Quartile rating: 6.5/10 · 1 rating
On Quartile, Savages scores 6.5/10 across five categories — strongest on Plot (Above Average), weakest on Novelty (Below Average).
Pot growers Ben and Chon face off against the Mexican drug cartel that kidnapped their shared girlfriend.
Oliver Stone's Savages has a lurid, pulpy energy that keeps it watchable, but the plot — two California weed entrepreneurs vs. a Mexican cartel — is fairly conventional crime-thriller territory executed without real distinction. The ensemble cast (Taylor Kitsch, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Blake Lively, Benicio del Toro, Salma Hayek) ranges widely in quality; del Toro is menacing and committed while Lively's narration and performance feel flat. Stone brings his trademark kinetic visual style with saturated colors and aggressive editing, making it above-average cinematographically but not among his best work. The film's biggest weakness is its ending: the 'twist' double-ending feels like a cop-out rather than a bold choice, undermining the dramatic stakes built up throughout. Novelty is low — it covers well-trodden cartel-crime ground without a distinctive enough voice to separate it from the crowd.