the fantastic performances from Del Toro and Travolta, who really get to chew the scenery here, and may be outright the only reasons to watch this film at all. With that said, Travolta isn’t nearly in this film enough. As for the B list actor/actresses, the script, which would have worked much better in the hands of a master of stylized dialogue like Quentin Tarantino, fails them miserably by not only making me replace Kristen Stewart with Blake Lively as the worst actress in Hollywood today, but by also giving Taylor Kitsch the worst one liners since “John Carter”. In the end, this is not only one of the worst Oliver Stone films I’ve ever seen, contain one of the worst endings in recent years, but the most racially insensitive movie of the year in a year containing already two Tyler Perry movies. Written by Markus Robinson, Edited by Nicole I. Ashland Follow me on Twitter @moviesmarkus… Expand

   • Helpful? 2 of 3 users said Yes.

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