Kevin Reviews Savages

While there were a lot of flaws with this film, there were also a lot of things I liked about the film.  I enjoyed the premise of the film, but overall the execution could have been a lot better.  I will focus on the negatives of this film, and briefly touch base on what I liked in this film.

One problem I had with the film is how slow it is.  The trailer built the film up to be more action-packed and it was a bit slower than I had anticipated.  Almost all the good parts of the movie were in the trailer.  Whatever, I can get over that.  What I cannot get over is the ending.  I may come to enjoy it later, but right now I dislike it very much.  I didn't like how we saw one ending, then we rewind to see a different ending.  I guess I wouldn't mind it so much if the second ending was better, but it wasn't.

Another problem I had was Blake Lively's narration.  "I had orgasms...he had wargasms."  Come on, you gotta do better than that.  It was almost as bad as Nicolas Cage narrating.  ALMOST.  It was bland, awkward, and completely unnecessary.  The placing of the narration in the film was strange, too.  We hear a lot of back story from Blake Lively's character at the beginning.  Then we hear a few lines in the middle of the film, then a lot at the end.  It was just odd and seemed like more of a gimmick than anything.  To me, this came off as a cheap way to earn points for character development, and it didn't work.

I had one problem technically.  Why did we have sporadic moments of black and white spliced in with the normal color of the film?  It reminded me of Natural Born Killers: an attack on the senses.  Not nearly as bad, but still, unnecessary.

Oliver Stone is known for putting subliminal (sometimes prominent) messages into his films.  While the message isn't as obvious, its there.  Oliver Stone, as we all know, is a strong advocate for legalizing marijuana.  This film is clearly pro-drug, as we see all of the violence and suffering and despair that goes on in the drug war between the US and Mexico.  Maybe I'm wrong and I'm looking into it too much, but I definitely heard a message here, and could've done well without it.

One final point I want to discuss as a negative: John Travolta's dying wife.  Just one subplot that seemed completely useless to the structure of the movie.  I know there were several others, but this one stuck out to me.  We are reminded three times in the film of this subplot, and it is never taken anywhere.  Throw that out and shave some time off the film, for everyone's sake.

What I liked about the film: The odd love triangle.  Benicio Del Toro and John Travolta's performances.  Maybe even Salma Hayek.  I did like the action sequences in this film.  My favorite part was probably the premise of the film.  Sadly, the execution was mediocre. Despite its flaws, I still enjoyed Savages and will definitely revisit it. 

MY RATING:

3.5 out of 5

Kevin A. Millward