Savages is a 2012 American crime thriller film directed by Oliver Stone. It is based on the novel of the same name by Don Winslow. The screenplay was written by Shane Salerno, Winslow and Stone. The film was released on July 6, 2012, and features an ensemble cast including Taylor Kitsch, Blake Lively, and Aaron Taylor-Johnson.
Critical reception
Savages received mixed reviews from critics. Based on 168 reviews collected by aggregate site Rotten Tomatoes,
the film scored a 51% approval rating, with an average rating of
5.7/10. The site's critical consensus is, "It's undeniably messy, but
Savages finds Oliver Stone returning to dark, fearlessly lurid form. Metacritic, another review aggregator which assigns a weighted mean
rating in the 0–100 range based on reviews from top mainstream critics,
calculated an average score of 59, based on 41 reviews, which indicates
"Mixed or average reviews".
HitFix's film critic Drew McWeeny
gave the film an A- and called it "one of the most complete pleasures
for me this summer". He was in general positive of the actors'
performances; he described Lively's work as "smart and sad precisely
because she plays O as such a broken, needy little soul" and praised the
bond between Kitsch and Aaron-Johnson which "seems not only credible
but lived in and authentic throughout the film." McWeeny noted the
evolution in maturity of Johnson since Kick-Ass
while writing that Kitsch was used the right way in this film with an
ensemble that pushes him or challenges him in scenes which resulted in
him playing hard, playing intense.
In comparison, MovieFix's film critic Connor Jason gave the film 2/5, noting that "Savages
is a hot mess – beautiful actors and locations mixed with a plot that
starts strong but ultimately turns into a snooze-fest. With a lead
villain seemingly ripped from the cover of Cosmo magazine, Stone's
latest flick savagely disappoints."
