Savages is a story about love, business, and revenge. It follows peace-and-love pacifist Ben (Aaron Johnson), hardened army vet Chon (Taylor Kitsch) and their beautiful girlfriend O (Blake Lively). Ben and Chon are living the life, they own a very profitable marijuana business in California, and both are dating (and fucking) the same girl, O (Blake Lively), who they are both madly in love with. They essentially share her with each other, and both are cool with this. One day when a rival business tries to make a deal with Ben and Chon, they decline the offer and soon find that O has been kidnapped by the rivals. The marijuana trade can be a violent one, and both must find the darkness inside themselves....darkness that they will need if they are going to save O. There are other sub-plots that involve the head of the rival business, Elena (Salma Hayek); a corrupt DEA Agent, Dennis (John Travolta), who has plans of his own; and a sadistic and fucked up enforcer of Elana's, Lado (Benicio Del Toro).
The film's first 45 minutes is the strongest part as we get to sample some of the paradise that Ben and Chon are living in ( I wouldn't mind trading places with them for a while), and we get the back stories of each character and stuff like that, however as the film goes on it trips a bit, starts to lose its footing, and slows down considerably. Despite what Savage's advertising may tell you, the film is NOT a non-stop actioner. The film does have many slow points and it often drags its feet. I did have a hard time trying to stay invested in the story. That said the script is extremely strong, The cinematography is fantastic (lots of shots of tropical areas, waves, and California at its finest...they found some pretty great places to shoot at) and the editing is frenetic and non-stop, not to mention the acting is tops with Benicio Del Toro making for an unforgettable, disgusting, and scary psychopath.
Speaking of the acting, Blake Lively does a decent acting job here as the sizzling hot O, her body and the way she moves will easily be enough for you to keep your eyes on her. Sadly, she does not bare all, but we do get quite a few very nice ass shots. I wouldn't mind sharing Blake at all, if it means getting to do the things Ben and Chon get to do with her. She seems like she'd make for a pretty ideal girlfriend. Taylor Kitsch plays Chon, the violent war vet. Kitsch hasn't done a very good job at proving he can act, luckily this is a good first step for him. He does a pretty great job here, and is believable in his character. Let's just hope that we get to see him in more roles like this one. Aaron Johnson plays Ben, the hippie-esque peace-and-love pot grower. You may remember him best from his role as Kick-Ass. He is completely unrecognizable here in dredds, and is also believable in his role. In fact, the relationship between Ben, Chon, and O is one of the best things about the film. Ben and Chon act as a sort of yin and yang, and their interactions and discussions are super amusing as Chon is all about violence and taking charge,and Ben is all about peace and talking things out (naturally, Ben is going to have to resort to violence at some point in the film, and when he does it gets pretty brutal). O is the girl in the middle who tries to mediate between them. Salma Hayek makes for a great bitch as Elena. When something tragic happens involving her, I couldn't bring myself to feel bad for her character since she had brought this whole mess upon herself. John Travolta is also awesome as Dennis, the corrupt DEA Agent. Travolta seems to be having much fun here, and in my opinion his best scene is one that involves him in a helicopter (you'll know what I'm talking about when you see the film). All in all, he makes for another memorable part of the film.
Yes, this film is extremely violent, and our two main "heroes" do make some pretty questionable choices. However, I was completely on their side the whole time. The rival business that attempts to make a deal with Ben and Chon is established very early on to be savage, and I don't want to ruin anything....but there is a very good reason this film is called Savages, and the film does a good job at explaining the meaning behind the title. Expect to see a whole lot of gun play, blood, drug usage, and sex (The film often EXPLODES into violence). Naturally, if that isn't your kind of thing then maybe you should sit this one out.
Savages wasn't quite what I expected, and while I did walk out a tad disappointed for various reasons (many slow parts, an ending that I can't decide if I liked or not, some twists and turns that felt kind of funny) I still feel that it is indeed a very strong film and is one of Stone's better efforts as of late. I had fun with the film, and I got quite a bit of enjoyment out of it as I'm sure most will (even though it did leave me feeling a bit unfulfilled). Savages is a great film, that I would gladly recommend to anyone looking for a good time, and then some. Light it up, take a hit, and enjoy the chaos.
3.5/5 STARS
MAJOR SPOILERS: Upon seeing the film a 2nd time I decided I like the final ending they chose for the film the best. I feel like they should have had the first "fantasy' ending as an alternate ending on the DVD and that it should have been left out of the final film as it only detracted from the overall film.
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