Salvajes

A la novela también le di tres estrellas, porque no me impresionó demasiado y me aburrí al final. Con la película es exactamente lo contrario. La primera mitad es increíblemente larga y el final es excelente, me emocionó. Eso sí que tuvo sustancia. Sé que Oliver Stone disfruta de la larga duración de sus películas, pero no fue realmente necesario en "Wild". Se destaca en el libro que está escrito con un lenguaje ágil y a un ritmo acelerado como una ametralladora, lo cual no se puede decir desafortunadamente de una película de dos horas. Mis dos o tres momentos de quedarme dormido en la primera mitad solo lo confirman. Por otro lado, debo admitir honestamente que es una adaptación honesta de la obra literaria y eso, paradójicamente, le hace tanto daño. Al menos, al final... (11.11.2013)

Stone received a simple and catchy story (reminiscent of a "metaphysically" truncated version of No Country For Old Men on speed), a genre-appreciative character and the opportunity to shoot a brisk thriller full of irony and black humor. So, what’s left? A formally extremely fragmented affair that reveals persistent efforts and weak self-criticism. Narratively and stylistically, the film conjures up breakneck, constant changes in the way it is shot, color palettes, juggling with depth of field, dynamically composed "narration in narration" - but instead of going forward like "Tony Scott", it tends to get stuck and stutter. After a while, it is not clear why there is so much juggling, as it does not advance the tone of the film anywhere. In addition, for example, the personal narrator will soon reveal that it is not narrative elegance, but rather a sweaty addition to the meaning of the thriller plot, which collapses in his hands. Then there are other things - this film calls for something cool, irony, light situational comedy, provocations. But in all respects, in the end, it comes of very professorial and leathery. Violence, sex, desperate romance - everything is too deliberate and prayed out (even whimpered). Blake Lively as McGuffin is superficial and annoying with her sentiment. The whole story of the war with the drug cartel goes nowhere and the motif of savagery drowns in the narrator's clichéd chatter. It’s too bad, because this could be damn fresh and peppery entertainment. But Stone's hand shouldn't be shaking in this way. Even so, I do not deny a certain spontaneous magic that persuaded me to buy the book.... (17.09.2012)

I don’t know, on the surface, Savages wants to be an action thriller with sexy visuals that you’d rather not think too much about, but under the surface, what I see is a stubborn attempt at something postmodern. And its most effective gimmick is disguising narrative incompetence as a subversive game with expectations and thus justifying itself. I wasn’t interested in who does what to whom, who betrays whom and who is screwing whom, as the motivations of most of the characters get lost with each twist and in the end it doesn’t matter at all whether everyone will shoot or forgive each other. Savages are unpredictable… that’s all the justification you need. Uninteresting. (15.11.2012)

Oliver Stone is still a master. His bold directorial style, tons of visual flourishes, a perfectly integrated soundtrack and songs; it never gets boring. Its form reminded me a bit of his earlier U-Turn, except that this one has a much better script, with a light Tarantino touch, without annoying clichés, and with a conclusion that is a Stone-esque middle finger to the viewer. With the exception of a somewhat hapless Blake Lively, all the actors were excellent and Aaron Taylor-Johnson, the teenage looser from Kick-Ass, went a long way towards charisma. (27.01.2013)

To start with a rather naive idyll about a love triangle, entwined in ganja roots. But Stoney couldn’t leave it at that. Visual refinement goes without saying, the bloody brutality of the unrated version (could have been a fuck or two richer) adds a good two stars. Taylor Kitsch downright found himself in his role. Del Toro plays the biggest possible asshole with obvious delight and Travolta landed another fine role. The action scenes are right up there with the best, old school quality. Another picture like that, but with a better screenplay next time, please. P.S.: The cellphone ringing tone with “Three Blind Mice" is annoying, but pleasing. Please don’t kill me, I have three young children. (07.12.2012)