Cabba's ReviewsBorn To Be A Killer
July 15th 2009 12:45
Natural Born Killers. Holy Cow. That's all I have to say after watching that film. That was one of the most bizarrely shot, psychedelic, thought provoking films I have ever see. This film had everything! Sex, guns, violence, the good, the bad and the ugly! There were subliminal flashes of fire, the devil and other crazy things and the cutting and the colours were dizzying beyond belief. However, despite all this frivolity, the underlying story and themes of Natural Born Killers will stick in my mind for years to come.
Overall Plot:
Natural Born Killers is a fictional story centered around Mickey and Mallory Knox, a married couple who during the 1990s, murdered over 50 people in the course of three weeks. The film is shot in a very psychedelic style, with swirling cameras, strangely coloured lighting and trippy imagery to emulate the minds of the two protagonists. It is only after the couple is bitten by some rattesnakes that they are captured by the police and sent to jail. Before and during their jail sentence, the media hypes up their case, making their killings out to be cool and gathering them actual fans from all over America. They glorify the pair's killings and continue to project them as symbols of rebellion, paying no attention to the wrongful aspects of their deeds. The film is told is three chapters and is told from different perspectives.
One thing I did not like about the film was that although the film acted as an attack against the media and its tendency to glorify gratuitous violence and crime, the film failed to depict the two killers as bad guys. They were portrayed as people you almost sympathised with due to their abusive pasts and by the end, I wanted them to kill all of the people who were standing in their way of freedom and I wanted them to continue killing humans. They used the excuse that "love triumps everything". I hate that!! Every time that excuse is mentioned in a movie, I cringe. By using it, I'm sure it gave the two characters heart and additionally, when Mickey accidentally shoots that 'character' (I won't mention who it is for spoiler reasons) and feel sympathy, that also added to their emotional characterisation. So in a way, although this film is very anti media in its glorification of killers, this film itself glorifies the two lovers.
During the second half of the movie, there is an interview between Wayne Gale (Downey Jr.) and Mickey. During the interview, Mickey makes it clear that he feels no remorse for his victims because he believes he is only doing what God wants him to do. That he was born this way. He could not see the difference between killing 'innocent' humans and murdering soldiers during a war or hunting animals for sport. He did not believe in the 'innocent' human. All people have a secret they are hiding which makes them imperfect and thus susceptible to death. I was very intrigued by this stance because in a way, us humans are very violent, angry creatures who do kill ourselves even though we have the survival of the human race down as the most important thing to honour. But should we be punished for being flawed? Plus what about those who are born with mental disabilities who cannot differentiate between right and wrong? Should they be punished too? Or how should they be treated? Mental disability is always a difficult subject to talk about so I'll keep it brief, but say someone like Mickey who was traumatised during his childhood, should he be punished as much for becoming who he's become because of his troubled past? He couldn't help it that he was traumatised. Should that matter?
I was blown away by the sheer intensity of the film and its ability to cram so many themes and issues and meanings into such a film. Before I watched it, I thought it would just be one of those nice, easy watching, violent, guns going wild sorta movies. Instead I watched a film so strong in its anger towards the media that I thought this film could actually change the world if every single person saw it. The film however was at times a little difficult to sit through just because of its swirling camera angles, its projections and other aesthetic details.
The acting in the film was superb, with particular emphasis to Robert Downey Jr's character, Juliette Lewis and of course the darling Woody Harrelson. I give this film for its ballsy attack on the media (the very thing that could break or make a film!) and its multifaceted inclusion of all things important, 4 STARS OUT OF 5. This film definitely requires multiple viewings. I know I was thoroughly disoriented when I finished it the first time!
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