Savage

At its heart, the cause and effect that traps and herds people into the margins of society where the rules of survival are warped back to hunter over gatherer times, peripheries the vast majority of populations are thankful to avoid and turn a blind eye to, ignorant that the marginalised are a product of our inhumane made false ecology. These are incarcerated people living perpetually imprisoned lives with opportunity locked, barred and barriered from them. A powerful piece of cinema that doesn't shy way from acknowledging the damage that can be caused to an individual when paternal, societal, and endemic neglect is allowed to culture. A culture that still permeates today, not just in the warrior lands.

Ok i actually enjoyed this movie, however when the main character who is supposed to be born and raised in NZ has a strong Australian accent it really just put me off. Makes it less realistic. Could they not have got a kiwi actor or could Jake Ryan not do an NZ accent? Confusing and was really the only downside of the movie for me. Other people walked out saying it was terrible which it wasn't but the trailer does portray a different movie. Don't go in expecting a once were warriors movie this is definitely a drama and backstory of how Danny got into the gang life.

Savage isn't a movie for everybody. But for some people it will be recognizable, maybe not everything but certain passages are gripping. Child abuse, violent parenthood, going down the wrong path to escape harsh reality, and of course finding the wrong crew to hang out with which is sometimes the only place you find likeminded people. I found the whole movie well made, a bit violent at times, but that's the gang life we all think about. Good acting from the whole cast also. Jake Ryan, as Damage, did a great job playing his abused character. It's not all violence, sometimes it's about compassion and forgiveness, sometimes it's emotional if you give the story a chance to unfold.

Savage has a genuinely powerful story to tell but goes about it all wrong. For starters it's told out of sequence with multiple timeline jumps back and forth to make a simple story seem complex. The camera work is bizarre and distracting. But worst of all is a myriad of scenes featuring loud nerve-jangling music with slow motion montages. No idea what that was meant to achieve other than prolong the runtime. Not to mention Jake Ryan's New Zealand accent was laughable. Speaking Aussie with a few eh bro's on the end is not speaking New Zealand. 4/10.

C'mon, seriously, aside from any other critique possible about this film... was the Hair Department staffed with interns?