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Savages, Movie

Savages 2012

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Oliver Stone crime drama about two pot growers who tear through the Mexican drug cartel that kidnapped their shared girlfriend.  Stars Aaron Johnson, Taylor Kitsch, Blake Lively, Salma Hayek, John Travolta and Benicio Del Toro. More

Ben (Aaron Johnson, Kick-Ass), a content Buddhist, and his best bud Chon (Taylor Kitsch, John Carter), a former Navy SEAL, are two top-of-the-line marijuana growers. Graced by the beauty of their mutual love Ophelia (The Town's Blake Lively), their quiet operation runs smoothly. However, when they refuse a 'partnership' with the Mexican Baja Cartel, Ophelia is held hostage. With an unbreakable loyalty to their conjoint girlfriend, Ben and Chon declare war against the ruthless drug union.

The film is based on Don Winslow’s best-selling crime novel Savages: A Novel, named one of The New York Times’ Top 10 Books of 2010. Hide

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87 votes / 10 comments The Talk

  • 85 %

    Want to See it

    What say you?

    • shopqueen

      yaahoooo! they got the hot men to do the dirty work

    • Rooster

      Awww....man i can't wait to this comes out. I want to see it

    • Meg

      I want to have two boyfriends!

    • Kiki

      Taylor Kitsch

    • redboarder

      Now this looks good, action, drugs, a story line and yummy actors

    • Trivia

      Uma Thurman's not actually in the film as her scenes ended up being cut. Maybe we'll get to see them on DVD?

    • Maria

      Woo hah, this is really awesome...

    • TransientSpirit

      Brilliant. Go see it.

    • Francine

      Garbage. Don't waste your cash :(

    • Matt

      If Selma wasn't in it, would probably be a great movie!

  • CARE TO COMMENT?

    Want to see it?

 

Flicks.co.nz Review

Rating:

  • AGREE? DISAGREE?...

  • Gavin Q

    Sadly agree - watching this was like watching my dad try to dance to hip-hop - fun at the time but embarassing to think of :(

  • Philip Moore

    Screw you guys i think the movie had some great violent scenes and was really fun I thought I think your being too harsh

  • PaulaCC

    Have to agree. It was "fun while it lasts" but the plot was ridiculous and the ending a total cop ou :( Shame

  • Dave Parsons

    What happened to Stone? Wall St 2 & now this? An empty action flick with awful dialogue & an unforgivable ending. Sad really.

  • Scott T

    Just awful. Even the action scenes were badly done. Really expected more from Stone. Worst of all - it was a boring movie. Really dull.

  • Garth

    Gotta agree. What a dumbass movie. The trailer was way way better!

comment / reply
Adam Fresco Flicks Writer

The glory days of Platoon, JFK and Natural Born Killers now but a distant memory, Oliver Stone delivers a sprightly crime caper throwing in the occasional rapidly edited montage to lend the appearance of “yoof” and hip vitality. But while Savages might think it’s hip, it’s actually my dad in Crocs and a cardigan. More

At one point Blake Lively, as heroine ‘O’ (who both heroes are sleeping with) says, “We’re like that movie, Butch and Sundance.” No you’re not. And describing one of your boyfriends as “Buddha” (because Aaron Johnson’s character’s a Buddhist) and the other as “Badder” (because Taylor Kitsch’s is ex-military) doesn’t help your case. It’s a script desperate to please: “she’s losing money like a BP oil-spill,” quips John Travolta’s bent DEA agent elsewhere.

But this tale’s so full of plot-holes and leaps of logic that it’s little more than a free-wheeling, drug-dealing, partner-sharing, torturing ‘n’ kidnapping, cliché-ridden, live-action violent adult cartoon fantasy.

The message seems to be that drugs are cool; women are to be ogled at, fell for and fought over; and all Mexicans are either gardeners, vicious drug-Cartel sociopaths, or both. As if to underline this, Benicio Del Toro literally twirls his moustache as the baddy. Benicio’s clearly having a ball being bad; as is Salma Hayek, playing what appears to be a Mexican Cruella de Vil.

Still, all the cast go for it and it’s fun while it lasts. But Savages is instantly forgettable testosterone-fuelled formulaic action-cinema fare, thanks largely to lacklustre characterisation, ludicrous plotting and a lamentable script. Hide

The People's Reviews

Rating:

4 ratings and 4 reviews

All reviews (4)

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comment / reply

A thrill ride

PhilMoore Flicks Superstar (?)

This is a film about two drug growers who stop at nothing to get back their shared girlfriend. By knocking off a Mexican drug cartel. This a return to form for Oliver Stone as a director. Great performance from Blake Lively and Benicio Del Tero. If you love action packed violent fuelled movies, then this is for you

  • AGREE? DISAGREE?...

  • Garbage

    We saw it - what a truly empty experience :( Like watching MTV - only without the music to keep you entertained!

comment / reply

Really?

Coreena A-Lister (?)

fun watch but I just didnt care and was unhappy they didnt all die in the end

  • AGREE? DISAGREE?...

  • Matt

    Don't you dare diss Bad Boys, that there is some cinematic glory :)

  • PaulaParsons

    But BAD BOYS never answered the question... Will Smith? Well, will he? :) (If the wage is enough - yes, he will - MIB3? ID2? Oy!

comment / reply

Fun but empty

paulaparsons B-Grader (?)

This is my first review here but I have to say, like the Flicks review says - it's fun - but ridiculous. The plot makes no sense and while the action is handled well - you just don't care about the characters and as for the ending - what a complete nonsense. Really disappointing that Oliver Stone should resort to such a "typical" Hollywood approach. It's more like BAD BOYS than PLATOON :(

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A hopeless try to copy Pulp Fiction.

Gerd Flicks Superstar (?)

Not even closed, boring dialogues, glorification of life under the influence of drugs,
dull love scenes and a rather stupid double ending that finalises a movie not worth watching in the first place.

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Press Reviews

Chicago Sun-Times (Roger Ebert)

A return to form for Stone's dark side, Savages generates ruthless energy and some, but not too much, humor. Full review.

Entertainment Weekly (USA)

Savages is Oliver Stone doing what he should have done a long time ago: making a tricky, amoral, down-and-dirty crime thriller that's blessedly free of any social, topical, or political relevance. Full review.

Time Out New York

This time, Stone is just sloshing around in the shallow end. When John Travolta and Benicio Del Toro show up for extended, cartoonish dialogues, you'll wonder what year it is, and let out a sigh of relief that the moment is long gone. Full review.

Total Film (UK)

Savages is punishing in places, but there are enough colourful characters and careening twists to make it worth the effort. Full review.

Variety (USA)

Savages never quite captures the novel's diamond-hard sarcasm, it offers other satisfactions in its visceral immediacy, its overriding sense of danger and a clutch of performances that, whatever one's reservations about the characters, can't help but court the viewer's emotional investment. Full review.

Empire (UK)

What could have been an effective excoriation of US drug policy and a proper look at the violence inherent in the trade is wasted on a simplistic thriller that offers very little, especially given who is behind the camera. Full review.

Hollywood Reporter

Savages represents at least a partial resurrection of the director's more hallucinatory, violent, sexual and, in a word, savage side. Full review.

Los Angeles Times

Stone is also a director who has often felt that anything worth doing is worth overdoing, and his weakness for bloody excesses of all sorts undermines much of his good work. Full review.