Savages
User Score
6.3 out of 10

Generally favorable reviews- based on 139 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 103 out of 139
  2. Mixed: 17 out of 139
  3. Negative: 19 out of 139

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  1. dafne
    Jul 19, 2012
    10
    This is not a great movie at all. Benicio del Toro is the only great acting in the movie. The story is weak and the acting bad. Not even worth watching unless you are very sadistic :P Very disappointing, specially for an Oliver Stone movie.
  2. Mr2times
    Jul 20, 2012
    8
    This movie has a good premise and starts off very good. It maintains its intensity throughout the movie until the last 1/2 hour, then it falls apart. I would have rated it higher if they had some reasonable ending. Overall the acting is good. Plenty of action and great scenery.
  3. MovieGoer1
    Jul 21, 2012
    8
    This was one of the best movies I've seen. Salma Hayek was absolutely beautiful and she played her role very well. Everyone in this movie was wonderful.
  4. CBeckman25
    Jul 22, 2012
    10
    Just saw Savages. Wow. I am in love with this movie. Everything about that movie was just great. The music was perfect, the the story was fun, fresh and original and the casting was BRILLIANT. Let's start with that. First of all, I cannot believe that this is the same Aaron Johnson that we saw in Kick-Ass. He looks so much more mature and he acts it to. And then there is Taylor Kitsch. Taylor Kitsch has had an AMAZING year so far. Well at least in my eyes... I thought John Carter was easily one of the best movies of the year and Battleship, while far from perfect, was still a lot of fun. What really sucks is that both of those movies tanked in the eyes of studio executives and unfortunately they will look at it as Taylor Kitsch's fault since he was the lead in both. That is really really unfortunate because Savages just once again shows me how much I love this guy as an actor. The rest of the cast is just brilliant as well. Blake Lively was great, John Travolta was amazing and oh my god where Benecio Del Toro and the stunning Salma Hayek both genius. Those to where seriously phenomenal.

    What makes the actors so great was that they had amazing characters to play. I loved all of the characters in this movie, especially some of the minor ones. None of them felt like throwaway characters who where there just to serve up a plot detail. They all felt real and they where all so very interesting.

    Besides the brilliant acting and extremely fun story was the fact that this movie just had a great style to it and the music really helps to add to that to. You can see this movies style in the fantastic promotional materials this movies been putting out. That poster? One of my favorite posters of the year. And the trailer was great to because it really did a great job of not spoiling anything because there are a lot of places that the story goes that I just wasn't expecting.

    All in all, if you liked what you saw in the trailer then you will love the movie. It's so much fun. My only two problems where A) it got a little hard trying to figure out who was who in the epic finale and B) I wasn't really digging the whole super zoomed in look the movie had throughout most of it. But that may have been because I was sitting down closer to the screen than usual because the theater was sold out. Which is good because this movie deserves to do well.    … Expand
  5. MadHater
    Jul 29, 2012
    0
    Terrible movie. Couldn't root for any of the main characters, especially the blonde, so you didn't care what happened to them. Stakes were therefore zero. Plus her annoying Voice Over which is a lazy man's device- if I wanted to listen to someone read me a story I'd buy a book on tape, not go to the movie. And the double ending was hilariously bad. People in the theater actually laughed. And this isn't a comedy. Save your money and see anything else.… Expand
  6. larsen16
    Aug 5, 2012
    7
    my roomate's step-mother brought in $15301 last month. she has been making cash on the computer and moved in a $482100 condo. All she did was get fortunate and put into work the information given on this web NuttyRich.com
  7. Captain_Kirk
    Aug 14, 2012
    7
    While Savages could have been a little more than what it was, it's still a fine piece of film-making. Some may find the violence distasteful, but the performances are what keeps the film going along.
  8. Jailhouse_McGee
    Oct 24, 2012
    7
    A nasty, gory piece of entertainment. It's a lot of fun seeing how low-lives and scum stab each other in the back, side and front. Fine acting and cinematography too, with just some close-ups being too long and unnecessary. I had a problem sympathising with the leads, which I found to be a bit boring. Salma Hayek has the more interesting role. Two problems are more serious: The movie does not find it's own tone between sexy hippie story and hardcore gangster drama (which makes it about 15 minutes to long too). And the ending sucks! Otherwise a darkly good time (B).… Expand
  9. Seriosity
    Dec 13, 2012
    6
    They remove Blake Lively's greatest asset by having her narrate. The villains make the movie while the ending nearly ruins it. A mixed bag if there ever was one, but it's entertaining.
  10. cameronmorewood
    Nov 5, 2012
    3
    Savages, a film by Oliver Stone, tends to be so over the top, you begin to wonder how the actors all keep a straight face. This is a film that's cheese ball, but doesn't know it's cheese ball. Those are the worst kinds of movies.
  11. Nesbitt10
    Jan 19, 2013
    5
    A return to form for Stone's dark side,"Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps" and "World Trade Center" were almost insultingly faceless, a definite problem for a director whose best films exude righteous anger. "Savages" generates ruthless energy, a battle between good and evil, except that everyone in it is evil, and the momentum generated by the savagery doesn't compensate for a lack-luster storyline.
    California dudes Ben and Chon (Aaron Johnson and Taylor Kitsch) are dragged into a turf war with the expansion-minded Mexican cartel run by Salma Hayek's drug-war widow Elena, and her brutally amoral deputy, Lado (Benicio del Toro). The Mexicans regularly show their power by creating and disseminating videos documenting torture and lots and lots of beheadings. Eighty miles over the border, in Laguna Beach, Ben and Chon supply their ultra-potent, genetically engineered strains to legal medical dispensaries but make their real money illegally shipping out of state. The product and its profits fuel the boys' lifestyle of neo-hippie decadence, embodied by the business partners' enthusiastic bedroom sharing of poor little rich girl turned eco-friendly, hippie Ophelia (Blake Lively). Both sides consider the other to be "savages"-which we know because they say it aloud repeatedly just in case we didn't catch it already.
    Mexican Baja Cartel decides to move in and demands that the trio partners with them. When the merciless head of the BC, Elena, and her brutal enforcer, Lado, underestimate the unbreakable bond among these three friends, Ben and Chon--with the reluctant, slippery assistance of a dirty DEA agent (John Travolta), wage a seemingly unwinnable war against the cartel. And so begins a series of increasingly vicious ploys and maneuvers in a high stakes, savage battle of wills. Honestly, not that bad but not that good either, resulting in complete indifference on this one. A talented cast that doesn't feel fully utilized and a story that's not all that compelling. Soul is something "Savages" lacks and feels hollow, not least because Kitsch and Johnson, who take on lead roles, register as blanks on-screen. In contrast, Hayek and del Toro, both sporting apparently intentionally terrible wigs, give over-the-top performances who command our interest while committing heinous acts, and setting a record for number of beheadings in a single film.    … Expand
  12. winthorp3rd
    Dec 16, 2012
    0
    Another comic book extrusion by Ollie Stone. The "violence" was so contrived, and the characters so manufactured, that it seemed about as real as an elementary school play, with little kids and plastic swords. Blake Lively as the hot babe? She's way over the hill. John Travolta again? Won't he ever go away, and do us the favor of keeping his bloated, cross-eyed, ferret-like mincing persona out of our collective view? And Salma Hayek with the Uma Thurman wig straight out of Pulp Fiction (a similar failed exercise in Hollywood cool-ness). How derivative can you get? I will say though that the movie got better after the 4th glass of wine.… Expand
  13. coco4bee
    Feb 12, 2013
    0
    Too much exaggeration and commercialism. All the love-making and inhumane treatment of human bodies did not support the main point of the movie or at least, make up for the lack of real action. The kind of action is like throwing grenades and shooting big guns..nothing that requires too much skill (the way a real action film is suppose to be). This movie tried too hard to be sexy, scary, and hardcore.… Expand
  14. Thegodfatherson
    Mar 27, 2013
    8
    Oliver Stone lives up to his great filmmaking in Savages, the film is great and the plot is even better. Aaron Johnson's acting is more than unbelievable after the great performance he gave in Kick Ass as Dave Liwenzki. The movie is very fresh and thrilling it needs some help to clear the violence because some scenes don't have to be there but still, its a good idea for directors and filmmakers all over the world. Savages is a good gripping kick ass thriller in which Oliver Stone is at his best. Pot makers ahoy!… Expand
  15. Phascedph
    Apr 22, 2013
    8
    Oliver Stone has done a great job with this film. From the beginning to the end I was thoroughly entertained, particularly with Benico Del Toro.

    Ignore anyone who comments on the story being racist. They're seeing something which conflicts with their views and react negatively to protect themselves (Cognitive dissonance). It's just a film and shows both sides can be good and bad.

    It     must be said the love triangle you'll witness is very believeable too. Whilst some may think this is odd or strange within their world and context it is plausible. Very progressive for a mainstream hollywood film!

    I highly recommend this to anyone. My friends went into it thinking it was going to be crap and left quite satisfied. Sit back and enjoy!    … Expand
  16. BrianMcCritic
    Mar 15, 2013
    8
    A fun stylish action film, Savages is a lot of fun. It's good to see Oliver Stone making a strong action movie again. The only thing that made this film an 8 was a weak ending.
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Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
59 out of 100

Mixed or average reviews - based on 41 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 24 out of 41
  2. Mixed: 10 out of 41
  3. Negative: 7 out of 41
  1. The Guardian
    Reviewed by: Peter Bradshaw
    Sep 21, 2012
    20
    Sadly, Savages plays up to Stone's worst tendencies: machismo, bombast and self-indulgence, and the factor that could conceivably have made this movie tolerable – humour – is off the menu.
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  2. Empire
    Reviewed by: William Thomas
    Sep 17, 2012
    40
    What could have been an effective excoriation of US drug policy and a proper look at the violence inherent in the trade is wasted on a simplistic thriller that offers very little, especially given who is behind the camera. Sorry if that harshes anyone's buzz.
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  3. Total Film
    Reviewed by: Ken McIntyre
    Sep 1, 2012
    60
    Savages is punishing in places, but there are enough colourful characters and careening twists to make it worth the effort.
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