Review of Natural Born Killers (1994) by Guilherme Q — 28 Feb 2018

This is a hectic movie that follows the criminal endeavors of Mickey and Mallory Knox, two lovers set on a killing spree through America, which led them to media stardom. This movie is filled with chaotic shots and angles, fast cuts, handheld and shaky cameras, psychedelic scenery and just insane visuals.

The moral of the story focuses on how media creates stars out of the deranged and begs the question: who is a better being? the media or the criminals? It kind of reminds me, in a way, of what "A Clockwork Orange" asks us, the viewers.

We have the criminal couple juxtaposed with the media people, inviting us into analyzing the traits that make both parties "horrible" and "evil", but the Knox's evil regards the cold blooded killing, whereas the media's evil regards the control over the population, feeding us lies and establishing zombiedom.

Now, the main concerns that a lot of people have regarding this jewel are that "the production and filming are too blurry and shaky and fast paced", that Oliver Stone paints the same picture and asks the same question again and again throughout the movie and that it's just impossible to watch and too obnoxious.

In my opinion, the production and the chaos of the movie are perfect in telling this story through the lens of the killers and through the lens of the masses. Everything is filled with adrenaline and I think that suits the movie really well, we are witnessing the madness live, unedited and raw, just like the husband/wife pair and the masses through the perspective of the media.

And the thing with Oliver Stone's message being to obnoxiously thrown at the viewers, this movie does not consider itself mysterious in any way: it's not "2001: A Space Odyssey", "The Holy Mountain" or "Inception", the message it's in your face, just like the couple and the media.

This movie is fast, brutal and criminally insane.