funtasticfour The story here is ok, but the cast is pretty good. Everything feels good- action, scenery and sound. But nothing is special about it. And who in their right mind would share Blake Lively? There were two endings, and I believe I preferred the first one because it fit the tone and title better.

areatw 'Savages' is a thoroughly unlikeable film with a poor plot, weak script and some seriously bad acting. From the opening scene alone I got the impression that this was going to be yet another pretentious piece of garbage, and I was right.The narration is highly annoying, as are virtually all of the characters. It's more of a comedy than a thriller and it can be especially difficult to take Blake Lively's acting seriously. There's a few decent action scenes but that's as far as the positives go as far as I'm concerned. I hated everything else about this film.

johnnyboyz "Savages" has very little that is profound to say about both drugs and the narcotics trade, save that they can land you in a lot of trouble and that its universes are inhabited by some very dangerous people. The film is fast, loose and kinetic; its runtime clocks in at over two hours, despite not feeling like it. It is extraordinarily visceral and wallows in postmodernism to the extent that cathartic events towards the end are quite literally rewound by the narrator so as to depict them in a different way. It is also somewhat of a generic film – at one point, a character utters a ridiculously clichéd line along the lines of "smoke that....", before dropping an f-bomb and making an impossible shot with a scoped rifle unrealistic to the circumstances.Quite, this is not for the crowd that enjoyed "Traffic" – its multi-stranded nature; insistence on dipping in and out of a varied glut of characters' fates and very airy, almost dreamlike aesthetic, as the camera waves in and out of compositions and has fun with focus and depth of field to put across a sense of feeling to the audience, is about all it has in common with said film."Savages" is told from the perspective of Blake Lively's Ofelia, whose name is abridged to merely "O" and who spends most of the time away from the very people whose actions she is telling us about and the places within which these things happen. She lives in Laguna Beach, California, with Chon (Kitsch) and Ben (Taylor-Johnson) – two young-ish men who are to the local marijuana trade what Steve Jobs and Bill Gates were to computers and microchips. We are told Shaun fought in the Middle East, and buries his scars with weed and blunt sexual intercourse with O, but this is not revisited. Both he and his dreadlocked accomplice, we sense, are too young to be competent enough to be running the operation (which extends as far as Africa and South East Asia) they do. They unrealistically possess access to a "Bourne"-like command centre; maintain an uneasy relationship with John Travolta's DEA agent and have an endless supply of cannabis.O's background sees her, like so many people who get into marijuana, come from a family made broken by the lack of a father figure – something which saw her tumble out into the Californian counter culture and into a universe of hedonism and self-gratification. The abruptness of her name derives from a hatred of high-culture; reading and intellect, something synonymous with her type, in that it derives from a William Shakespeare text, and that cannot be tolerated... At one point, Shaun perfectly sums up the three's philosophy when he reminds Ben: "You were dead the second you were born." "Welcome to paradise" O tells us as things open, but we then witness the threesome proceed to dull their brains and numb their senses through smoking in order to pass the time - in spite of living under the roaring sun; on a fabulous beach and with more than enough recreation in the form of cycling; surfing and otherwise to fill their hours. We have all frequented places that offer these things, at least once in our lifetimes, either in the capacity of holiday makers or otherwise – at no point, as we occupied these places of such beauty, did it occur to us that stupefying our minds with illicit substances might be rather a good idea.The trio are so good at what they do, although we are unsure as to O's actual purpose, that they attract the attention of a bigger, broader Mexican cartel based just south of the border going through its own fiscal problems. Offering to move in and thus soak up some of the action, the gang, run by Selma Hayek, are aghast when Ben and Shaun say "no" – something which kicks off the kidnapping of O and forces the two supporting males into a spiral of blood; guts; guns and grief. But much of this has the film sound as if it is better than it is.For what it is, "Savages" is bouncy and energetic, and it involves us enough to want to observe as to where things venture. Oliver Stone, a versatile and often very impressive director, has essentially made the Mexico-United States border narcotics thriller for this generation: the Skype calls; the keyboard warfare and the sub-Call of Duty sniper fights. The characters are young and hip – the expert on the hacking and computer data side of things even looks as if he fell out of an episode of "The O.C." When the time comes to see two stalwarts such as Travolta and del Toro share the screen, in what is a fairly intense dialogue-driven sequence, it feels as if Stone is pausing in order to provide those who can remember a little further back with a moment for themselves.And so we come away from the film unable to either love or hate it – it would not be a misstep to recommend it, but to place it against some of Stone's other work and other films on the subject matter would be a mistake. Where "Savages" ends up, that is to say what propels its final act in the form of a counter-kidnap, might very well have occurred at the hour mark is the best exemplar of its structural problems. Films big in both scope and scale of the contemporary crime thriller sort, as two sides appear to constantly rub one another the wrong way, often have the potential to be truly memorable: "Heat" and "The Usual Suspects" taught us that. "Savages" is not one of these instances, but that is not to say it is of no worth.

ladymidath Being a fan of Benicio del Toro and John Travolta I thought I would enjoy this movie quite a bit. Both del Toro and Travolta were both at their best here, their scenes were excellent, both gave a wonderful performance and really brought their characters to life. Benicio del Toro plays Lado, a psychotic enforcer for a Mexican drug cartel run by a truly lovely Salma Hayek who also gives a great performance as a basically unhappy woman who had lost her husband and her twin sons. Her other son and only daughter are distanced from her, her son angry that he did not inherit the business and her daughter, the only truly decent person in the whole movie is ashamed of what her mother does for a living.These actors were the high note of the film, the low being Blake Lively as Ophelia Sage or as O as she liked to call herself.Taylor Kitsch as Chon and Aaron Taylor-Johnson as Ben, O's two boyfriends all living in a ménage à trois are marijuana growers living in Laguna Beach. Chon, a Navy Seal and veteran of Afghanistan brought back Marijuana seeds for his best friend Ben, a business graduate and botanist to cultivate making them both quite wealthy.Things are fine until they receive a video showing several severed heads and a chainsaw along with a demand for a meeting.That is when their idyllic lives are completely disrupted. Elena Sánchez (Salma Hayek) wants not only their business, but the two men as well. Even though they offer the business to her, she wants them to stay simply because their product is so good and she needs their expertise. She also needs a foothold in America because she is losing all her political connections in Mexico.When they refuse, Elena has O kidnapped and that is when it all hits the fan.This should have been a great movie, and it could have been except for Blake Lively's annoying performance. Her character was a moron who seemed oblivious to everything around her. Instead of picking up that they were in serious danger, (hell you would think the video would have tipped her off) she chooses to go out to dinner and go shopping. Talk about being handed the idiot ball. Also her narration was a mistake. The whole stoner, 'omigod I am so wasted' thing wore pretty thin pretty fast. I mean 'wargasims' seriously? Pity as it was a good role that could have brought something to the film, but it was wasted. I can't help but think what a good actress like a young Jodi Foster or Maggie Gyllenhaal could have done with this role.The two male leads were not quite as bad but they were completely overshadowed and outclassed by del Toro and Travolta. Although they did have a couple of good moments just not enough to really hold interest.The movie is only saved by Hayek, del Toro and Travolta. Seriously, they are the only reasons to sit through this.Magda (Sandra Echeverria)who plays Elena's estranged daughter puts in a fine performance and it is a pity she did not have a bigger role. To be honest, she is the only likable character in the whole film. O is too much of a rich spoilt stoner dimwit to like, Chon is a downright nasty piece of work and just as bad in his own way as Lado. Ben is sweet, but whiny and ineffectual.Kudos to Diego Cataño as Estéban, another secondary character way more interesting and sympathetic than the three leads.Elena also brings some sympathy and her fate at the end of the film makes you feel bad for her. But she is a bad person who does evil things. The torture scene makes you realize this, although her one saving grace is her love for her daughter. It actually makes her more than a one dimensional character.Lado is a joy though, he is a nasty, crazy violent man who seems to take delight in torture. He rapes O as punishment for going over his head to Elena and when he shows her the video of it, she spits on his face. He calmly wipes the spit on his fingers, licks it off then uses her hair to wipe his face clean. Man that is cold. What he does to Alex (Demián Bichir), (who Chon and Ben framed, by the way, these are the guys we are supposed to be cheering for.) is ugly. He is also an abusive husband, His poor wife, Dolores in a great performance by Mía Maestro just wants out but he threatens to take their two sons and daughter to Mexico so she can never see them again.Dennis Cain (John Travolta) plays the corrupt DEA agent whose wife is dying leaving him to raise two little girls on his own. You feel a little more sympathy for him when you see him sitting talking to his terminally ill wife. The scene with him and Lado is probably the high point of the film. It's nice seeing these two talented actors together.Overall, the film could have been better with a stronger female lead and a couple of male leads that you could like and cheer for. Sadly I was left not caring what happened to any of them.Also the fake ending was stupid, pointless and took away from the film. Have the ending you wanted to have, don't give us a fake ending, then a real ending. It really ruined the film for me.All up, not one of Oliver Stone's better efforts. I can't help but wonder if I would have like the film if the leads had been more likable. I am not sure but it is a good film if you like violent action movies about drug cartels.