The director of Savages is not the Oliver Stone that we have become familiar with in the past few years. Nope. It’s the Stone of Platoon and Natural Born Killers days. Savages is no holds barred and lets the violence and blood let loose all over the screen, and it’s so much fun to watch. Stone tells a story of drugs, power, greed, and revenge in a way that only he is capable of. The film is wild, beautiful, chaotic, sexy, and full of mayhem, which I’m sure is precisely what Stone had in mind.
The story is essentially about love and doing anything for it. Ben (Aaron Johnson) and Chon (Taylor Kitsch) are best buds who live on Laguna Beach and are really good at growing and selling pot. Their product has become legendary. Ben is a peaceful man who uses his mind for good. He may make his money from drugs, but he spends it on doing good things for others. However, Chon is a former Navy SEAL who lets his anger get the best of him 9 out of 10 times. He is a guy who acts first and asks questions later. But their balance comes in the form of a beautiful blonde named Ophelia (Blake Lively) or simply called O. She is their love of a lifetime and none of them could live without each other. They will end up trying to prove that as this story goes along.
But when the Mexican Baja Cartel moves in and wants in on Ben and Chon’s lucrative weed industry, they won’t take no for an answer. The “Man” in charge of the cartel is actually a woman named Elena (Salma Hayek) who is stunning, but can get bitchy and flat-out ruthless in a second. Her brutal enforcer Lado (Benicio Del Toro) and his crew aren’t afraid to get their hands dirty so they kidnap O in order for Ben and Chon to hand over their expertise and business. But even the merciless Baja Cartel didn’t expect these three lovers to not only push them to the edge, but to send them right off of it.
There isn’t one character that comes out of this film looking good, but every performance comes out looking terrific. Johnson and Kitsch have impressive chemistry and could probably be best friends in reality. Who knows. And it is especially nice to see Kitsch show more depth and emotion after taking a pounding from a lot of people after being in John Carter and Battleship.
Of course, who wouldn’t want to be in love with Lively. She is another one who is really starting to blossom the more films she is in and her choices keep getting better and better. And having Hayek play the leader of the cartel is a surprise but a very good one. To have a woman who looks like her be so cold-blooded is exciting yet probably more terrifying. Just like Ben and Chon, she too only has one weakness, but you’ll have to find out what that is for yourself.
Then there is John Travolta who plays a furtive DEA agent who is willing to help anyone, but it’s going to cost them. There is no one that he is not connected to in some way and in this film, you can’t trust anyone. I remember loving Travolta in Swordfish. He is a great actor but when he is a villain, he really turns it up a notch. And while his character in this isn’t the nastiest guy on the screen, he is still pretty damn cool at being bad.
With that said, the nastiest man on-screen is without a doubt Del Toro. His Lado is sick and twisted with no signs of having compassion or remorse. Every time he shows his evil smile and twists his mustache, he can only be thinking the absolute worst. He is a dangerous man who is unpredictable and Del Toro embraces it and shines doing it.
Stone made Savages suspenseful and entertaining. He switches from color to just using simple black-and-white, and all of it mixed in seems to work perfectly with all of the craziness that he captures with his camera. Sure there is a message in this film that may hint at the thought of if marijuana was legal, especially since it can help people with their pain, then maybe all of this can be avoided and the bloodshed can come to an end. Isn’t there always something political in Stone’s films though?
But put that aside and you still have a film that loves to be nasty and violent, perhaps too violent for some. Every character has a dark-side and they aren’t afraid to show it. Stone is not afraid to get down-and-dirty and with that comes the intensity and complexity of his story and characters. Savages has re-energized him and his way of making films and I welcome it with open arms.
Brandon Vick is a member of The Music City Film Critics’ Association, the resident film critic of the SoBros Network, and the star of The Vick’s Flicks Podcast. Follow him on Twitter @SirBrandonV and be sure to search #VicksFlicks for all of his latest movie reviews.
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