Set in the dark and violent world of Mexican drug cartels, Savages finds director Oliver Stone in territory entirely different to his recent batch of movies, World Trade Center, W. and Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps. While he does bring his usual, unique flair to the movie, it ultimately falls flat.
Based on the book by Don Winslow, who also had a hand in the screenplay, the movie follows Ben (Aaron Johnson) and Chon (Taylor Kitsch), two highly successful drug dealers in Laguna Beach, Florida. When they turn down the offer of partnership from a powerful Mexican drug lord (Salma Hayek), O (Blake Lively), the girl the two friends share the affections of, is kidnapped to ensure they change their minds. Realising they will never see O alive again, they embark on a dangerous scheme to get her back.
While having an interesting story at its heart, the plot moves along at a snails pace, taking it's sweet time with introducing the main players. An hour in, and it still felt like I was watching the first act. There is a bit too much story at times, with various strands coming together to form one very confusing mess. Plot points are dropped as soon as they are introduced, then rear their head again at the end, my head hurt trying to make sense of it all. But it's the ending where the movie really falls down. It's a mess, and ruins everything that has come before, that's all I can really say.
Visually, the movie is very impressive. It is heavily stylised, and Stone employs some neat tricks to enhance the narrative. The sporadic action is pulled off well, and does livens up proceedings, but his decision to have random shots presented in grey scale, or with different colour grades, left me scratching my head. They serve no purpose overall.
For two characters supposed to be best friends, Johnson and Kitsch have no real chemistry. They play their parts well, Kitsch really impressing as a damaged soldier who see only the bad in the world, but together, they fall flat. I didn't really care for the character of O, no matter how hard Lively tried to elevate her passed spoiled, little rich girl, and having her narration present over the entire movie didn't help matters any. Hayek didn't seem to do much, same with John Travolta as a corrupt DEA agent, just being there to move the story forward. Though Travolta is his usual entertaining self, I didn't mind that much. It's Benicio Del Toro who stole the show for me as mulleted psychopath Lado. He plays the part so subtly, coming off as gentle and soft spoken that he really surprises when he loses it.
Overall, this movie disappointed me. There is a strong story there, and it does have its moments, but the overall execution severely hurts it.
