Review of Natural Born Killers (1994) by Tyler M — 31 Mar 2012

Love makes the world go 'round!

Natural Born Killers is like key-lime pie. It's an aquired taste. Watch the movie and you'll understand that reference. But it's true, it's not for everyone. It's dark, disturbing, violent in the worst way, and yet it still seems like a work of art. Granted it's a work of art that will have you begging for mercy while in the pheotal position, but still a work of art.

The Story: Mickey and Mallory Knox are two royally screwed up people. From traumatized children, to mass murderers, this is the story of two lovers who wanted to be stars. They just went about stardom a little differently than most others. It's a brutal look at violence in media, as they run rampant throughout the nation killing anyone that stands in their way, as the press fed the public what they wanted so desparately to hear. The more they killed, the more people loved them. Yes, it's very very sick, the public loved them. They were idolized and glorified by world of mass media. It's told in a lot of abstract ways. Black and white, cartoon animation, giant projections of things on the sides of buildings, projections of words on characters, dark colors, and a very very good choice of music. I'm not usually one for the use of liscensed music in films, more often than not I perfer original scores, but this is the exception. Almost every bit of music works to create the ultimately surreal experience that is, Natural Born Killers.

The Cast: Woody Harrelson, Juliette Lewis, Robert Downey Junior, Tommy Lee Jones... It's a big cast, but the two you're really gonna want to see are Harrelson and Lewis. They bring the disturbingly psycho-sexual violent film to life in a way that no one else could possibly imagine. It's scary how good these two are. Harrelson is Mickey, a mass murderer who claims to be the product of evolution. With almost no remorse he kills and takes the lives of everyone he meets. Juliette Lewis is Mallory, she's the femal version of Mickey, showing no remorse for anyone she kills. Not even her own mother. The two play off each other so well, that if you're not carefull you might just believe that they're real. And that's a scary thought. Robert Downey Junior, gives his best performance here as the money grubbing, ratings wanting, journalist. Playing it painfully good, he'll pull you into the film and won't let you out until the very end. Tommy Lee Jones, gives an equally strange performance, as the man in charge of the prison, holding both Mickey and Mallory Knox. He plays the part with a scary sense of realism just like everyone else, a little less entertaining than Harrelson, Lewis, and Robert Downey Jr., but still great. He's definately not someone you'd want to meet in real life, but his character fits the rest of the over-the-top cast.

One to Five Scale: 5.

If you can get passed the overwhelming violence and the excessive art style of the film, it's one hell of a ride.

Tyler.