Movie Review Guide

Whether you comment on movies online, or just talk about them casually and give your opinions or recommendations to friends, you could be considered a ‘film critic’. Every one of us is a film critic of their own nowadays. And anyone can do a decent, professional-looking review of a movie following some basic rules that you can find in this guide.

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THE PURPOSE

The fundamental purpose of reviewing a motion picture is to get the potential watcher interested. To provide the basic information about the plot, the characters and the overall ambience of the movie. The very best thing about writing a movie review is a chance to express your own opinion, but the very best movie reviews represent a perfect combination of author’s subjective thoughts and objective analysis, so be careful not to fall into the trap of going “all-in” in terms of giving nothing but your own ideas.

THE FIVE-STEP “HOW TO”

1. How to start a review, one might ask. The first couple of lines should meet the requirements of getting the reader’s attention.

• Start with giving them the exact vibe of the film by comparing the movie to a similar picture, a real event or better yet, everyday thoughts that the reader could relate to: “Every night we dream of something. Everybody talks about wanting their dreams to come true. But no one understands the struggles of ‘living the dream’ like Dom Cobb (Leonardo Di Caprio) in the movie Inception”.

• Follow up with the brief review: provide the essential facts about the movie. The plot, the director, the characters, the acting, the soundtrack, everything that’s a crucial factor in making or breaking the movie.

• Give some background information: do a research on fun facts, the stories “behind the scenes”, how was it produced… basically anything that the movie itself isn’t showing.

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2. The subjective opinion is important, as mentioned earlier, so be sure to let the reader know whether you actually like the movie or not. It’s good to make yourself clear about this, so that you can “prove” your rating later on.

•Try to explain what makes the movie great, bad or just okay: “it’s a rare movie that gathers great plot, compelling characters, superb acting and the soundtrack that is a work of art of its’ own, but Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings series is definitely worth watching repeatedly”.

3. The third step is all about writing the actual review. If you want your opinion to be valued, you need to support it with some facts. Writing down notes while watching the movie might prove to be more than useful for this step.

“At the end of the day, Snowpiercer can’t decide what kind of movie it wants to be. The attention to detail in fight scenes, where every weapon, light bulb, and slick patch of ground is accounted for, doesn’t translate to an ending that seems powerful but ultimately says little of substance.”

4. Go beyond the obvious! The plot analysis is considered the most important part of the review, however, in order to write a really great movie review, you’ll need to focus on other factors as well. The fourth part of the review should give the readers the insight to more than just the plot.

•Be ready to analyze and write about: cinematography, tone, acting, music, sound and so on, providing the readers with a blend of facts and your personal opinions.

5. In the final part of the review, the author should give it some closure. Maybe a few sentences backing your opening facts, or just rounding-up the whole review.

At the end of the day, remember that the purpose of writing a review is to get the reader interested, however that’s not the necessity, as long as the review is written in a good manner.

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