Trailer for new Oliver Stone film Savages

John Travolta, Uma Thurman and Benicio del Toro star in the director's drug war action movie

It's been a while since Oliver Stone has made an unequivocally brilliant film. Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps was fair, but not brilliant; W. was a bit of a damp squib; World Trade Centre contained graphic scenes of flag-waving; and Alexander was just plain rubbish. Still, hope springs eternal, especially when the trailer for his latest offering, Savages, features some breathless kick-assery. Could this be the film in which Stone puts aside his divisive politics for the good of a brainless thrill-ride?

Not bloody likely. Ben (Kick Ass's Aaron Johnson) and Chon (John Carter's Taylor Kitsch) are two California marijuana farmers (hello, legalisation debate), who are forced to abandon their largely peaceful business strategy when shared love interest O (Blake Lively) is kidnapped by a Mexican drug cartel (hello, drug war and border relations). They're aided in their mission by John Travolta's shady DEA agent Dennis (hello, governmental corruption).

Politics aside, the trailer is an action-packed callback to some of Stone's more hyperkinetic mid-90s work (Natural Born Killers, U Turn), with a cracking supporting cast to boot (including Salma Hayek, Benicio del Toro, Emile Hirsch and Uma Thurman). Watch the trailer below and tell us what you think.