Everything You Need To Know About Writing A Movie Review
Reading movie reviews before watching a movie is kind of like reading the back of the book to see what the plot is about and if it will meet your expectations.
When certain movies perform well on streaming platforms, people rush to search movie reviews to see if they are worth a watch.
Keeping this reader cohort in mind, your movie reviews need to include some specific sections to ensure a good reading experience for your audience. You need to sound credible and reliable even if you are just expressing your opinion about a piece of media.
Keep reading to find out everything you need to know about writing a movie review:
Highlighting Tropes And Biases
One of the most important factors that you should highlight in your movie review is the director and the story writers’ use of tropes. Tropes are essentially recognizable elements or themes that writers use to advance the plot of a story.
In your review, you should take the time to discuss the tropes used and whether they were necessary, well-executed, or even overused.
If you do decide to criticize a trope, explain why and then go on to offer a different way that the directors could have reached the same plot ending.
When it comes to criticism, you should take the time to analyze what biases the writers may have had when creating characters and the choices those characters made.
For example, a bias often identified in movies is the inaccurate representation of women or the obvious lack of women on the writing team.
Reviewers often use anecdotal evidence in combination with empirical evidence to show what the writers got wrong such as using the Bechdel test for female representation in combination with mentioning how a woman might react.
Discussing Actor History
Movie reviewers should spend some time on the lead actors’ history and the type of movies they usually sign on for.
Discussing celebrity biographies, net worth, and their previous acting projects can help the reader understand the casting director’s choices.
You should spend some time on this section in your review but try not to let it rule your review for the movie as personal preferences can quickly seep into opinion pieces like movie reviews.
If you need some help nailing this aspect, try to hire an essay writer to do it for you.
Assigning Numeric Rating
Another extremely important part of your review should be the numeric rating you assign the movie.
If you plan to frequently rate movies then placing them on a numeric scale can directly guide the audience on what type of movies get your approval.
Additionally, many people just read the first couple lines of a search result on an engine and decide whether they want to watch the movie or not so this rating allows you to be upfront about your review without having to say anything.
Most reviewers usually use a scale of five stars or a spectrum of “must watch” to “waste of time” or even just a rating out of 10.
Conclusion
Finally, our last piece of advice is to issue spoiler warnings to your readers every time you address a twist in the story or even the ending.
Even though there are endless debates on whether spoilers matter, you would be surprised how often people are angry about getting a spoiler in a review.
Make sure you take your time to also analyze why you feel the need to criticize or admire a specific part of the movie and address any personal biases too. Readers like an honest review from a credible reviewer.