Review #557: 'Savages' (2012)

Two childhood friends, Chon (Taylor Kitsch) and Ben (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) run a highly profitable business in Laguna Beach, California, where they share everything including their girlfriend O (Blake Lively). Chon, an ex-Navy SEAL, is the muscle, and Ben, a highly skilled botanist, is the brains. After a few years of hard work, they now grow and sell the most powerful strain of marijuana in the world. When they are sent a video depicting a mass chain-saw murder by Lado (Benicio Del Toro), they move to meet a powerful Mexican cartel ran by honcho Elena (Salma Hayek). Against the advice of CIA insider Dennis (John Travolta), Chon and Ben refuse the cartel an offer of partnership and plan to flee to Indonesia the next day. Unimpressed by the insult, Lado and his crew abduct O, forcing them into a three-year business deal, but Chon and Ben have other ideas.

Treading relatively unfamiliar ground, Oliver Stone's latest film is most akin to his sleazy 1997 neo-noir U-Turn, employing cinematographer Dan Mindel to create a violent yet sun-bleached world of torture, corruption, and sleazy Mexicans. The film begins with a group of masked unknowns being decapitated with a chain-saw, captured on shaky hand-held footage, and the film doesn't let up. The hulking Lado represents the physical side of the drugs business, and we later see him murder a lawyer and his wife in cold blood. But where the film is most impressive is when dealing with the tactical side of the situation, with Chon and Ben refusing to back down, and employing their own means of negotiation while Elena continues her wave of intimidation. It is these twists and turns that keep the film interesting, and while I found myself not really caring who gets out of it alive, the execution kept me on my toes.

The ensemble of unrelatable and despicable characters is the main weakness of the film, with none of the large cast standing out as the focal point of the movie. Chon is suitably stoic as the much-needed physical presence in Chon and Ben's business, but it is Ben who provides the only remotely sympathetic character, a naive botany genius that is as horrified at the violence that unfolds before him as we are. The narration is provided by O, who after explaining her romantic situation with Chon and Ben admits that we are probably thinking "slut!", and she's right. Why would I care about a beautiful spoilt rich-girl living off the riches of two criminals? The performances are outstanding throughout, however. Del Toro proves genuinely terrifying straight from the off as we witness just what his character is capable of, but, surprisingly, it is Travolta's slimy CIA agent that impresses most. His panicked actions provide some amusement, and the scene with his dying wife is genuinely moving. Savages is not particularly original, intelligent or innovative, but it is two hours of exciting, if often unpleasant, entertainment.


Directed by: Oliver Stone
Starring: Taylor Kitsch, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Blake Lively, Benicio Del Toro, Salma Hayek, John Travolta, Emile Hirsch
Country: USA

Rating: ***

Tom Gillespie