The last thing Oliver Stone directed was Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps in 2010. The last good thing he directed was Natural Born Killers in 1994. Of course, his recent films are defiantly not anything to go by, considering all the films leading up to Natural Born Killers were great. But, 12 years later, he has made another good film. And hopefully this will restart his downhill career.
Savages stars John Travolta, Benicio Del Toro, Salma Hayek, Taylor Kitsch, Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Blake Lively. A decent cast, the only real stand-out is Del Toro, who delivers a great performance once again and as always. The rest of the cast however, are mediocre at best.
I thought the premise was a bit silly and unrealistic and the annoying thing is that it doesn't give you any indication to whether it is trying to be silly and unrealistic or whether it's not. Because at times I was thinking, "well, yeah, I suppose that is pretty realistic." But other times the dialog and whole scenarios just seem too unrealistic and way over-the-top.
Sure, there are a few plot holes. And sure, it is a bit predictable at times. But I was enjoying my time watching the film and a few scenes are memorable. Most of them, if not all, include Benicio Del Toro. I'm going to say that the film wasn't supposed to be taken seriously. It wasn't trying to emulate the feel of a great gangster film like Goodfellas or The Departed. It was just meant for an entertaining 130 minutes. And in that aspect, it succeeds.
But my main complaint, would most defiantly have to be ending. I know, everyone is complaining about the ending and I am too. Even when it happened, a person behind me said, "ah for God's sake." And I'd have to agree. But it doesn't take away from the fact that the film is entertaining, very well directed and has a great performance from Benicio. However, it is nothing ground-breaking.
A solid 7/10
Savages stars John Travolta, Benicio Del Toro, Salma Hayek, Taylor Kitsch, Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Blake Lively. A decent cast, the only real stand-out is Del Toro, who delivers a great performance once again and as always. The rest of the cast however, are mediocre at best.
I thought the premise was a bit silly and unrealistic and the annoying thing is that it doesn't give you any indication to whether it is trying to be silly and unrealistic or whether it's not. Because at times I was thinking, "well, yeah, I suppose that is pretty realistic." But other times the dialog and whole scenarios just seem too unrealistic and way over-the-top.
Sure, there are a few plot holes. And sure, it is a bit predictable at times. But I was enjoying my time watching the film and a few scenes are memorable. Most of them, if not all, include Benicio Del Toro. I'm going to say that the film wasn't supposed to be taken seriously. It wasn't trying to emulate the feel of a great gangster film like Goodfellas or The Departed. It was just meant for an entertaining 130 minutes. And in that aspect, it succeeds.
But my main complaint, would most defiantly have to be ending. I know, everyone is complaining about the ending and I am too. Even when it happened, a person behind me said, "ah for God's sake." And I'd have to agree. But it doesn't take away from the fact that the film is entertaining, very well directed and has a great performance from Benicio. However, it is nothing ground-breaking.
A solid 7/10