11/07/2012: Savages [2012]

Oliver Stone returns with Savages, and like everyone I was curious to see whether this would be his next big thing or another flop. He sets us up for a tale of two entrepreneur drug dealers against the Mexican cartel, promising us violence, drugs, and sex. I must say, he delivers that and more, although he does have a few weakness. The ending however may be my favourite part, and continues to show why Oliver Stone is such a bold filmmaker.

Now, I already mentioned how disappointed I was that Savages was not playing in theaters last weekend when I went. So, to my surprise, I found a friend who was quite keen to see it this week. While he was simply a trailer enticed moviegoer, I was really game for the promise of Oliver Stone, the cast and the drug war violence. So, in the end, Savages became the first movie I have ever travelled to another country to see. With the minor hassle of the border, we ended up at a small town theater and were the only three people at the screening, but I think we all agreed it was worth it.

Savages' trailer clearly outlined the movie as a violent love story about two men who go against the Mexican Baja Cartel in order to retrieve their kidnapped woman. Asides from the show of violence and explosions, the most enticing element of the movie was the narrators claim that she was equally in love with two men, and everyone in the relationship was cool with it. Okay, this is going to be interesting enough. Then of course there was a nice little list of names amongst the cast. Salma Hayak, John Travolta, Benicio Del Toro and Uma Thurman. At least, I though Uma Thurman was in it. I spent half the movie waiting for her character, and then resigned myself for a last minute cameo, but alas it turns out her character was completely cut. Here is hoping for some deleted scenes.

The trailers promised this would be an interesting scene, it was one of the biggest let downs.

It is impressive to learn that a scene containing such a big name actor was cut from the movie considering its 131 minute running time. If you think it gets dull or drags on, think again. While Savages is not the full-throttle action movie that The Expendables 2 trailer teased, it is not lacking in action. We get a large amount of brutality and violence mixed in with the power struggles that occur as the Mexican Baja Cartel tries to push north. I’ve read that many thought the movie was too violent, but I thought it was good for an R-rated movie. It was also good to see a movie that wasn’t afraid to be rated R at all, but I don’t think Oliver Stone is one to bend to ratings. Along with the violence comes a surprising amount of colour, and I literally mean colour. Savages, like it’s poster is an extremely colorful movie, which makes an interesting contrast to some of the more dark and brutal subject matter with which it is dealing. I must say, the movie actually looks very good, and it’s cinematography is very well done. I’d say this is worth seeing at a theatre, and I’m glad they didn’t make this into a post-shooting 3D mess.

Doesn't even bother to remove her clothes before jumping in the tub. God.

The plot of Savages is of course the big thing in a thriller, and I’d say that the plot is very well done when it comes to the power struggles and drug wars as well as creating some strong characters. One of Savages biggest problems however, is how it handles the love triangle it focuses so much on. The relationship between O, Ben and Chon is not a glossed over part of the movie, it is supposed to be the driving force behind all of Ben and Chon’s actions as they go up against the cartel to save their girl. Yet, even though the question gets posed over and over again, we never get a firm answer. The only answer to get anywhere close just had me thinking I had walked into a violent drug war version of Brokeback Mountain. While it never gets there, we never really get anywhere close to a decent explanation for the love story. Aside from that however the plot is solid. We get enough teams playing the game to make things interesting, and of course, there are some entertaining power plays and strategies that come about. All of it is adapted from a book, but Stone actually began working on it before the book was published, so I imagine they are pretty tight. Perhaps the book can explain the love triangle a little better.

Savages only other significant weakness is also one of its biggest strengths. The cast. The problem is, Stone chose to cast a rather inexperienced and unknown trio of newcomers as the stars, while theoretically strengthening them with an extremely strong supporting cast. This only shows how weak the newcomers are in comparison to the professionals. Blake Lively makes for some great eye candy, but maybe not the greatest narrator. Overall though, I had no problems with her. However, Taylor Kitsch and Aaron Johnson don’t have much going for them, and in a movie were everyone is a corrupt drug dealer, however positively they may portray Ben and Chon, I found myself routing for one man. That was Benicio Del Toro as Lado. The man steals the show. Sure his character is a soulless psychopath, but at least I understood him and generally liked him. With Ben and Chon’s unexplained relationship issues and their unmemorable performances, it is no surprise that I was really only caring about Lado when the conclusion rolled around.  Of course, Salma Hayek also does an excellent job, and John Travolta is perfect as the DEA agent and is easily my second favourite character, although he started out a little bland. You can probably tell why I liked the ending so much from that. 

Benicio Del Toro always looks so different in any movie. For Savages he mastered the creepy psycho face.

Now, I think the ending is going to be one of the most controversial things about Savages, but I wouldn’t really expect anything less from Oliver Stone. I won’t ruin anything here, but let’s just say I liked the overall ending. Although the concluding narration I didn’t much care about, after things had played out with all the characters I liked. I think that there is no way anyone sees that ending coming, unless someone has already spoiled it for you. Personally that entire move made the movie completely worth it, and in it Oliver Stone didn’t let me down.  I would like to see other directors ever take that risk.

Overall, I think that Savages satisfied me in almost every aspect. While an unexplained relationship and an imbalance in the cast may have pushed me to the dark side, Savages gave me all that I was looking for from the movie as well as an interesting filmmaking device. Was it worth entering another country to see? I’d easily say yes and I don’t regret it. While Oliver Stone doesn’t get nearly as crazy as Natural Born Killers, nor does he try and deliver such a sledgehammer message, he does deliver a solid two and a bit hours of entertainment. It’s not going to be making cinematic history, but it might make my favourite movies this year.

 Link:
Savages IMDb