Natural Born Killers
Metascore
74 out of 100

Generally favorable reviews - based on 20 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 14 out of 20
  2. Mixed: 4 out of 20
  3. Negative: 2 out of 20
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  1. Chicago Sun-Times
    Reviewed by: Roger Ebert
    100
    Like all good satirists, he knows that too much realism will weaken his effect. He lets you know he's making a comedy. There's an over-the-top exuberance to the intricate crosscut editing and to the hyperactive camera.
  2. Entertainment Weekly
    Reviewed by: Owen Gleiberman
    100
    Stone takes his characters right over the top, rubbing our noses in our own lust for excess, and some viewers are bound to say that he's gone too far. Yet this may be one case where too far is just far enough-where a gifted filmmaker has transformed his own attraction to violence into an art of depraved catharsis.
  3. Chicago Tribune
    Reviewed by: Gene Siskel
    88
    Natural Born Killers is visually complex and thematically simple. Mixing film and video, black-and-white and color, morphing and animation, Stone breaks visual ground here for a major studio release. [26 Aug 1994, p.B]
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  4. San Francisco Chronicle
    Reviewed by: Edward Guthmann
    88
    An entertaining but exhausting satire on tabloid media and the way they feed our thirst for violence, Natural Born Killers stars Woody Harrelson and Juliette Lewis, in banshee-out-of-hell performances, as serial killers Mickey and Mallory Knox -- a trashy, gonzo/weirdo version of Bonnie & Clyde. [26 Aug 1994, p.C1]
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  5. Boston Globe
    Reviewed by: Jay Carr
    88
    Natural Born Killers is going to be a love-it or hate-it film. But it's an important film. Pumped up, jumped up, yet asking the right questions, [it] is more than an attention-grabber. It's a grenade pitched into the media tent. [26 Aug 1994, p.51]
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User Reviews

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User Score
7.7 out of 10

Generally favorable reviews- based on 47 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 7 out of 13
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 13
  3. Negative: 4 out of 13
  1. MusAddict
    0
    Dafuq did I just see? This movie was beyond terrible. Might be considered artistic back in 1994, but this in no way shape or form should be remembered as even somewhat iconic.… Full Review »
  2. horrorboy
    10
    Natural Born Killers will be one of the toughest movies to watch, one of the toughest movies to think about, and one of the toughest movies to digest. Its involvement of Mickey and Mallory Knox (Woody Harrelson and Juliette Lewis, respectively) investing their time and their life on a cross country killing spree is completely and utterly iconic. As ironic as this idea sounds, their whole spree pertains to the media and the whole worldwide culture as in a way I have never seen in a film. That saying, the plot is basically the Knoxes on a killing spree throughout states in America. As straightforward as that sounds, it really isn't. After being followed continuously by a tabloid reporter named Wayne Gale (Robert Downey, Jr.) in hopes of receiving high rates for his tracking and reporting of the duo, the Knoxes eventually become superstars all in thanks to the media. During a few of their crimes portrayed on the screen, they tend to leave one person left alive in each of their sprees that reports to the media who really committed the crime. Throughout the film, Oliver Stone, the director, presents us to bizarre and strange scenes and images that signify how the Knoxes really came to be. An example of this is a 'Married...With Children' like-parody show named 'I Love Mallory' where it pictures Mallory's wretched life in the hands of her father who is sexually attracted to her, and her unusual mother. In scenes where her father makes a funny remark or touches her inappropriately there is a canned-laughter track in the background. It's a bizarre feeling but then again it presents Mallory's life through an outsider's eyes laughing at everything that's happening since it's not actually happening to them. These scenes, in my opinion, despite their rawness are actually beautiful in a way. Stone presents them in vivid colors and streams that exhibit fine art. A scene that really fascinated me is when Mallory and Mickey are together in a hotel room. They're embracing each other and there is a picture window facing the outside. Instead of seeing the night sky, we're shown to different pictures of Mickey's earlier life, and other random images that pertain to the scene as if they were projected off of a movie reel. Images and scenes like this help show the life that truly exists in Natural Born Killers, and not just what people see on the outside. What people really see on the outside though is the constant amount of violence that people expect to be in a movie dubbed 'Natural Born Killers'. What's so great about the violence is that it never really seems as bad as it really does. Stone makes us feel the need to imagine the violence to be extreme as it really is to leave more of a distinct nature in our minds instead of the constant spewing of gore and blood that many audience members expect to see, but are instead disappointed to witness something different entirely. While at times it does succeed to do that, the film never really focuses on the violence as much as it does with its characters. Mickey and Mallory Knox are completely insane, mad, blood driven, and all the synonyms that apply. They will literally kill anyone in their way as a simple man riding on a bike on the side of the road to innocent bystanders in a diner. They're completely scary and menacing, though they think that they personally aren't in many forms. They think that the true monsters are the rest of the majority, the ones that don't kill, such as the media and the liking. The great acting by Harrelson and Lewis is simply phenomenal. Their portrayal of 2 mass murderers is so spot on that they all just seem too real. At times during the film, we're able to see the crimes, etc. committed through the eyes of the Knoxes in a different approach. At times when they look at their victims, the screen is seen in black and white but when it goes back to facing the Knoxes the screen goes back to color. What I can think of this whole approach and aspect is that the Knoxes only see the world as black and white, the only colors that show their true lifestyle. Downey as the reporter, and Tommy Lee Jones as a prison warden are exceptionally great roles, both are hilarious at times and I caught myself off guard on several occasions laughing away at the dark comedic dialogue that each delivers. Natural Born Killers leaves an imprint in my mind, as I'm sure as it has done with so many others. It states in most parts that the actual killers aren't the worst part of the moral, it's actually the ones who present it, the ones in the media that help make the monsters who they really are, driving their bloodthirsty motives farther than ever. While not focusing on violence that seems overly abundant, Oliver Stone truly delivers a tour de force that delves into the deep dark roots of man. The roots that cause an impulse for us to kill whoever stand in our way at anytime. Really in some form or another, we are all Natural Born Killers.… Full Review »
  3. TheWalrus2000
    9
    Natural Born Killers is written and directed like an all star and contains stunning performances from Woody Harrelson and Robert Downey Jr.(Juliette Lewis did good too). Oliver Stone gives an outrageously violent story and strong direction making it a near perfect film. However its dark tone is overexposed and at times uncomfortable making it inches from being on top 10 all-time lists.… Full Review »
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