how to make a good movie review

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How to Write a Movie Review

Last Updated: May 2, 2024 Fact Checked

This article was co-authored by Marissa Levis . Marissa Levis is an English Teacher in the Morris County Vocational School District. She previously worked as an English director at a tutoring center that caters to students in elementary and middle school. She is an expert in creating a curriculum that helps students advance their skills in secondary-level English, focusing on MLA formatting, reading comprehension, writing skills, editing and proofreading, literary analysis, standardized test preparation, and journalism topics. Marissa received her Master of Arts in Teaching from Fairleigh Dickinson University. There are 14 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page. This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources. This article has been viewed 5,603,911 times.

Whether a movie is a rotten tomato or a brilliant work of art, if people are watching it, it's worth critiquing. A decent movie review should entertain, persuade and inform, providing an original opinion without giving away too much of the plot. A great movie review can be a work of art in its own right. Read on to learn how to analyze a movie like a professional film critic, come up with an interesting thesis, and write a review as entertaining as your source material.

Sample Movie Reviews

Writing an Intro for a Movie Review

• Comparison to Relevant Event or Movie: "Every day, our leaders, politicians, and pundits call for "revenge"– against terrorist groups, against international rivals, against other political parties. But few of them understand the cold, destructive, and ultimately hollow thrill of revenge as well as the characters of Blue Ruin. "
• Review in a nutshell: "Despite a compelling lead performance by Tom Hanks and a great soundtrack, Forrest Gump never gets out of the shadow of its weak plot and questionable premise."
• Context or Background Information: " Boyhood might be the first movie made where knowing how it was produced–slowly, over 12 years, with the same actors–is just as crucial as the movie itself."

• Using stars, a score out of 10 or 100, or the simple thumbs-up and thumbs-down is a quick way to give your thoughts. You then write about why you chose that rating.
• Great Movie: ABC is the rare movie that succeeds on almost every level, where each character, scene, costume, and joke firing on all cylinders to make a film worth repeated viewings."
• Bad Movie: "It doesn't matter how much you enjoy kung-fu and karate films: with 47 Ronin, you're better off saving your money, your popcorn, and time."
• Okay Movie: "I loved the wildly uneven Interstellar far more than I should have, but that doesn't mean it is perfect. Ultimately, the utter awe and spectacle of space swept me through the admittedly heavy-handed plotting and dialogue."

• Great: "Michael B. Jordan and Octavia Spencer's chemistry would carry Fruitvale Station even if the script wasn't as good. The mid-movie prison scene in particular, where the camera never leaves their faces, shows how much they can convey with nothing but their eyelids, the flashing tension of neck muscles, and a barely cracking voice."
• Bad: " Jurassic World's biggest flaw, a complete lack of relatable female characters, is only further underscored by a laughably unrealistic shot of our heroine running away from a dinosaur – in heels."
• Okay: "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, lightbulb, and slick patch of ground is accounted for, doesn't translate to an ending that seems powerful but ultimately says little of substance."

• Does the film reflect on a current event or contemporary issue? It could be the director's way of engaging in a bigger conversation. Look for ways to relate the content of the film to the "real" world.
• Does the film seem to have a message, or does it attempt to elicit a specific response or emotion from the audience? You could discuss whether or not it achieves its own goals.
• Does the film connect with you on a personal level? You could write a review stemming from your own feelings and weave in some personal stories to make it interesting for your readers.

Composing Your Review

• When you name characters in your plot summary, list the actors' names directly afterward in parenthesis.
• Find a place to mention the director's name and the full movie title.
• If you feel you must discuss information that might "spoil" things for readers, warn them first.

• Cinematography: " Her is a world drenched in color, using bright, soft reds and oranges alongside calming whites and grays that both build, and slowly strip away, the feelings of love between the protagonists. Every frame feels like a painting worth sitting in."
• Tone: "Despite the insane loneliness and high stakes of being stuck alone on Mars, The Martian's witty script keeps humor and excitement alive in every scene. Space may be dangerous and scary, but the joy of scientific discovery is intoxicating."
• Music and Sound: " No Country For Old Men's bold decision to skip music entirely pays off in spades. The eerie silence of the desert, punctuated by the brief spells of violent, up-close-and-personal sound effects of hunter and hunted, keeps you constantly on the edge of your seat."
• Acting: "While he's fantastic whenever he's on the move, using his cool stoicism to counteract the rampaging bus, Keanu Reeves can't quite match his costar in the quiet moments of Speed, which falter under his expressionless gaze."

• Keep your writing clear and easy to understand. Don't use too much technical filmmaking jargon, and make your language crisp and accessible.
• Present both the facts and your opinion. For example, you might state something such as, "The Baroque background music was a jarring contrast to the 20th century setting." This is a lot more informative then simply saying, "The music was a strange choice for the movie."

• Great: "In the end, even the characters of Blue Ruin know how pointless their feud is. But revenge, much like every taut minute of this thriller, is far too addictive to give up until the bitter end.""
• Bad: "Much like the oft-mentioned "box of chocolates", Forest Gump has a couple of good little morsels. But most of the scenes, too sweet by half, should have been in the trash long before this movie was put out."
• Okay: "Without the novel, even revolutionary concept, Boyhood may not be a great movie. It might not even be "good.” But the power the film finds in the beauty of passing time and little, inconsequential moments – moments that could only be captured over 12 years of shooting – make Linklater's latest an essential film for anyone interested in the art of film."

Polishing Your Piece

• Ask yourself whether your review stayed true to your thesis. Did your conclusion tie back in with the initial ideas you proposed?
• Decide whether your review contains enough details about the movie. You may need to go back and add more description here and there to give readers a better sense of what the movie's about.
• Decide whether your review is interesting enough as a stand-alone piece of writing. Did you contribute something original to this discussion? What will readers gain from reading your review that they couldn't from simply watching the movie?

Studying Your Source Material

• The title of the film, and the year it came out.
• The director's name.
• The names of the lead actors.

• Make a note every time something sticks out to you, whether it's good or bad. This could be costuming, makeup, set design, music, etc. Think about how this detail relates to the rest of the movie and what it means in the context of your review.
• Take note of patterns you begin to notice as the movie unfolds.
• Use the pause button frequently so you make sure not to miss anything, and rewind as necessary.

• Direction: Consider the director and how he or she choose to portray/explain the events in the story. If the movie was slow, or didn't include things you thought were necessary, you can attribute this to the director. If you've seen other movies directed by the same person, compare them and determine which you like the most.
• Cinematography: What techniques were used to film the movie? What setting and background elements helped to create a certain tone?
• Writing: Evaluate the script, including dialogue and characterization. Did you feel like the plot was inventive and unpredictable or boring and weak? Did the characters' words seem credible to you?
• Editing: Was the movie choppy or did it flow smoothly from scene to scene? Did they incorporate a montage to help build the story? And was this obstructive to the narrative or did it help it? Did they use long cuts to help accentuate an actor's acting ability or many reaction shots to show a group's reaction to an event or dialogue? If visual effects were used were the plates well-chosen and were the composited effects part of a seamless experience? (Whether the effects looked realistic or not is not the jurisdiction of an editor, however, they do choose the footage to be sent off to the compositors, so this could still affect the film.)
• Costume design: Did the clothing choices fit the style of the movie? Did they contribute to the overall tone, rather than digressing from it?
• Set design: Consider how the setting of the film influenced its other elements. Did it add or subtract from the experience for you? If the movie was filmed in a real place, was this location well-chosen?
• Score or soundtrack: Did it work with the scenes? Was it over/under-used? Was it suspenseful? Amusing? Irritating? A soundtrack can make or break a movie, especially if the songs have a particular message or meaning to them.

Expert Q&A

• If you don't like the movie, don't be abusive and mean. If possible, avoid watching the movies that you would surely hate. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0
• Understand that just because the movie isn't to your taste, that doesn't mean you should give it a bad review. A good reviewer helps people find movie's they will like. Since you don't have the same taste in movies as everyone else, you need to be able to tell people if they will enjoy the movie, even if you didn't. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0
• Structure is very important; try categorizing the different parts of the film and commenting on each of those individually. Deciding how good each thing is will help you come to a more accurate conclusion. For example, things like acting, special effects, cinematography, think about how good each of those are. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0

You Might Also Like

• ↑ https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/subject_specific_writing/writing_in_literature/writing_about_film/terminology_and_starting_prompts.html
• ↑ https://www.spiritofbaraka.com/how-write-a-movie-review
• ↑ https://www.nyfa.edu/student-resources/9-tips-for-writing-a-film-review/
• ↑ https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/writing-help/top-tips-for-writing-a-review
• ↑ https://writingcenter.unc.edu/tips-and-tools/summary-using-it-wisely/
• ↑ https://twp.duke.edu/sites/twp.duke.edu/files/file-attachments/film-review-1.original.pdf
• ↑ https://www.dailywritingtips.com/7-tips-for-writing-a-film-review/
• ↑ https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/subject_specific_writing/writing_in_literature/writing_about_film/film_writing_sample_analysis.html
• ↑ https://learning.hccs.edu/faculty/onnyx.bei/dual-credit/movie-review-writing-guide
• ↑ https://writingcenter.unc.edu/tips-and-tools/conclusions/
• ↑ https://www.grammarly.com/blog/how-to-write-a-movie-review/
• ↑ https://gustavus.edu/writingcenter/handoutdocs/editing_proofreading.php
• ↑ https://writingcenter.unc.edu/tips-and-tools/editing-and-proofreading/
• ↑ https://edusson.com/blog/how-to-write-movie-review

About This Article

To write a movie review, start with a compelling fact or opinion to hook your readers, like "Despite a great performance by Tom Hanks, Forrest Gump never overcomes its weak plot." Then, elaborate on your opinion of the movie right off the bat so readers know where you stand. Once your opinion is clear, provide examples from the movie that prove your point, like specific scenes, dialogue, songs, or camera shots. To learn how to study a film closely before you write a review, scroll down! Did this summary help you? Yes No

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How to Write a Movie Review: 10 Essential Tips

As long as there have been films, there have been film critics. Starting with the early days of cinema, where reviews appeared in newspapers and magazines as brief, descriptive pieces, as filmmaking evolved as an art form, so did the role of the critic. James Agee, André Bazin, and Pauline Kael shaped the discourse around cinema, and today, famous film critics like the iconic Roger Ebert , The New York Times’s A.O. Scott , and The New York Times’s Manohla Dargis continue to leave an indelible mark on the world of cinema.

With the rise of the internet, film criticism now encompasses a wide range of voices and perspectives from around the globe. Sites like Letterboxd make it possible for anyone to write short-form reviews on film. Even stars like The Bear’s Ayo Edebiri have accounts and share opinions on the latest box-office hits.

How to Write a Movie Review

Today, contemporary YouTube and TikTok critics such as Red Letter Media , deepfocuslens , and DoMo Draper don’t just write film reviews, they shoot videos and skits. Through their creative formats, they offer refreshing and unique perspectives while building communities of diehard film and television enthusiasts. Whether you choose to write reviews for your own blog, other websites, or social media channels, by learning how to write a movie review, any aspiring filmmaker can start to watch films intentionally. 

@domodraperr Replying to @xsindeviltriggerx I’ll get right on that, Sir!🫡 #comments #movies #film #satire #fyp #mulan #disney ♬ I’ll Make a Man Out of You (feat. Black Gryph0n) – Cover – Samuel Kim

TikTok film critic “DoMo Draper” provides commentary on new and old films, often calling out racism, social injustice, misogyny, and prejudice.

While there’s no perfect approach to writing a review, there are best practices that every aspiring reviewer should consider.

Here are ten tips on writing a compelling piece.

1. Watch the film at least once.

For new reviewers, it’s impossible to capture everything after one viewing. Watching the film first, then watching to take notes, is an easy way to improve the quality of your final review. This will also make it easy to recall in-the-moment thoughts and reactions.

Take a review by Christian Blauvelt of Charlie Chaplin’s silent film The Circus , for example. Since the film does not have sound, properly critiquing the film requires close attention. Viewers have to pay attention to the various nuances in Chaplin’s performance, follow the story, and take in the cinematography. Regarding The Circus , Blauvelt writes, “The film lacks a conventional plot, but is rather a pearl necklace of strung-together episodes. ” The statement isn’t a criticism, but a keen observation likely gleaned from more than one viewing. 

So while every film reviewer has their own approach, many choose to watch a film more than once to deliver the best possible review. Image The Criterion Collection.

2. Express your opinions and support your criticism.

Professional reviewers do not shy away from sharing whether they thought a movie was good, bad, or indifferent. In a review for the film Mother!, reviewer Candice Frederick describes the film as “uncomfortable,” and “controversial,” helping viewers understand the tone of the movie. While Frederick seemed to enjoy the film, her honesty about how it would make audiences feel was vital in writing the review.

Be sure to back up these thoughts with specifics–a disappointing performance, beautiful cinematography, difficult material that leaves you thinking, and so on. Professional reviewers should express why and how they came to their criticism.

3. Consider your audience.

Are you writing for a fan site or a news outlet? Who will read your pieces, and what are their interests? Knowing who your readers are and where the review will be published can help you decide what elements of the movie to highlight. For example, take these two very different reviews for the film ‘Synecdoche, New York’.  

The first review was written by Alonso Duralde for The Today Show , and clocks in at around 500 words. The film focuses on the bullet points: characters, plot, and a concise review. The second review is over 3,000 words and published on the Critical Critics blog . This review goes into massive depth (and yes, includes spoilers) about the film, providing an incredible amount of analysis. The first review is tailored for the casual filmgoer, while the second is for cinephiles. Each review serves a different purpose.

It’s also a good idea to adjust your writing style to fit the target audience. For example, Alonso Duralde is a talented film reviewer and likely wrote the review to fit the tone of The Today Show site. Image via Director’s Library.

4. Talk about the acting.

When reviewing a film, it’s important to take space to discuss the performances. Does the film feature a seasoned actor in a new kind of role or a brilliant performance from a rising star? How was the acting? In a review by Brett Milam for the award-winning film Whiplash , he goes into rich detail about performances by both breakthrough actor Miles Teller and seasoned professional JK Simmons.

Regarding Teller, Milam writes, “This is a performance. This is art,” and about Simmons, “I found him fascinating to just look at.” Those are just small examples of the analysis he provides regarding their acting. As the film mostly focuses on the relationship between their two characters, Miles as the protagonist and JK as the antagonist, the review of the performances lends well to the plot of the film: student and teacher going head to head in an intense and determined showdown. 

Feedback about how well the actors handled the script, the dynamics in an ensemble, and so much more can help describe how the actors did in any given film.

5. Call out directors, cinematographers, and special effects.

Reviews that include highlights or missteps of directors, cinematographers, and costume designers can help provide support to your critiques. By providing specific examples of what worked, what surprised you, and what fell short of expectations, reviewers can write a well-thought-out review that goes beyond whether or not you liked it.

In a review for A Wrinkle in Time , Monique Jones artfully crafts a piece that diplomatically cites the missteps of the film. From analyzing the quality of the CGI to the camera techniques to inconsistencies in the rules of the fantasy universe, Jones fairly offers a critique that guides the filmmakers and crew on future endeavors. To write this type of review, it helps to have some knowledge of the filmmaking process so you can properly assess the screenwriting, cinematography, special effects, acting, and more. Image via Disney.

6. No spoilers!

The point of writing a movie review is to get people interested in seeing a movie. That’s why it’s absolutely best practice to not reveal spoilers in a film review. Film reviewer Robert Daniels approaches this creatively. In his review of Annihilation , he provides commentary on what would be considered spoilers. However, he places that part of the review at the bottom of the article under a bold header/image that warns the reader he’s about to spoil the film. For reviewers who want to dissect the entire film, this is a good way to both tease the film for anyone who hasn’t seen it and cater to people who want to know what the ending is.

Remember: the goal of any film review is to discuss the plot without revealing any twists or the ending of the film. 

7. Study the professionals.

As with all writing endeavors, the more you read, the better. However, with the modern landscape of film reviewing, which can go beyond writing and extend to content creation for social media platforms, there are a ton of reviewers to take notes from. First, determine what kind of reviewer you want to be, and what kind of medium you plan to deliver your reviews on. If you plan to post to Medium, for example, studying the reviewers already established on the site can be a great starting point.

Then, read film reviews for some of your favorite films. Determine which style of review you like and don’t like. Question why, and use your critical eye to consider why one reviewer has a hundred thousand followers and another only has two. If you’re looking to be featured on a website or a magazine, read the publications where you’d like your writing to appear as a template for your reviews, and don’t forget to read the submission guidelines. A few examples of film review professionals include Rotten Tomatoes , Roger Ebert , and Film Comment. 

8. Reread, rewrite, and edit.

While writing film critique is based on opinion, and follows the style of the reviewer, it’s still important to edit work. Writers should check for spelling, grammar, and readability. No matter how good a writer’s opinions are, they will not be taken seriously if the director’s name isn’t spelled correctly. Tools such as Grammarly and Hemingway Editor can be great for correcting and finding areas that need improvement. 

9. Find your voice.

The best reviewers have a distinct personality that comes across in their writing. Los Angeles Times film reviewer Carlos Aguilar wrote an impassioned piece about the film Beatriz at Dinner , going into a lot of detail about his experiences working in the film industry and his Mexican heritage. By sharing anecdotes about casual racism he’s experienced and connecting it to the film’s protagonist, and what she goes through, the review feels personal and relatable.

“If at a film festival – to which I’ve gotten access to because I’m a published writer – in a progressive city like Los Angeles, I must keep my guard up when people question my right to be there, then how are the voiceless supposed to feel safe, respected, or hopeful?” Aguilar writes. 

For new reviewers, developing this type of unique voice does not happen overnight, so take every opportunity to write as an opportunity to develop your style. Image via BBC.

10. Know your taste.

As a film reviewer, it can be helpful to identify your taste in film. By knowing specific preferences, strengths, and biases, reviewers can offer nuanced critiques that resonate with audiences and provide valuable guidance on which films they might enjoy. Additionally, it helps to maintain credibility and integrity as a reviewer by ensuring that assessments are authentic and reflective of personal cinematic sensibilities.

Try to explore various genres, directors, and themes to understand what resonates emotionally, intellectually, and aesthetically. Pay attention to the types of stories that engage you, which can help define your preferences.

Learn More About Filmmaking at NYFA

Film students with writing experience actually make great reviewers, as many of them are required to study a range of topics relating to film that can include cinematography, screenwriting, producing, and much more. Ready to build even more skills in filmmaking? Request more information about New York Film Academy’s filmmaking programs and workshops today!

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How to Write a Film Review: Preparation, Steps, Examples

• by Anastasiya Yakubovska
• 06.10.2022 10.05.2024
• How to write ...

How to write a film review (true, professional, and comprehensive) and not be limited to the phrase “What a great movie!”? In this article, you will find answers to the next questions:

• How long is a movie review? 
• How many paragraphs does a movie review have? 
• Features of the Film Review 
• Functions of the Movie Review 
• How to Write a Film Review: Preparation for Writing 
• 10 Questions You Need to Answer Before You Start Writing a Movie Review 
• How to Write and Structure a Film Review: Step by Step 

What Is a Film Review?

A film review is a critical judgment or discussion that informs about the release of a new film and contains its analysis, assessment, summary, as well as personal impressions and experiences after watching.

How long is a movie review?

On average, the length of a film review is about 1000 words.

How many paragraphs does a movie review have?

It is recommended that the film review should consist of 5-7 paragraphs.

Read also article “How to Write a Book Review: Step by Step and Examples”.

Features of the Film Review

A film review is a persuasive piece of writing, it has some features as:

• A less formal style of writing. 
• You need to write objectively about the film. 
• But, on the other hand, movie reviews contain personal thoughts and feelings. 
• The film review’s audience is wider and more diverse. 

Movie reviews can be written by two groups of reviewers: professional critics and ordinary consumers. Therefore, the text of the review will differ. In the first case, when the reviewer is a professional critic, he will describe the movie instead of evaluating it. While consumer critics mostly write from a personal perspective. 

What is the main purpose of a film review?

The main purpose of a film review is to inform readers about the film (what can expect from it) and to help them determine if they want to watch the movie. 

Functions of the Movie Review

The film review performs several functions at once: it informs, analyzes, persuades, and entertains. If you can include all of these points in your review, then you will have an excellent result in the end. 

How to Write a Film Review: Preparation for Writing

Writing a review is, of course, a creative process, but you should not forget about the analytical approach to creating a convincing and high-quality text. You must take the work responsibly, which we will do now.

To write a professional film review, you first need to complete the following preparation steps:

• Of course, the first step is to find a film, if it has not been previously chosen by the manager/client/boss. There will be more chances to write a good review if the film was liked by both – film critics and you personally.
• Watch the movie at least 2-3 times. After the first viewing, you will get a general impression of the picture, and try to fully immerse yourself in the atmosphere of the film. Pay attention to the details the next time you watch it: the sound, the actor’s play, the editing, the plot. 
• If you have difficulty understanding the events covered in the film (for example, historical), be sure to find additional information and research the topic.
• If after two viewings you still do not have a final assessment of the film in the form of a brief thesis, watch the film again. You can look at other works of the director who worked on this film, this will help you determine his characteristic style. Also, as an option, you can look at the game of actors in other films (for comparison).
• When watching a movie, take notes: key scenes, interesting plot twists, inconsistencies, details, and quotes. Then, based on them, you can build a review text, and a good quote can become an excellent epigraph.
• Find information about the filming: location, duration, season, details about the filming process, difficulties the production team faced, casting, etc. Such information will make the review more attractive to readers.
• If the film is nominated for awards and prizes, please include this information in your film review. For a potential viewer, such an assessment of the film will be a weighty argument in the direction of -> compulsory viewing.

10 Questions You Need to Answer Before You Start Writing a Movie Review

• Does the film split into multiple parts? A sequel, prequel, or one of the movie series? 
• What is the film genre (action, comedy, historical, drama, fantasy, Western, political, thriller, gangster, horror, tragicomedy, romance, sports, mystery, science fiction)? Is the movie based on real or fictional events?
• Did the screenplay writer create an exciting plot?
• Is the rhythm of the film slow and quiet, heavy and static, or chaotic and frantic?
• What is the film’s rating according to the MPAA? ( G – General Audiences. All ages admitted. PG – Parental Guidance Suggested. PG-13 – Parents Strongly Cautioned. R – Restricted. Under 17 requires an accompanying parent or adult guardian. NC-17 – Adults Only.) 
• Are there any films with a similar/same theme? Sometimes it is worth mentioning some of them in a review, as a comparison.
• How can you characterize the work of a cinematographer? How accurately are the most expressive compositional, lighting solutions, as well as camera angles, selected and embodied?
• Is the film entertaining or covers a serious themes?
• Was the casting successful? Did all the actors cope with their roles?
• Is the atmosphere of the film tense, mysterious, sinister, relaxed, or romantic?

The answers to all of the above questions will help you understand how to write a film review, and above all, create a draft version of your future review. But, of course, this is not enough for the final result.

How to Write and Structure a Film Review: Step by Step

Writing a film review is a long and complicated process. Therefore, it is better to break it down into stages and move step by step. This will help you not to get lost and not get confused in the details.

• The catchy introduction.

The introductory part of the review should contain important information about the film: title, director, release date, and genre. 

You can mention nominations and awards, as well as indicate the box office (if the numbers are impressive) and the cast. 

In addition to “technical” aspects and a simple presentation of the plot, it is necessary to express your impression of the film in the form of a thesis, for example, to tell:

• about the connection of the film’s central idea with current events and social problems;
• about the similarity of the film’s plot with a personal life situation, personal experience, and feelings;
• about the connection of technical elements (lighting, sound, editing) with the theme of the film.

2. Pass the verdict.

Do not torment the reader and express your opinion about the film in the first paragraphs of the review.

You should not leave all the most interesting “for later”. If you decide to give a final assessment of the film at the end of the review, what are the chances that the reader will read to this end?

3. Write a summary of the plot.

Choose 4-5 main events.

Avoid the film’s ending and spoilers. Keep the intrigue. If you want to spoil and share an unusual story development, warn the reader about this.

4. Bring the feelings.

In addition to presenting the plot of the film, you should add emotions to the text of the review and show what you felt while watching it.

5. Define the main purpose of the movie. 

Perhaps the film’s purpose is hidden in its plot. Or maybe the film does not pretend to solve global problems at all. Perhaps the film is entertaining, and this is its advantage – it is relaxed and simple.

Sometimes the main idea of a serious and deep film can be found in an interview with a film crew, a screenwriter, or a director.

6. Add some details of the filmmaking process. 

It is important to know the measure and not to overdo it with the terminology. Here’s what you can write about:

• Cinematography: visual mood, lighting elements, shot sizes and widths, camera angles, etc. 
• Sound. The main goal is to create the necessary atmosphere in the film. Sound in movies includes music, dialogue, sound effects, ambient noise, background noise, and soundtracks. 
• Editing is the creation of a finished motion picture from many shot scenes. A film editor must creatively work with the layers of images, story, dialogue, music, pacing, as well as the actors’ performances to effectively “re-imagine” and even rewrite the film to craft a cohesive whole.
• Mise-en-scène (from French – placement on the stage) is the mutual arrangement of the actors and their environment on the set, natural or pavilion. Mise-en-scene includes landscapes, visual effects, the psychological state of the characters, etc.

7. The deep meaning.

You may be able to spot specific symbolic items, repetitive moments, or key phrases that give depth to the film.

8. Give examples.

It is not enough to say “ an excellent game of actors ”. Explain what exactly caught your attention (appearance, facial expressions, costumes, or movements of the actor). 

9. A convincing conclusion.

Write about the moments in the film that made the biggest impression on you. Share a recommendation. To whom and why do you advise to watch this movie?

10. Reread the review text several times .

Edit, and correct mistakes that can spoil the impression even from a professionally written film review.

Examples of Film Reviews

To consolidate the received information, let’s move from theory to practice. Below are two examples of film reviews.

Apocalypse Now

Review by Roger Ebert

Francis Ford Coppola’s film “Apocalypse Now” was inspired by Heart of Darkness, a novel by Joseph Conrad about a European named Kurtz who penetrated to the farthest reaches of the Congo and established himself like a god. A boat sets out to find him, and on the journey the narrator gradually loses confidence in orderly civilization; he is oppressed by the great weight of the jungle all around him, a pitiless Darwinian testing ground in which each living thing tries every day not to be eaten.

What is found at the end of the journey is not Kurtz so much as what Kurtz found: that all of our days and ways are a fragile structure perched uneasily atop the hungry jaws of nature that will thoughtlessly devour us. A happy life is a daily reprieve from this knowledge.

A week ago I was in Calcutta, where I saw mile upon square mile of squatter camps in which hundreds of thousands live generation after generation in leaky huts of plastic, cardboard and scrap metal, in poverty so absolute it is impossible to see any hope of escape. I do not mean to equate the misery of those hopeless people with a movie; that would be indecent. But I was deeply shaken by what I saw, and realized how precious and precarious is a happy life. And in such a mood I watched “Apocalypse Now” and came to the scene where Col. Kurtz (Marlon Brando) tells Capt. Willard (Martin Sheen) about “the horror.”

Kurtz is a decorated hero, one of the best soldiers in the Army, who has created a jungle sanctuary upriver inside enemy territory, and rules Montagnard tribesmen as his private army. He tells Willard about a day when his Special Forces men inoculated the children of a village against polio: “This old man came running after us and he was crying, he couldn’t see. We went back there, and they had come and hacked off every inoculated arm. There they were in a pile, a pile of little arms. . . .”

What Kurtz learned is that the Viet Cong were willing to go to greater lengths to win: “Then I realized they were stronger than we. They have the strength, the strength to do that. If I had 10 divisions of those men, then our troubles here would be over very quickly. You have to have men who are moral and at the same time who are able to utilize their primordial instincts to kill without feeling, without passion, without judgment.” This is the “horror” that Kurtz has found, and it threatens to envelop Willard, too.

The whole movie is a journey toward Willard’s understanding of how Kurtz, one of the Army’s best soldiers, penetrated the reality of war to such a depth that he could not look any longer without madness and despair.

The film has one of the most haunting endings in cinema, a poetic evocation of what Kurtz has discovered, and what we hope not to discover for ourselves. The river journey creates enormous anticipation about Kurtz, and Brando fulfills it. When the film was released in 1979, his casting was criticized and his enormous paycheck of $1 million was much discussed, but it’s clear he was the correct choice, not only because of his stature as an icon, but because of his voice, which enters the film from darkness or half-light, repeating the words of T.S. Eliot’s despairing “The Hollow Men.” That voice sets the final tone of the film.

Film review: example

Diana biopic Spencer wobbles between the bold and the bad

By Nicholas Barber

You may feel that you’ve had enough of Princess Diana’s story on the big and small screens, what with Naomi Watts taking the role in Oliver Hirschbiegel’s awful Diana in 2013, and then Emma Corrin playing her in the most recent season of The Crown, with the mantel set to be passed in Elizabeth Debicki in the next run. But, to give it its due, Pablo Larraín’s Spencer marks the only time the People’s Princess has been shown delivering a lecture on Anne Boleyn to an old coat that she has just stolen off a scarecrow, and then having a chat with the ghost of Boleyn herself shortly afterwards. The Chilean director doesn’t go in for conventional biopics, as anyone who has seen Jackie (starring Natalie Portman) or Neruda will know. And here again he has gone for a surreal portrait of his iconic subject. The snag is that his experimental art house spirit keeps bumping up against the naffness and the familiarity of British films set in stately homes, so his psychodrama ends up being both ground-breaking and rib-tickling.

It’s set over three days in 1991, from Christmas Eve to Boxing Day, at Sandringham House in Norfolk. The rest of the Royal Family has arrived for their holiday in a fleet of chauffeur-driven cars, but Diana (Kristen Stewart) rocks up on her own in a Porsche convertible, having taken a detour to visit the aforementioned scarecrow: her dilapidated childhood home, from the days when she was Lady Diana Spencer, is a field or two away from Sandringham. Her late arrival concerns the sympathetic head chef (Sean Harris) and bothers the Scottish army veteran (Timothy Spall) who has the job of ensuring that everything goes the way the Queen wants it to. Her Majesty’s insufferable Christmas traditions include weighing all the guests when they arrive and when they leave to ensure that they’ve been sufficiently gluttonous. But Diana is in no mood for festive japes. Her Christmas present from Charles (Jack Farthing) – a necklace with pearls the size of golf balls – is identical to the one he has given his mistress. And the whisper in the servants’ quarters is that the Princess is “cracking up”. The filmmakers apparently agree.

Steering away from the same territory as The Crown, Larraín and Knight don’t fill the film with awkward meals and heated arguments (although there are one of each of those). Prince Charles does some grumbling, but the Queen has hardly any lines and Prince Philip has none: they are closer to menacing waxworks than people. For most of the time, Diana is either talking to her young sons, her trusted personal dresser (Sally Hawkins) or to herself. It’s interesting, this lack of dramatic conflict and discernible plot, but it can leave the film seeming as listless and purposeless as Larraín’s Diana herself. Her favourite occupation is to wander around the estate until she finds something that has an ominous symbolic connection to her, and then make an unconvincing speech about it. Ah, pheasants! So beautiful, yet bred to be killed!

Stewart is such inspired casting that she makes all this eccentric nonsense watchable. She’s been practising Diana’s signature moves for years – dipped head, hunched shoulders – and she certainly knows what it’s like to put up with intrusive tabloid photographers. She also looks suitably fabulous in the many outfits that Diana is required to wear over the long weekend. And unlike Watts’s performance in 2013, hers doesn’t seem distractingly like an impersonation. Mind you, she delivers all her lines in little bursts of hissing whispers, so if you don’t see it with English subtitles, as its first audiences did at the Venice Film Festival, you might not understand more than half of what she says.

The effect is a bit odd, but there are lots of odd things in the film, not least the tone and the pacing, which lurch around like someone who’s had too much after-dinner port. Between Jonny Greenwood’s squalling jazz soundtrack, the hallucinations, and the blush-making sexual confessions, Spencer is a folly that wobbles between the bold and the bad, the disturbingly gothic and the just plain silly. In some scenes, it’s heart-rending in its depiction of Diana’s self-harm and bulimia. In others, it’s almost as risible as the Diana biopic from 2013, and that’s saying something. I didn’t know any more about Diana afterwards than I did beforehand, but I can’t say I didn’t enjoy it. This is a film that echoes The Shining at the start and 2001: A Space Odyssey at the end. The Crown Christmas Special it ain’t.

Sources of information: 

• “The Film Analysis Handbook” by Thomas Caldwell. 
• https://payforwriting.com/writing/creating-review/how-to-write-movie-review
• www.mtsu.edu
• www.sciencedirect.com/science
• Image:   freepik.com
• Poster from the film Apocalypse Now

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How to Write Effective Movie Reviews: A Comprehensive Guide

Writing a movie review is a skill that combines your passion for cinema with your ability to analyze and communicate your thoughts effectively. 

Whatever your reason for wanting to write a movie review—whether it's because you genuinely love movies, you're attempting to generate online income through ad placements, or perhaps it's a combination of both, or you're a person who has studied film in school or is involved in the industry in some capacity—this comprehensive guide will provide you with the tips and techniques you need to write engaging and insightful movie reviews.

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What Is a Movie Review?

Traditionally, a movie review is an assessment of a film that encompasses a summary of the movie, an analysis, and personal opinions. 

Often, these reviews serve as valuable resources for film enthusiasts who rely on them to decide whether to watch a particular film or to gain a deeper understanding of a movie they've already seen.

But I believe a movie review can be whatever you intend it to be. 

However, it's important to have a clear purpose for the piece of work you're assembling. Your review should articulate specific points and outline a well-defined plan for its presentation, all while considering how it will be received. Will it offer some form of benefit to those who come across it? What motivates you to write the review?

Perhaps a movie has inspired you.

Or you're crafting a review to make a broader point that isn't exclusively focused on the film itself but utilizes the movie as a conduit for conveying your message. 

Personally, I write about movies to both earn income through my website and to indulge in my love for great stories, creating a harmonious blend of both motivations. I also find the act of working through my feelings sparked by certain stories therapeutic for my peace of mind.

However, maintaining the dedication and work ethic required to generate income through this endeavor demands time and effort. Therefore, my passion for movies becomes an essential factor that makes it a worthwhile investment of my time.

Movie reviews can be written articles, recorded videos, or podcasts, making them accessible to diverse audiences through blogs, news publications, entertainment podcasts, radio broadcasts, television, or streaming platforms. 

Often, these elements are combined to provide the best possible user experience for the target audience you aim to reach.

How to Write a Movie Review

Now, let's delve into the process of writing an effective movie review with these essential guidelines:

Have something to say:

Hopefully, something original or unique. Push your thoughts further down the road to extract valuable insights or ideas. Keep the conversation the movie starts going by providing fresh perspectives.

Make specific references and details:

Ensure that you discuss precise moments within the film, incorporating quotes where relevant. For instance, highlight specific instances that had a profound impact on you regarding the acting. Be meticulous in correctly identifying and distinguishing all character names, clarifying whether you are referring to the actor or the character. While it is not essential to list every credit for the film, prioritize mentioning the credits and actors' names that are pivotal in supporting the points you make in your article. Multiple viewings can often reveal new insights that you can seamlessly integrate into your review.

Screen shot from C’mon C’mon Movie Review: Star Children

Start with a hook:

This can take various including but not limited to a captivating story, intriguing fact, compelling question, powerful film quote, or brief anecdote. The primary goal is to immediately engage your readers, drawing them into your review. Express your initial thoughts on the movie and establish the tone, aligning it with the film's mood and your style. Consider your audience and the film's significance—whether it's a blockbuster, indie gem, classic, or thought-provoking documentary. Share a brief personal connection or your reason for choosing to watch the movie, avoiding spoilers and keeping the introduction concise, as it sets the stage for your entire review.

If you do reveal spoilers:

Place a clear spoiler warning to precede any spoiler content and ensure it's easily visible to the audience. Keep in mind that rules for handling spoilers differ on various platforms, so adapt your approach accordingly to avoid spoilers being seen or inferred inadvertently.

Establish your opinion:

As a reviewer, you should have well-informed opinions about the film's various aspects. Use evidence from the film, such as character development and scene descriptions, to support your claims. Compare the film to others in the same genre or by the same filmmaker to provide context.

Think of your narrative:

How will this be digested? What will the reader think from the moment they start reading? What if they skim your review? How will you make your main and best points more prevalent? The perspective of the reader should always be considered, and how can you bring them value? Then, construct your narrative to unfold in a way that aligns with how they would best absorb your review.

Trim the fat:

Make sure you don't use unnecessary words. Don't disrupt your main narrative with extraneous words, as it can overwhelm the reader and make them put in extra effort. Give your reader credit enough as they will understand your humor, logical reasoning, and be able to retain it.

Use video and audio and social:

Some people don't have the time or patience to dedicate to reading, so if it's worth the time to you, make other forms of your review available, such as social videos or podcasts.

Collaborating is social proof:

A conversation with someone is sometimes more valid concerning matters of opinion because there is another person in the room who can question the other person. Consider podcasting with someone or interviewing someone. Additionally, consider citing sources and being transparent about where you got your information. This makes the piece more authoritative and encourages backlinking to your own site if you do it consistently. It follows social media logic in a way that you are 'tagging' the original sources. If they track their backlinks, they will see you are a reputable source, at least. Citing reliable sources is a best practice and boosts your credibility. Transparency is a good thing.

Evaluate the film:

After presenting your analysis and opinions, offer an overall evaluation of the film. Discuss whether the movie effectively conveyed its intended themes and storyline and whether you would recommend it to others. Some reviewers choose to assign a letter grade, passing grade, or percentage score to summarize their assessment.

Screen shot from Inside Man Review: Masterful Denzel

Take notes:

While watching the film, jot down critical elements you want to discuss in your review. This can include aspects like performances, lighting choices, music placement, CGI, thematic arcs, and more.

Go beyond the storyline:

In-depth movie reviews should delve into more than just the plot. Include character analyses, explore the film's themes, discuss cinematography, tone, sound design, story structure, special effects, acting, direction, and pacing.

Summary is not required:

While providing a brief or in-depth plot summary can enhance the reader's experience, I believe it's not always necessary. There are cases when you're writing for an audience that has already seen the movie, so a detailed plot summary may be more information than the reader desires. This is why developing your narrative and understanding the purpose of your article, along with knowing what you want to convey to your target audience, is a crucial initial step. Do they require a summary? It depends on the article's goal. However, including a summary can be universally beneficial, as it may enhance your SEO and reach a broader audience beyond your niche.

Practice makes better processes

As you continue to hone your movie review writing skills, remember that the more reviews you write, the better you'll become at analyzing films and engaging your audience. With each one be mindful of what is working and what is not - considering things like time saving factors, creative concept development efficiency, editing processes, and how can they be improved to best fit your desired workflow.

So, start watching, start writing, and enjoy the journey of becoming a skilled movie reviewer. Your insights and perspectives will add value to the world of cinema criticism and it’s important to contribute in the most responsible way you can.

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How to Write a Movie Review: A Step-by-Step Guide with Examples

• backlinkworks
• Writing Articles & Reviews
• October 3, 2023

Introduction

Watching movies is a popular pastime for many individuals. While some enjoy being entertained by the latest releases, others find satisfaction in analyzing and critiquing films. If you fall into the latter category, then writing a movie review can be a rewarding activity. Whether you aspire to become a professional film critic or simply want to share your opinion with others, this step-by-step guide will help you craft a compelling and engaging movie review.

Step 1: Watch the Movie

Before you can write a movie review, you need to watch the film attentively. Take notes while watching, paying attention to the plot, characters, cinematography, acting, and any other elements that stand out. Understanding the movie in its entirety is crucial to providing an informed perspective in your review.

Step 2: Gather Your Thoughts

After watching the film, take some time to gather your thoughts and reflect on your overall impressions. Did you enjoy the movie? What were its strengths and weaknesses? Consider the movie’s themes, messages, and intended audience. Jot down key points to use as the foundation of your review.

Step 3: Start with a Strong Introduction

The introduction sets the tone for your movie review. Begin with a captivating hook that grabs the reader’s attention and provides a brief overview of the film. Offer some context, such as the genre or director, and any interesting background information that adds value to the review. Make sure to state your overall opinion clearly and concisely.

Step 4: Analyze the Plot and Storyline

Provide a detailed analysis of the movie’s plot and storyline. Discuss the main narrative, subplots, and any twists or surprises. Evaluate the pacing, coherence, and depth of the story. Highlight any standout moments or memorable scenes that contribute to the overall narrative experience.

Step 5: Evaluate the Acting and Characters

An important aspect of any movie review is assessing the acting performances and the development of the characters. Discuss the actors’ portrayals, their chemistry, and whether they effectively brought their characters to life. Analyze the characters’ depth, growth, and believability. Give examples to support your claims.

Step 6: Critique the Cinematography and Visuals

The cinematography and visual elements greatly impact a movie’s overall appeal. Evaluate the camera angles, lighting, set design, costumes, and any special effects used. Explain how these choices contribute to the storytelling and enhance the viewer’s experience.

Step 7: Assess the Sound and Music

The sound design and music play a vital role in creating the right atmosphere for a film. Analyze the sound effects, soundtrack, and any background music utilized. Discuss how the audio elements complemented the visuals and enhanced the emotional impact of key scenes.

Step 8: Highlight the Strengths and Weaknesses

In this section, discuss the movie’s strengths and weaknesses. Offer constructive criticism where necessary, but also acknowledge the film’s positive aspects. Be specific and provide examples to support your claims, giving readers a well-rounded perspective of the overall quality of the movie.

Step 9: Conclusion

The conclusion should summarize your main points and provide a final assessment of the film. Reiterate your overall opinion and encourage readers to watch or avoid the movie based on your review. End with a thought-provoking statement or a call-to-action to engage your audience further.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

1. how long should a movie review be.

A movie review can vary in length, but a typical review ranges from 500 to 1000 words. However, if you feel the need to provide a more in-depth analysis, IT can extend beyond the usual word count.

2. Should I include spoilers in my review?

IT is best to avoid spoilers, as they can ruin the viewing experience for those who haven’t seen the film. If you must discuss specific plot details, clearly indicate spoiler warnings and use HTML tags to hide text, ensuring readers have the option to read or skip the spoilers.

3. How do I maintain objectivity in my review?

While a movie review reflects your personal opinion, try to maintain objectivity by offering balanced arguments and supporting your statements with evidence from the film. Acknowledge that different viewers may have different tastes and perspectives.

4. Is IT necessary to include a rating in my review?

Including a rating is not essential, but IT can provide a quick summary of your overall opinion. You can use a numerical scale, stars, or any other rating system you find suitable. Just ensure you explain the reasoning behind your rating within the body of the review.

5. How can I make my review stand out?

To make your review stand out, write in a clear and engaging style. Incorporate your unique voice and use captivating language to draw readers in. Including relevant screenshots from the movie or embedding a trailer can also enhance the overall appeal of your review.

writing a movie review provides an opportunity to express your thoughts and opinions about a film while helping others make informed decisions about their movie choices. By following this step-by-step guide, you can craft a well-written and insightful review that captures the essence of the movie. Remember to watch the film attentively, gather your thoughts, and provide a balanced assessment of its various elements. With practice, you’ll refine your skills as a movie reviewer and contribute to the world of film criticism.

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How to write a movie review [Updated 2023]

Writing a movie review is a great way to practice critical analysis skills. In this post, we explore what a movie review is, how to start a film review, and steps for writing and revising it.

What is a movie review?

A movie review is a concise evaluation of a film’s content and formal elements (cinematography, sound, lighting, etc.). Also known as a film review, a movie review considers not just what a film means, but how it means. Essentially, when you write a film review, you are conducting a critical analysis or close reading of a movie.

How to write a movie review

To write a successful review about a movie, you need to evaluate a film’s content, as well as its form. In this section, we break down these two components.

A film’s content includes its plot (what it’s about), characters, and setting. You’ll need to determine the main plot points of the film and how the film’s story works overall.

Are there parts that don’t make sense? Are certain characters more important than others? What is the relationship between the movie’s plot and its setting? A discussion of a film’s content provides good context for an analysis of its form.

Form refers to all of the aesthetic and/or formal elements that make a story into a movie. You can break down form into several categories:

• Cinematography : This element comprises all aspects of the movie that derive from the way a camera moves and works. You’ll need to pay attention to elements like camera angles, distances between the camera and the subject, and types of shots (i.e. close-up, aerial, etc.).
• Lighting : Films use lighting in various ways to communicate certain effects. For instance, noir films tend to utilize chiaroscuro lighting (deep contrasts between light and dark) to express a sense of secrecy or foreboding.
• Sound : The way a film uses sound can vary considerably. Most movies have a soundtrack, sometimes with music composed specifically for the film. Some films play around with ambient sounds or use silence at key points to signify important moments. What is the relation of sound to the image in specific scenes or sequences? Do sounds link images? Does it ever become more important than the image?
• Editing : The movies we watch online or in theaters have been heavily edited in order to achieve a particular flow. When you are preparing to write a movie review, pay close attention to elements like the length of shots, transitions between scenes, or any other items that were finalized after filming.
• Costumes, Props, and Sets : Are the costumes and props believable in relation to the film’s content and setting? Are costumes particularly elaborate or understated?

The important thing to remember when you are analyzing the formal elements of a movie is that every image, sound, movement, and object has meaning and has been planned. Your review needs to take into consideration how these elements work together with the film’s storyline to create a whole experience.

Once you’ve considered both the content and form of the movie that you’re reviewing, you can begin to evaluate the film as a whole. Is it a successful movie? Would you recommend it? Why or why not?

Step-by-step review writing tips

1. watch the movie.

The first time that you watch the movie, look for overarching themes or patterns, and establish what the film is primarily about. Take note of the main characters, as well as the setting.

2. Watch the movie again and take notes

Next, watch the movie again and take notes as you are doing so, keeping in mind the formal aspects discussed above. Write down anything that seems significant.

3. Evaluate the film’s form and content

Using the categories described above, and any handouts or guides provided by your instructor, evaluate the film’s formal elements along with its content. Are there elements of the movie that strike you as unfamiliar or perplexing? Are there elements that are repeated to emphasize a point or perception?

4. Write your review

A good movie review will contain:

• an introductory paragraph that tells the reader what movie you’re reviewing
• a paragraph that summarizes the movie
• several body paragraphs that explore significant formal elements and how they relate to the content
• a concluding paragraph that discusses your overall reaction to the film and whether or not you would recommend it to others

5. Create citations

You’ll need cite the film and any secondary sources that you consulted while writing. Use BibGuru’s citation generator to instantly create accurate citations for movies, as well as articles, books, and websites.

You may also want to consult a guide on how to cite a film in MLA or another major citation style .

6. Revise and proofread

Once you’ve written your review, you should set aside some time to revise and proofread it before you turn it in.

Movie review checklist

You can use this checklist to ensure that you’ve considered all of the formal elements, as well as the content, of the film that you’re reviewing:

🔲 Cinematography (camera moves and types of shots)

🔲 Lighting (natural vs. artificial light, contrasts between light and dark)

🔲 Sound (soundtrack, sound vs. silence, loud vs. soft sounds)

🔲 Editing (length of shots, transitions between scenes)

🔲 Costumes, props, and sets (believable vs. staged)

🔲 Content (plot, characters, setting)

Frequently Asked Questions about how to write a review about a movie

A movie review should contain a brief summary of the film, several paragraphs of analysis that focus on form and content, and a concluding paragraph that sums up your reaction.

Before you write anything, you need to watch the film at least once. Take notes as you’re watching and pay attention to formal elements and patterns. Then, write your review. The final step is to revise your work before you turn it in.

The tone for a movie review should be critical, yet objective. The goal of most reviews is to persuade a reader to either see a film or not.

The best film reviews balance plot summary with critical analysis of significant formal elements. A reader should be able to decide if she wants to see the film after reading the review.

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How To Write A Movie Review

Last updated on: Feb 9, 2023

How to Write a Movie Review - Steps and Examples

By: Cordon J.

Reviewed By: Rylee W.

Published on: Sep 7, 2021

It has become a trend to post your thoughts about a movie on public pages, social media platforms, review sites, blogs, etc.

Not only that, students in high school or college are also assigned to write a movie review in their academic life to test their review writing skills.

It’s easy if you have good observational and good analytical skills. Otherwise, it can become a bit of a headache.

You can learn how to write a movie review with the tips and examples provided in this step-by-step guide.

On this Page

What is the Main Purpose of Movie Reviews?

The chief purpose of writing film reviews is to provide information regarding the movie and its ideas to the readers.

In doing that, students often make a common mistake of elaborating all the events that occurred in a particular movie. They state personal opinions about the movie.

Where such a review permits writers to express their personal opinions regarding some documentary or film, these reviews require an objective and unbiased approach as well. Know that an ideal review combines both elements.

Your review deliberates why someone should watch the movie or not. Make sure to write your review by considering that no one has ever watched that particular film or documentary before. This helps a lot in analyzing events that have occurred on the screen.

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The summary of the movie needs to be detailed enough to deliver assistance for the reader while making a true and honest decision.

How to Write a Good Movie Review?

It is always difficult to start writing any paper. If you are staring at a blank screen unable to come up with ideas, go through the steps given below to write a film review:

Let us discuss these steps in detail.

1. Watch the Movie Twice

It may sound obvious, but most of the students ignore it and simply copy-paste content posted by professional reviewers. It does not make a good impression, and more importantly, if you get caught with plagiarized content, you will have to face severe consequences.

You don't want that, do you?

So, watch the documentary or film twice and don't forget to take notes of minor and major characters and events.

If you rely too much on your memory, then you might forget or overlook something.

2. Conduct Thorough Research

Never start to write a movie review without conducting thorough research. A good reviewer not only watches the film but also gathers data relevant to it.

Search for the details like the name of the filmmaker, his motivation behind the movie, plot, location, historical events, and characterization, etc. See the intended target audience of the movie.

In short, the purpose of your research should be to gather information that delivers more depth and details to the review.

3. Analyze the Movie

Never ever start writing a review if you don’t even understand the movie and its concept. It is essential that you evaluate it from start to finish. Watch it again and again if you think it’s necessary or if certain elements are unclear. You can only make the writing process easier if you understand the events and the plot summary of the movie.

4. Outline Matters

Make sure you create an outline cohesively and concisely, comprising elements to follow while writing a movie review.

5. Include Examples

Add examples, along with the claims you make regarding the movie. If you think the plot of the film has some holes, then state an example of a scene or situation when that was apparent.

Moreover, if the bad casting or poor development of the characters affected the quality of the movie, name such examples as well. Mention examples while commenting on locations, plot, or any other film criticism.

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If you want to persuade your readers to agree with you, try to back your claims with evidence. Make sure your readers get the perception that you are objective while reviewing.

Never make it obvious that your personal feelings are involved while praising or criticizing the movie. It lowers the efficiency of the review.

6. Comment on the Quality of Scenes

Discuss what makes this movie stand out. Or simply that it uses similar strategies which worked for earlier works in the film industry. For this, it is a good idea to read reviews given by other authors.

What is the Proper Way to Organize a Movie Review?

Organizing information before getting started is the best way of saving time. Never undervalue the significance of a well-structured outline, as it helps focus on the subject and participate in a logical flow.

This way, instead of figuring out what to include, you will have an organized and logical plan to follow.

“What is a movie review format?”

Here's how you need to organize the review of a particular movie:

• Introduction
• Summary of the movie
• Analysis of the elements of the plot
• Creative elements (mood, symbols, tone, camera techniques, costumes, dialogues, characters, use of colors, etc.)
• Opinion (with evidence)

Elements of a Movie Review

Following are some important elements that you must incorporate into your review.

The title of the film/documentary

Just because your headline includes the name of the documentary or movie, it does not mean that it can be skipped in the text.

Make sure you always mention the name of the movie in the introductory part of your review. It may sound logical and obvious, but most of the students repeatedly make this mistake.

The main point of your review is to summarize the movie or documentary for those people who haven't yet watched the movie.

Know that as a reviewer, you need to discuss what exactly happened in the movie and state whether the moviemaker succeeded or failed in doing his job.

Research on a Filmmaker

Conduct research on who directed the movie. Find out if a person is a controversial figure, known for a political stance, and whether he/she has an interesting background, etc.

Write a paragraph on the people behind the creation of the movie and what they did to create this particular movie.

MOVIE REVIEW EXAMPLE

Mistakes to Avoid While Writing a Movie Review

• Do not forget the film you are writing a review about. Sounds obvious, right? But most of the students get off the train while discussing some historical event regarding film and start writing about that event specifically.
• Make sure you do not get off the train while writing your review. It will be considered irrelevant information.
• Avoid using personal nouns, over and over, such as “I like this, I dislike this, it bothered me, I do not think this should be done that way, etc.”
• Do not fail to check facts regarding the background, casting, director, release date, etc. of the movie.
• Do not give your opinion without stating any reason why you think that particular way.
• Do not write a review without following a structure.
• Do not write generalizations like cool effects, great acting, a bad movie, or it was a good movie, etc.
• Do not write a review without analysis or substance of the feature.

A movie review is all about the symmetry of personal opinion and unbiased reports. If you’re still finding it difficult to write, there’s nothing to worry about.

5StarEssays.com is here to help you with all of your academic papers. Get in touch with our expert “ write an essay ” service and avail exceptional essay writing services at affordable rates.

Cordon. is a published author and writing specialist. He has worked in the publishing industry for many years, providing writing services and digital content. His own writing career began with a focus on literature and linguistics, which he continues to pursue. Cordon is an engaging and professional individual, always looking to help others achieve their goals.

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Introduction

Writing a movie review can be a fun and rewarding experience, allowing you to express your thoughts on the latest film in an engaging way. Whether you’re reviewing for your personal blog, social media, or a magazine publication, understanding the basics of writing a movie review is essential. This article will guide you through the process, providing you with tips and sample reviews to help you craft an effective and entertaining review.

Step 1: Watch the Movie

As obvious as it sounds, the first step in writing a review is to watch the movie. Make sure to watch it attentively and take notes during the screening process. Focus on details such as plotlines, characters, dialogues, and visuals to support your review later on.

Step 2: Research

Researching the production and background of the movie can provide useful context and additional information. This includes learning about the director’s past work, genre conventions, or any behind-the-scenes tidbits that could enhance your review.

Sample Review:

“In ‘Inception,’ director Christopher Nolan – best known for his work on ‘The Dark Knight’ trilogy – constructs a mind-bending universe that explores the possibilities of dreams within dreams.”

Step 3: Analyze

Break down different aspects of the movie, such as its plot, characters, acting, music score, cinematography, and visual effects. Analyzing each element will provide a comprehensive perspective on the film’s strengths and weaknesses.

“While ‘La La Land’ boasts stunning visuals and memorable musical numbers by Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone, its predictable storyline loses some momentum in the latter half.”

Step 4: Consider Your Audience

Your writing style may vary depending on who you’re writing for. Make sure to adjust your tone and focus based on what your readership might find interesting or entertaining.

“If you’re a die-hard Marvel fan, ‘Avengers: Endgame’ delivers a satisfying conclusion to the decade-long story arc. However, newcomers may struggle to keep up with the film’s numerous plotlines and characters.”

Step 5: Express Your Opinion

A good movie review should provide a balance of analysis and personal opinion. Be honest about your feelings towards the film and use your analysis to support your point of view.

“‘Get Out,’ directed by Jordan Peele, is an instant horror classic that combines social commentary with chillingly suspenseful storytelling. I highly recommend it for fans of thought-provoking thrillers.”

Step 6: Structure Your Review

Organize your review into clear sections, such as introduction, background research, plot summary (avoid spoilers), character analysis, technical aspects, and conclusion. This will make it easier for your readers to follow and digest your thoughts on the movie.

Step 7: Edit and Revise

Proofread your review for grammatical errors and inconsistencies in the flow of thought. Don’t be afraid to make changes to improve your review’s clarity and coherence.

Writing a movie review can be an enjoyable process, offering an opportunity to share your insights on a film while honing your critical thinking skills. Follow these steps and use the sample reviews provided as inspiration on how to craft an engaging and insightful movie review that both informs and entertains your audience.

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What’s the best way to pen down some phrases for tantalizing plots, spectacular plot twists, and beguiling characters to create the hype for any movie? You guessed it right, It’s a movie review. Now, the question arises how to write a movie review?

For the film buffs who have an underlying penchant for watching the latest movie in the market, movie reviews are the perfect salvation for them to determine if the latest flick is worth it or not.

Some avid fans also love spilling the beans about a movie after watching it. However, the remarks greatly vary on whether the film was a hit or miss. Even writing a movie review is art given it has to be a seamless blend of opinion, some vivid imagery, and conclusive remarks.

The majority often miscalculate the importance of acing the technique to jot down a movie review. If you are one of the people who are confused about how to write a movie review or wish to perfect your movie review writing skills, then fasten your seat belt and prepare for takeoff!  

Table of Contents

What is a movie review?

In general, a movie review is a genre of art criticism and journalism. It is a complex overview, usually made by a professional critic, of films that have just been released, to help decide what film to watch.

Professional reviews differ from those made by amateurs. Without a doubt, reviews by experienced critics are far more structured, sharper, and detailed. That’s not all! They are more compact in wording. In a professional movie review, you will always find awareness of the film’s director, their previous works, and previous filmmaker’s pictures, as well as a deep understanding of different film genres and classics for each of them, and filming techniques and modern trends.

Purpose of movie review

For starters, reviews and comments about movies are usually posted on social media profiles or public pages, review sites, and blogs, among other platforms. The primary purpose of a movie review is to advise the reader about the film and its sentiments. Seems simple, right? Reporting all events that happen and stating one’s opinion about them is a common mistake that many people make. Of course, the movie review allows writers to express their opinions about some film or documentary without any restraint. But one can only strike the perfect balance when there is an unbiased unanimous critique. So the bottom line is that an ideal review will combine both – the writer’s opinions and the element of an enigma.

Be it a successful trilogy or top Netflix, ratings and reviews are the detrimental factors of  whether someone will want to see the movie or would skip it. Like an untapped portal, one should act like this is the perfect opportunity to introduce the cinematography work to its readers while writing. Always assume they haven’t seen it before. As a result, it becomes easier to analyze events that happened on the screen.

A film review should be precise enough to provide assistance in making an honest decision i.e. whether the reader wants to see it or if they’d like it. If you are a media student who is assigned the task of movie review writing, then the lecturers want to get more insight into your critical thinking skills and the ability to report events in a comprehensible manner.

In addition, the reader who taps on reading a film review wants to assess the way you analyze the plot and characters. After all, movie reviews also involve the analysis of events that happen. Reviews test writing and vocabulary skills, adapting to different genres and events they portray. That’s not all. It also weighs your capacity to sum up some significant twists and turns and report it in a cohesive, rational, and engaging fashion.

How to write a good movie review? You have to write a movie review for school and now what? Where to start, how to make it look more “academic”? Today, we have the opportunity to use numerous tools to make every part of our lives easier, and movie review writing is no exception. Throughout this tutorial, you’ll learn how to compose a report about some film and what tools to use to simplify the process.

While movie reviews entail more responsibility than initially thought, people find them fun and with this guide, you will too.

Step-by-step guide to how to write a movie review

New beginnings are always hard. This is the point where you set the pace and determine how to approach the task at hand (movie review writing) in the most efficient manner. Below, we list down some of the most useful tips to kick-start the movie review writing process:

First and foremost, watch the movie with a critical eye for the illustration and explanation in the review. The first time the film is watched you might have missed details owing to the entertainment and joy. So watch the movie or documentary twice and take notes of both major and minor events and characters. Never trust to gulp in the intricacies of the movie meaning do not rely on the power of your memory.

Carry out thorough research – It’s human nature to overlook or forget to carry out detailed research of the film and its makers. Just watching the movie with keen observation is never enough, research plays an equally noteworthy role. Look for details such as the name of the filmmaker and his/her motivation to make that film or documentary work, locations, plot, characterization, and historic events. Basically, the research phase should serve to collect information that provides more depth to the review

Analyze the movie after you watch it – Never start working on the review if you aren’t sure about all the fragments in regards to the film. Evaluate the movie from beginning to end. Re-watch it, if necessary, if you find some parts confusing. Only when you understand events that happened on the screen will you find it easier to create the review      

Draft an outline that you will follow to write the review in a concise and cohesive fashion

Include examples of claims you make about the movie. If the plot has holes, then mention an example of a situation or scene when that was evident. Also, if the character(s) is poorly developed or bad casting affects the movie quality, name examples too. Provide examples when commenting on dialogues, locations, plot, everything. If you want the reader to agree with you, it’s essential to back up your claims with evidence. You don’t want to make it seem like you’re praising or criticizing the movie without any reason whatsoever

Consider and comment on a movie’s originality and quality of scenes. Explain how the movie stands out or whether it just uses the same approach that worked for previous works in the industry

How to organize your movie review

The quality of your review depends on many things namely, structure, vocabulary, and much more. Never underestimate the importance of a well-structured outline, regardless of the genre of the movie.

Primarily, things should be organized before you start writing. It is a great way to save time later on. Apart from dabbling in points to add, have a well-structured plan to follow. Here’s how to organize your movie review:

• Introduction (This section will include the title, release date, and background information)
• Summary of the story
• Analysis of the plot elements (Explain the rising action alongside the climax)
• Creative elements (dialogues, characters, use of colors, camera techniques, mood, tone, symbols, costumes or anything that contributes or takes away from the overall plot)
• Opinion (supported with examples and facts from the story)
• Conclusion (announcing whether the filmmaker was successful in his/her purpose, re-state your evidence, explain how the motion picture was helpful for providing a deeper understanding of the course topic)

Movie review elements

Moving on, let’s discuss the movie review elements that are key features when penning the writing.

The title of the film/documentary – Mention the title of the film twice in our headline features the name of the movie or documentary. Don’t skip mentioning the headline in the text. Always name the feature you’ve watched in the introductory paragraph. This may seem like a stupid thing to point out, but it’s one of the most common mistakes that students make

Summary – The whole point of the review is to summarize the documentary or movie for people who haven’t watched it yet. To make this as effective as possible, always assume that your professor hasn’t seen it either (as mentioned above). Why is this important? You won’t leave out some important details thinking he/she watched it already so they won’t bother. As a reviewer, your job is to explain what happened in the film and express whether the filmmaker failed or succeeded. Again, saying you liked or disliked it isn’t a viable comment. Your opinion has to be supported by specific reasons and examples from the feature itself

Filmmaker – Do a little research on the person who directed the piece. Is that person a controversial figure? Is he/she known for a political stance? Does the filmmaker have a significant background? Devote a paragraph or two to the person behind the movie and their other works in order to establish the significance of the film you are reviewing for the director’s career

Significance to your class – How does the content of the documentary or film fit into your course topic? Is it important for historical accuracy? If you are watching the motion picture for history class, make note of over-dramatization. If the motion picture is based on the book you’ve analyzed in English class, you can mention similarities, differences, or some elements that the film contains, but the book doesn’t, and so on

Creative elements – Filmmakers work hard to include creative elements in their motion pictures. How are these elements important to the plot and movie in general? For example, costumes can either enhance the movie or betray its intent. Colors can be vivid and lift the atmosphere or mood in the movie or they can be dull and make it seem depressing. Good sound effects enrich the viewing experience while bad ones only destroy everything. Moreover, camera movements and angles also add elements to the story. Take notes of symbols in the story, if any.

Actors and characters – let’s not forget the casting! Were the actors realistic? Did they portray the role of a specific character successfully? Did they have good acting skills? Do you believe that some particular actor was the right fit for the role?

Movie review format

Structuring is extremely useful in any type of paper and a movie review isn’t an exception. A written outline will help you organize your thoughts properly, not to forget anything and to actually end up writing it faster. Here is an example outline you may use:

• Introduction – In this part you need to provide some general information about the picture: title, release date, main actors, filmmakers, film company and filming budget.
• Summary of the story – This is a short exposition of movie plot, characters and their interaction.
• Analysis of the plot elements – starting point, rising action, and climax.
• Analysis of creative elements – dialogues, characters, use of colors, camera techniques, mood, tone, symbols, costumes or anything that contributes or takes away from the overall plot.
• Analysis of the topic and its implementation – viewers’ understanding of the topic, relevance of the topic, and comparison with other resembling works.
• Opinion – Your point of view supported with examples and facts from the story.
• Conclusion – Announce whether the filmmaker was successful in his/her purpose. Explain how the motion picture was helpful in providing a deeper understanding of the course topic.

Movie review format for students

Feature films and documentaries may serve as primary resources for your research. As for the fiction movies, a student may use them for inspiration while writing, for instance, a compare and contrast essay on the similarities and differences of a book and film based on that piece of literature. In any case, films can be used as great supplemental learning tools.

If you look at our movie review examples available for free, you can notice that the structure of such papers is different from an ordinary essay’s outline. By their nature, film reports are also different from essays. You should not also confuse a brief summary with a detailed review, which also implies an in-depth analysis of the chosen piece.

So, in any film critique example, you can notice the following structure:

Title of the analyzed work. A writer has to specify the movie’s title in the opening part and put down the release date.

An abstract usually refers to the summary of the main points. In the case of the samples of movie reviews, that is a summary of the plot. Discuss what happened in the video and share your thoughts: was it a success or failure?

You may say that you hated the movie, or, vice versa, believe it’s the best motion picture in the world, but make sure to provide specific reasons. That is why you need to watch the full movie and pick various details like character quotes to prove your point of view.

To answer various questions that the audience may have, an author should provide replies to meaningful questions about the movie maker/director. Decide whether this person can be considered a controversial figure. Is there any sort of political stance? Finally, think about a significant background a movie creator may have (if any). Depending on the answers to these questions, the length of your paper may vary.

Relevance to your subject

Was it a good idea to assign this movie to your class? Think about whether the video content matches the topics that you study currently or have recently covered.

Perhaps, the movie has to do with historical accuracy. Include a note of embellishments or over-dramatization if you write for your history lesson. Comments and citations from credible sources can be useful.

Creative elements

You can see from any movie critique example that a list of creative tools is listed. Those could be costumes, decorations, colors, sound effects, music, and other visual and audio elements. A paper writer should discuss which of the elements add drama and which of them have comical purposes.

Mistakes to avoid while writing a movie review

Below, we list down some of the most common mistakes while writing a movie review. If you are a student who has an assignment or a movie enthusiast who wishes you pour their emotions with fellow fans, we recommend you give this section a thorough read,

Retelling the film plot in detail – The idea of a movie review is not to put the film on paper or spill the beans. Everyone abhors spoilers. So try sharing the general story by adding some spice to make your reader curious about seeing the film.

Giving a too general opinion of the film – Some writers take the generic term of general writing

Remember that things are rarely unequivocal. Even if you don’t like the content and quality of the film, don’t forget to mention if the music was actually pretty good, or if one of the actors managed to portray a believable character.

Lack of evidence – Presenting your opinion without any explanation why you think that way won’t be considered reliable. The unfounded statement isn’t a good resource for a decision, even if we are talking about a choice of which movie to watch.

Lack of film research – Don’t force your readers to conduct their own research, or to look for another review to find out the background information of a movie.

Absence of structure – If your work is not structured properly, it will be really difficult to follow your thoughts and understand your points. Reviews should be helpful to readers, and good structure helps get your message across correctly.

No conclusions and recommendations – As we mentioned above, providing recommendations regarding the film is one of the main purposes of writing a movie review. Do not deprive readers of your findings and thoughts. By recommending a good movie to watch, you may make someone’s evening.

Movie review essay

What’s your story? Any individual who has carried on with a full life has something entrancing to impart to the world. The secret to composing a life account is to deal with it like any great story: it ought to have a hero (you), a focal clash, and a cast of interesting characters to keep individuals locked in. You might need to consider a specific topic or idea that has been available in your everyday life to rotate your story around.

The wide classification of life accounts remains among the strong classes of verifiable composition. Blockbuster records show that readers love to find out about the lives of their kindred people, especially those with recognized individual stories. An account composed by its subject is known as an autobiography. As a firsthand record of the writer’s own life, an autobiography offers an unrivaled degree of closeness to perusers of the more extensive history classification. 

If you want to know more about how to write an autobiography, then you have come to the right place. We have gathered all relevant information to help you understand everything that you need to know. Read on to figure out how to make the narrative of your life and clean your composition to make it sing.

Good movies make great reviews

Words and catchlines can pave the way to describe anything including any genre of film. So

Basically, you can write a movie review on pretty much any film. However, it is advisable by the experts and there is a general debate that is careful while dabbling in tricky or multi-themed genres. Careless choices result in trouble points and confusing reviews that fall flat on the readers. Hence, it is essential that you pick a film that you will be able to analyze and evaluate. Generally, for a movie review, students choose films they either like or don’t like.

What makes a movie great?

No critics have ever described any film as the epitome of perfection. Quintessential movies are dubbed as major successes on the basis of spectacular characters or fulfilling plotlines. Other things include visual aesthetics, the quality of directing and acting, and the impression it has.

Typically, you can suggest if a characteristic movie is great when it keeps the audience engaged. A great movie also leaves the audience with a powerful impression and then something to think about once the credits roll.

Key pointers to remember while writing a movie review

Understand that any piece of writing is not a do-or-die job. It demands consistency and devotion. However, the key to writing an exceptional movie review is understanding your target audience. So, keep the following key pointers in your mind while writing:

• Discuss the film plot – The goal is to discuss the movie without giving away spoilers and hurling the entire plot in your article. The more the mystery, the better the movie review.
• Share some information about the characters – Thrust the film’s main lead and supporting characters in the limelight. Discuss their relations and events. Since reading the review shouldn’t replace watching the film, just touch base on the points that make the film worth watching.
• Analyze the film – In general retrospect, the star cast or their impeccable acting skills set the film apart from its contemporaries. The work of the director, theme, music, and other features become objective and detailed in your evaluations.
• Share your opinion – Describe your feelings during, and after watching the movie and specify what you liked, and what you didn’t like. Provide your general impression about the film based on examples, descriptions, and comparisons to enable readers to make their own decisions.
• Give a recommendation – A review(no matter what kind) is a recount of opinions and is influenced by the writer’s preferences. Avoid being categorical and focus on the highs and lows of the film from a general prospect.
• Entertain the reader – The target audience has to feel entertained, amused or glad by the written material. The review should pique curiosity and many people read movie reviews because it is actually kind of fun in itself. Try to make an easy-to-read review, and write in an interesting manner.

The accomplishment of a decent movie review or any book for that matter comes from the capacity of the writer to show perusers the story from “an external perspective”, and cause the reader to feel like they are in your place and understand your point of view. Everyone couldn’t care less about your troublesome youth, your parents’ separation, or the way that in school you were the nerd with glasses. However, on the off chance that the troubles experienced by you will be shown so the peruser learns a few lessons for himself – this would qualify as a decent book.

Thus, you can see that writing a movie review is not an easy task. You should design and organize your time, read and get motivated by reading other reviews, surfing online by looking for composing styles, language structure, and artistic descriptions to describe the cinematography. Remember to sort out your last objective and why you need to compose a movie review. The entirety of this time investment with end with you feeling a sense of accomplishment and success as your labor of love gets completed.

Ideally, this article will help you in this intriguing yet hard way. So you do not have to worry anymore about writing. Just pick a pen or open your PC and start your magnum opus. Just remember that honesty is the best policy and to avoid bias at every cost.

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How to Write a Movie Review and Where to Get Help

The first thing you do after watching a movie is to go online and write a comment about it. Comments about movies are usually posted on social media profiles or public pages, review sites, blogs, among other platforms. You can make the process easier with tools available online.

Writing a movie review is a common assignment that students have to do in high school and college. Even though it may seem simple, movie reviews require time and proper organization. It’s not just about writing what happens on the screen, the review goes deeper than that.

Movie Review Purpose

The main purpose of a movie review is to inform the reader about the film and its ideas. Seems simple, right? Reporting all events that happen and stating one’s opinion about them is a common mistake that many students make. While movie review allows writers to express their opinions about some film or documentary, there is also the need for the unbiased and objective approach. An ideal review combines both.

The review determines whether someone will want to see the movie. Even if the professor (or teacher) assigned a specific title and film to review, one should act like this is the perfect opportunity to introduce the cinematography work to their lecturer. Always assume they haven’t seen it before. As a result, it becomes easier to analyze events that happened on the screen.

Film review should be detailed enough to provide assistance in making an honest decision i.e. whether the reader wants to see it or if they’d like it. Why is this type of paper a common school assignment? Lecturers want to get more insight into a student’s critical thinking skills and the ability to report event (one or more of them) in a manner that others understand easily.

In addition, they want to assess the way you analyze plot and characters. After all, movie reviews also involve the analysis of events that happened in a documentary or “regular” film. Reviews test writing and vocabulary skills, adapting to different genres and events they portray, and your capacity to sum up some major work and report it in a cohesive, logical, and interesting manner.

While reviews entail more responsibility than initially thought, students find them fun and with this guide, you will too.

How to Write a Good Movie Review

You have to write a movie review for school and now what? Where to start, how to make it look more “academic”? Today, we have the opportunity to use numerous tools to make every part of our lives easier, and movie review writing isn’t the exception. Throughout this tutorial, you’ll learn how to compose a report about some film and what tools to use to simplify the process.

Step-by-Step Guide to How to Write a Movie Review

Beginnings are always the hardest. This is the point where you set the pace and determine how to approach this assignment in the most efficient manner. Here are some useful tips to kick-start the movie review writing process:

• Watch the movie or documentary twice and take notes of both major and minor events and characters. It’s a mistake to rely on the power of your memory only, there’s always something we overlook or forget
• Carry out a thorough research . Watching the movie isn’t enough, research is equally important. Look for details such as the name of filmmaker and his/her motivation to make that film or documentary work, locations, plot, characterization, historic events that served as an inspiration for the movie (if applicable). Basically, your research should serve to collect information that provides more depth to the review
• Analyze the movie after you watching it . Don’t start working on the review if you aren’t sure you understand the film. Evaluate the movie from beginning to an end. Re-watch it, if necessary, if you find some parts confusing. Only when you understand events that happened on the screen will you find it easier to create the review
• Draft an outline that you will follow to write the review in a concise and cohesive fashion
• Include examples for claims you make about the movie. If the plot has holes, then mention an example of a situation or scene when that was evident. Also, if the character(s) is poorly developed or bad casting affected the movie quality, name examples too. Provide examples when commenting dialogues, locations, plot, everything. If you want the reader to agree with you, it’s essential to back up your claims with evidence. You don’t want to make it seem like you’re praising or criticizing the movie without any reason whatsoever
• Consider and comment a movie’s originality and quality of scenes . Explain how the movie stands out or whether it just uses the same approach that worked for previous works in the industry

How to Organize Your Movie Review

Quality of your paper depends on the level of organization you implement. Never underestimate the importance of well-structured outline, regardless of the type of paper you have to write. Outlines help you focus on the subject and contribute to a logical flow.

In addition, getting things organized before you start writing is a great way to save time later on. Instead of trying to figure out what to include, you’ll have a well-structured plan to follow. It’s needless to mention you won’t be too stressed out. Here’s how to organize your movie review:

• Introduction (with title, release date, background information)
• Summary of the story
• Analysis of the plot elements (rising action, climax)
• Creative elements (dialogues, characters, use of colors, camera techniques, mood, tone, symbols, costumes or anything that contributes or takes away from the overall plot)
• Opinion (supported with examples and facts from the story)
• Conclusion (announcing whether the filmmaker was successful in his/her purpose, re-state your evidence, explain how the motion picture was helpful for providing a deeper understand of course topic)

Movie Review Elements

• The title of the film/documentary – just because your headline features the name of the movie or documentary it doesn’t mean should skip mentioning it in the text. Always name the feature you’ve watched in the introductory paragraph. This may seem like a stupid thing to point out, but it’s one of the most common mistakes that students make
• Summary – the whole point of the review is to summarize the documentary or movie for people who haven’t watched it yet. To make this as effective as possible, always assume that your professor hasn’t seen it either (as mentioned above). Why is this important? You won’t leave out some important details thinking he/she watched it already so they won’t bother. As a reviewer, your job is to explain what happened in the film and express whether the filmmaker failed or succeeded. Again, saying you liked or disliked it isn’t a viable comment. Your opinion has to be supported by specific reasons and examples from the feature itself
• Filmmaker – do a little research on the person who directed the piece. Is that person a controversial figure? Is he/she known for a political stance? Does the filmmaker have a significant background? Devote a paragraph or two to the person behind the movie and their other works in order to establish the significance of the film you are reviewing for the director’s career
• Significance to your class – How does the content of the documentary or film fit into your course topic? Is it important for historical accuracy? If you are watching the motion picture for history class, make note of over-dramatization. If the motion picture is based on the book you’ve analyzed in English class, you can mention similarities, differences, or some elements that film contains, but book doesn’t and so on
• Creative elements – filmmakers work hard to include creative elements into their motion pictures. How are these elements important to the plot and movie in general? For example, costumes can either enhance the movie or betray its intent. Colors can be vivid and lift the atmosphere or mood in the movie or they can be dull and make it seem depressing. Good sound effects enrich the viewing experience while bad ones only destroy everything. Moreover, camera movements and angles also add elements to the story. Take notes of symbols in the story, if any.
• Actors – let’s not forget the casting! Were the actors realistic? Did they portray the role of a specific character successfully? Did they have good acting skills? Do you believe that some particular actor was the right fit for the role?

Checklist / Outline for a Good Movie Review

• Introduction (title, topic, release date, background information)
• Accuracy of depiction
• Use of sources in the documentary
• Creative elements that enhance or tarnish the overall story (quality of script, visual design, performance, lighting, hair, and makeup, costume, set design, symbolism)
• Your opinion

Mistakes to Avoid

• Not focusing on the film – while connecting the plot to some specific historical event is a good idea (when applicable), strive to avoid writing about unnecessary details or introducing irrelevant information such as the history of cinematography or that particular genre, snacks, among other things
• Inserting yourself – you’re the one who’s writing the review. The paper reflects your understanding and opinion of the motion picture you’ve seen and there is no need to write in first person all the time: I noticed this, I saw that I liked this, I disliked that
• Failing to check facts about movie background and release date, director, casting etc.
• Giving out your opinion without mentioning any reason why you think that way
• Talking about irrelevancies
• Writing a review without a structure
• Writing generalities such as great acting, cool effects, a good movie, it was bad etc.
• Writing a review without substance or analysis of the feature

Finished papers

Customer reviews

Movie Review Examples

• The Hunger Games and the idea of dystopia
• Mean Girls review: does it exploit stereotypes about high schools or it helps to undermine them?
• The Martian review and its connection to Daniel Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe
• The Last Jedi review: all the reasons it’s far from the original saga
• Manchester by the sea and ideas of forgiveness and grief
• Forrest Gump review
• I am Sam review
• Runaway Bride review and its role in modern understanding of marriage

Movie Review Help

Like other types of writing, movie reviews require patience and time. Being a student isn’t the easiest task in the world and you don’t have enough time to dedicate to one assignment only while neglecting others. There’s no need to despair; you can use the internet to get much-needed assistance with this assignment. Here’s how:

By Markers Expectations / Rubrics

Clear Organization – as stated above, the clear organization is vital for a well-structured movie review. You can use the Edusson website as a guide through this process via numerous posts about writing, self-help resources, and Essay Examples that serves as an excellent platform to sharpen writing skills and compose your paper.

RobotDon Essay Checker  platform proves to be handy when you complete the writing process and want to make sure it’s unique, without fluff and wateriness, repetitive words and expressions.

Let’s not fort that you can hire an essay writer  who will write a perfect review for you.

Use of Sources – just because it’s movie review, it doesn’t mean you should avoid using sources to support your claims. Sources are particularly important for reviews of documentaries or when you’re trying to connect the review with some problem in society. Research requires more time than any other part of the process and you can easily hire a professional i.e. a helper who will do that for you

Opinion – a movie review is about the equilibrium of unbiased report and personal opinion. While it’s okay to say what you think about the movie, you also have to approach certain aspects in an objective manner to help the reader get a better understanding of the motion picture. Finding the balance between subjective and objective writing can be frustrating, which is why professional service comes handy. All you have to do is to provide title, information, your opinion and a pro writer takes it from there

Essay Writing Service – there is no need to be stressed out because you have a ton of work to do when professional writer service can write movie review easily. Services like Edusson are used by students who can’t keep up with constant demands in school or college, but they don’t want to jeopardize their grades. With over 1000 writers, Edusson is a perfect assignment writing service . You have the full control of the project through set deadlines, choosing the writer for this task etc.

Essay Editing Service – sometimes students don’t need help with the writing process, but they need someone to edit it. Don’t ask your friends and family members to do it for you, hire professionals. Improve your paper. Raise your grades! Editors and proofreaders from Edusson correct grammar, spelling, syntax, punctuation mistakes, check the style, formatting, organization and other aspects of your work to boost its quality. You can also use RobotDon to edit an essay on your own.

Movie Review FAQ

Do I have to write a movie review in a certain formatting style? Everything depends on the instructions your teacher gives you. It often happens that a movie review can be free of academic formatting. But don’t exclude the possibility that you will have to complete this paper in MLA or get task writing a paper in APA .

Can I copy an existing movie review? Well, of course, it is important to look at examples of other movie reviews to get to know the structure and ways of ideas expressing better. But if you copy a film review directly from the other source, your curator will detect plagiarism in it.

My major is not moviemaking. Why am I assigned to write a film report? Students are assigned movie report writing, first of all, to broaden their mind and evaluate the way they can analyze material and express their opinion. Don’t feel confused if on the Psychology class your professor asks you to review a movie. It is a common practice for students who are completing their degree in various fields of study.

Will you just give me someone else’s review?

No, not at all! Edusson stands out as the writing service with full transparency. All essays and other papers are written from scratch by professional writers with strong work ethic and desire to help their clients get better grades. The movie review you receive is 100% original, which you can check with RobotDon’s plagiarism checker.

Will you send my review to someone else?

The answer is – no. Not only are the clients in control of the process, but author’s rights are transferred to them the moment the review is done. Once the writing process is over, the review is yours and can never be sent to someone else.

What if I need more edits?

If you need edits or want some specific info to be added, our writers will be happy to make necessary revisions.

I need more help with movie review service, how can I contact you?

Our customer service is always available through 24/7 live chat feature.

Do you like movies? Who doesn’t? Movie and documentary reviews give you a unique opportunity to improve your writing skills by combining school assignment with someone you really like. Although it’s not that difficult to compose a review of a motion picture or some educational/informative feature, feel free to use all the available resources to get the most out of your assignment. Use the advantage of the internet to work on your review for major benefits such as:

Improve Your Paper

Practice makes everything better and the internet allows you to make it happen. For instance, Edusson acts as a perfect tutorial + professional writing service platform as it allows you to improve writing skills while getting assistance from professional writers and editors when necessary . The do-it-yourselfers benefit greatly from RobotDon, a cute little helper that analyzes the review and identifies mistakes you need to correct. The result of using these resources is a well-written movie review that meets or exceeds your lecturer’s expectations.

Raise Your GPA (Grade)

Using multiple resources and platforms to your advantage can only be a good thing for your GPA. When you’re a student, everything you do counts and contributes to GPA. It all comes down to learning how to make student life easier for you and one way to do that is to incorporate online tools into your assignments. Your professor will appreciate the effort and thanks to the improved writing skills, good grades are unavoidable.

Related posts:

• How To Write A Good Compare And Contrast Essay: Topics, Examples And Step-by-step Guide
• Writing a Personal Statement Essay for Volunteer Job
• How To Write A Philosophy Paper On Education: Full Guide
• Explaining Appeal to Ignorance Fallacy with Demonstrative Examples

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10 Movie Review Examples That Will Help You Write Better Reviews

Studying movie review examples is a great place to start if you’re looking for inspiration for your own movie reviews. 

This article has gathered different kinds of movie review examples that will help you write better and more insightful reviews in whatever style you choose.

There is an overwhelming library of movie reviews to sift through, but having studied many reviews by Pulitzer Prize-winning film critics along with your average movie review articles published online, I’ve been able to find a few movie reviews that provide a great template for crafting a review of your own.

10 Detailed Movie Review Examples

The Classic Movie Review

A classic movie review example has a neat structure that clearly communicates the author’s sentiment toward the film in a clean, straightforward manner.

Roger Ebert’s review of North is the perfect example of that.

1. “North” by Roger Ebert

This review starts with a catchy hook, making readers curious for Ebert to elaborate on his statements.

“I have no idea why Rob Reiner, or anyone else, wanted to make this story into a movie, and close examination of the film itself is no help.”

The opening sentence of this movie review example makes it clear to the audience that Ebert did not enjoy the film in question and if they would like to know why, they are encouraged to continue reading.

The whole first paragraph is chock full of strong adjectives setting the tone for the scathing critique this film is about to get.

Moving on to the next paragraph of this movie review example, Ebert gives a quick synopsis of what this film is about, filling the audience in on the story in case they’re unaware.

“He [Elijah Wood] plays a kid with inattentive parents, who decides to go into court, free himself of them, and go on a worldwide search for nicer parents.”

Following the paragraph summarizing the main plot of the film, the movie review dives straight into the critique explaining why this film garnered the strong adjectives it received in the opening paragraph:

“This idea is deeply flawed. Children do not lightly separate from their parents – and certainly not on the evidence provided here, where the great parental sin is not paying attention to their kid at the dinner table.”

In this movie review example, Ebert dives deep into the oddities of the narrative and what makes it so unbelievable.

He questions the director’s decisions and the plot’s direction as well in these middle paragraphs:

“What is the point of the scenes with the auditioning parents?… They are not funny. They are not touching. There is no truth in them.”

Ebert uses the middle paragraphs to dissect what does not work in the film.

In the final paragraphs of this movie review example, Ebert closes out by reiterating his sentiments towards the film, giving readers a good idea of whether the movie would be something he would recommend others watch.

“I hated this movie. Hated hated hated hated hated this movie. Hated it. Hated every simpering stupid vacant audience-insulting moment of it.”

“‘North’ is a bad film – one of the worst movies ever made.”

After reading Ebert’s movie review example there is no question of whether he liked the movie or not. I don’t know, he might’ve even mentioned hating it at one point…

And he makes it clear what plot and artistic choices played into his final assessment of the film.

Would you whip out your cash to experience the movie North after reading a review like this?

With this straightforward, informative, evidence-supported review, there is no confusion about the perceived quality of this film.

READ THE FULL REVIEW OF NORTH BY ROGER EBERT

The Real World Parallel Review

A movie review that can parallel the events occurring within the movie with events occurring outside of the movie shows a deeper level of critical thinking.

This is one of the movie review examples that truly exemplifies a deep critical thinker.

2. “The Flash” by Justin Chang

This movie review example starts right away with a brief synopsis of what the movie, The Flash, is about.

“‘The Flash’ is a time-travel story and a cautionary tale, a warning of how dangerous it can be to change the past or mess around with alternate realities.”

Same as with the classic movie review, this reviewer also hints at his overall sentiments towards the film.

“…this initially enjoyable, increasingly sloppy megabucks mess…”

This review, unlike the classic movie review, spends more time following the plot of the story through a biased lens, further walking readers through the details of the story.

“He gets stuck in the past and… winds up unwisely joining forces with a teenage version of himself (also Miller, with floppier hair), who’s had a much happier childhood but doesn’t (yet) have the Flash’s superheroic powers.”

After indirectly criticizing the CGI and praising the main actor’s performance, Chang gets into his main criticism of the review: the popular trend of reintroducing old versions of superheroes into new superhero movies.

“Really, though, is nostalgia that satisfying anymore?”

And it’s really this last sentence of the movie review example that ties this compelling thought together, not only concluding the movie but drawing a parallel to how the movie creators are perpetrators of the same mistake that the movie’s main character made.

“Lost in an endless game of IP-reshuffling musical chairs, Barry realizes, possibly too late, the futility of dwelling on the past — a fatuous lesson from a movie that can’t stop doing the same.”

READ THE FULL REVIEW OF THE FLASH BY JUSTIN CHANG

3. “Bonnie and Clyde” by Roger Ebert

Another great movie review example, using a movie as a sense of societal self-reflection, is Roger Ebert’s review of Bonnie and Clyde . The final sentences of the review say:

“‘Bonnie and Clyde’ will be seen as the definitive film of the 1960s, showing with sadness, humor, and unforgiving detail what one society had come to… it was made now and it’s about us.”

READ THE FULL REVIEW OF Bonnie and Clyde BY Roger Ebert

4. “Black Panther” by Soraya Nadia McDonald

Yet another movie review example is this Black Panther review by Soraya Nadia McDonald.

The whole review deep dives into the cultural context of the movie and its timeliness or lack thereof.

“Honestly, the worst thing about Black Panther is that it had to be released in 2018 and not during the term of America’s first black president.”

This movie review example walks through the narrative praising the film’s actors, director, and cinematographer before ending on the note of its cultural relevance.

“Perhaps it’s even capable, just as The Birth of a Nation once was, of helping to steer an entire national conversation.”

READ THE FULL REVIEW OF Black Panther BY Soraya Nadia McDonald

The Storytelling Movie Review

If you have a story of your own that you can parallel with the movie’s story, then connecting the movie’s narrative with your own is a particularly entertaining way to craft your review.

Instead of comparing the film to society as a whole, the following storytelling movie review examples compare the movie to specific stories they pull from their personal life.

5. “The Help” by Wesley Morris

One of my favorite reviews by Pulitzer prize-winning Wesley Morris is written in this style, drawing readers in with his own personal story:

“Three summers ago, I went to visit a friend in West Texas.”

“What happened in Texas?”, readers wonder as we curiously continue reading.

After 3 engaging paragraphs narrating a strange, racial encounter in Texas, Morris introduces the movie, The Help .

“This pretty much captures the cognitive dissonance of watching “The Help’’: One woman’s mammy is another man’s mother.”

The following paragraph gives a synopsis of the film and introduces the audience to the main characters:

“Meanwhile, the heart of the film itself belongs to Aibileen Clark (Viola Davis) and Minny Jackson (Octavia Spencer), the two very different maids and best friends at the center of the story.”

The center of this movie review example narrates the happenings of the movie from a biased point of view before presenting some debate points about the movie’s approach to race relations.

“‘The Help’ joins everything from “To Kill a Mockingbird’’ to “The Blind Side’’ as another Hollywood movie that sees racial progress as the province of white do-gooderism.”

Morris then praises the actors’ performances in this very character-based film but is unable to shake the social weight of the casting that this film requires:

“And yet here’s the question you ask as you watch a black actor in 2011 play a white lady’s maid, decades and decades after that was the only job a black woman in Hollywood could get. What went through the minds of Davis, Spencer, and Aunjanue Ellis, who plays Hilly’s maid, as they put on those uniforms and went to work?”

Morris finishes off the review sure to reference the personal story that he introduced in the beginning before leaving the reader with something to ponder.

“These are strong figures, as that restaurant owner might sincerely say, but couldn’t they be strong doing something else?”

Morris’s final statements in this movie review example make it clear his assessment of the film’s quality is good but its messaging is questionable, allowing the audience to make a judgment on whether they’d like to see the film for themselves.

“On one hand, it’s juicy, heartwarming, well-meant entertainment. On the other, it’s an owner’s manual.”

READ THE FULL REVIEW OF THE HELP BY WESLEY MORRIS

6. “Me Without You” by Stephen Hunter

This movie review example also tells a story although it’s not personal.

Instead of starting by talking about the movie or talking about himself, Hunter begins the review like a novel. With an untethered phrase that needs further explanation.

“Friendship isn’t rocket science. It’s much harder.”

He then lists out all of the complexities of trying to maintain a friendship, painting a picture to support his point.

“Oh, yeah, it’s easy to say just be loyal and true and that makes you a good friend. But suppose the other person does something that really irks you, like chew gum or vote Democratic?”

Hunter doesn’t leave you hanging for too long before segueing into how this thought point relates to the film.

“And that thorniness, that dark underbelly of it, is the gist of the acerbic British import ‘Me Without You…'”

As usual, a sign of good storytelling, he finishes this movie review example with his full-circle concluding statement on friendship.

“But the truth is, of course, that friendship matters to those of us who still claim membership in the human race…”

READ THE FULL REVIEW OF ME WITHOUT YOU BY STEPHEN HUNTER (Under the title: ‘Me’: Friendship as Relationship)

The Unconventional Movie Review

A less common but creative and fun way to approach a movie review is to approach it from a different angle or point of view. To write it in a way that’s unexpected.

7. “ET” by Roger Ebert

In another movie review example from Roger Ebert, instead of approaching this review traditionally, Ebert rather writes the review as a letter to his grandchildren.

Rather than addressing the readers, he addresses his grandchildren in his movie review:

“Dear Raven and Emil: Sunday we sat on the big green couch and watched “E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial” together with your mommy and daddy.”

After noting how his grandchildren reacted to climactic parts of the film, Ebert recounts the events of the movie, ET, continuing to include his grandchildren’s remarks and reactions.

“The camera watches Elliott moving around. And Raven, that’s when you asked me, “Is this E.T.’s vision?” And I said, yes, we were seeing everything now from E.T.’s point of view.”

Ebert uses this opportunity to make a simplified analysis of the director’s use of POV in the movie, praising the film’s direction without losing the context of a grandfather’s letter.

“Some other filmmaker who wasn’t so good might have had subtitles saying, “E.T.? Are you out there? It’s Mommy!” But that would have been dumb.”

Ebert ends this movie review example like anyone would end a letter, with good wishes and a signature.

“Well, that’s it for this letter. We had a great weekend, kids. I was proud of how brave you both were during your first pony rides. And proud of what good movie critics you are, too. Love, Grandpa Roger”

The average person has a 7-8th grade reading level, so a simple letter like this, is not only cute, creative, and endearing but it’s incredibly easy to read and understand the critic’s assessment of the movie.

READ THE FULL REVIEW OF ET BY Roger Ebert

8. “Spider-Man Into the Spider-Verse” by IMO Flicks

Another unconventional movie review example is one that I wrote for this blog website.

Instead of writing from my point of view, I decided to write from the point of view of an out-of-touch grandma, someone who may not have the background knowledge to really understand and appreciate the film.

I approached the film this way because I was tired of reviewing Marvel Superhero films but the thought of writing it as an out-of-touch grandma made the review so much more fun and less pressure-filled, even if it’s really not the most straightforward or informational read.

The review does not include a clear synopsis and the critiques of the film waver between genuine observations and areas that the grandma misunderstood.

It was a blast to write.

The grandmother writer uses the remarks of her grandchildren as a voice of reason for the film.

“My granddaughter told me to rate this spider film [ Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse ] out of 10 points. I initially wanted to give it 4 points out of 10… Apparently, my grandchildren think this rating is ridiculous. One of my grandsons almost threw a chair. He gave the film a 200/10, claiming it’s one of the best films he’s ever seen.”

This sort of review may not be as befitting for a serious homework assignment but if there’s space to think outside the box, I say go for it.

READ THE FULL REVIEW OF Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

The Self-Aware Review

Similar to the unconventional movie review, but not quite as unconventional, these movie review examples are self-aware of their influential power. It breaks the fourth wall of movie reviews so to speak.

9. “Manchester By the Sea” by Ty Burr

This movie review example of Manchester By the Sea wants to encourage you to watch the movie but doesn’t want your expectations so high that you don’t experience the same subtle unexpected magic that the movie works on viewers.

Burr explains this in the first paragraph:

“Nothing destroys an audience’s appreciation of a small good movie like advance praise.”

Careful to not ruin the audience’s expectations, Burr goes on to begin every following paragraph with a phrase that denies all of the critiques that follow.

“So I won’t tell you that I’ve seen “Manchester by the Sea” twice now and both times felt haunted for weeks.”

“I won’t bother you with how the movie stands as a soul-satisfying comeback for its maker…”

“I could say, but I won’t, that we’ve all seen too many movies in which a lost soul comes out of his shell and rejoins the human race after he inherits a kid from a dead relative.”

The entire center of the film covers the movie in a way that says, “You didn’t see me. I was never here.” Good and well knowing that people are going to be more curious about this film and expect it to be as fantastic as Burr says.

But don’t worry, Burr accounts for this “undesired” outcome that he had been trying to avoid from the beginning with this closing paragraph.

“If I do tell you all this, forget I ever did. Just remember you heard somewhere that “Manchester by the Sea” is an experience worth having…”

READ THE FULL REVIEW OF MANCHESTER BY THE SEA BY TY BURR (Under the title: A Shore Thing)

10. “Mark Kermode” by Mamma Mia

Kermode’s review of Mama Mia takes his self-awareness in a different direction where he personally loves the movie Mama Mia and is not afraid of letting the world know it.

In fact, the movie has brought something to life in him as a movie critic.

“One minute I was a miserable critic; the next, everything had gone pink and fluffy.”

Kermode continues the movie review example, touching on the actor’s performances, the director’s execution of the film, and the soundtrack before returning to how the film affected him as a critic.

“I feel duty-bound to report that I came out of the screening an utter wreck.”

Further aware that as a serious critic, he probably shouldn’t like this film as much as he did, he lets his guard down and leans into the wonder of the film.

“I have certainly mellowed, and perhaps my critical faculties have withered and died. But I simply can’t imagine how Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again could be any better than it is.”

The self-aware review speaks to the readers as a friend rather than as a removed source of movie information.

A lot of the time, this personal voice can be merged with other review styles as well.

READ THE FULL REVIEW OF Mamma Mia by Mark Kermode

Common Questions

How to write a movie review.

To write a movie review you would need to watch the movie and take good notes, then you would craft an attention-hooking introduction, a few center paragraphs explaining your critiques of the film, before concluding on whether you’d recommend the film or not. This article breaks down the 10 steps to writing a movie review effortlessly .

What should a good movie review include?

A good movie review should include a synopsis of the film, a clear stance on whether the film was good or not, including why or why not, and a conclusion that makes it clear whether the critic would recommend others to watch the film or not.

What is the best movie review for students?

The best movie review example for students would be the classic movie review because it’s straightforward and the easiest to follow and grade.

In Conclusion…

There are so many movie review examples to choose from but the majority can fall into one of these 5 groups: the classic movie review, the real-world parallel, the storytelling review, the unconventional review, and the self-aware review.

If you would like to view 50 more outstanding movie review examples , I’ve grouped some here in a shared Word document available for free!

I hope this article was able to provide some movie review examples to help you craft your own. Happy movie reviewing!

What’s your favorite movie review example? Let me know in the comments below!

And be sure to subscribe for the latest blog updates (form in sidebar).

Peace, love, and lots of popcorn,

When I'm not over-analyzing movies, I'm eating chocolate, belting my favorite songs, and binge-watching reality dating shows. Feel free to share your opinions with me and follow me through my social links!

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8 Tips to Write a Proper Movie Review

By Film Threat Staff | November 23, 2020

Movies shape how the audience sees the world, and the choices that directors make in developing their films can transform the audience’s understanding of other people, places, and times, for good or for ill. Movies have confronted serious social issues, provided relief from anxieties and fears, and comforted those who felt misunderstood and alone. But movies wouldn’t have half the impact they achieved without reviews to help the audience discover which movies will be meaningful for them and to help separate the great from the awful. However, movie reviews are only as good as the reviewers who translate a cinematic experience into an evaluation and recommendation for the viewer.

If you are looking to enter the field of movie criticism, there are some tips that can help you develop great movie reviews. Audiences have a set of expectations when it comes to a movie review, and it’s important that you as a critic develop your review to meet the audience’s expectations. After all, if your review doesn’t give them what they need, they won’t read future reviews and may not see a movie that you are otherwise enthusiastic about.

1. Watch the movie

It might seem obvious, but you actually need to see the movie before you write about it. More than a few critics have posted reviews based on trailers, press materials, or viewings of incomplete working cuts of the movie. You actually need to see the finished product to know what the audience will be seeing and how it will play with them. If you don’t watch the movie, you don’t have anything worthwhile to say about it.

2. Cover the basics

A good movie review must tell the audience what the movie is about, what it tried to accomplish, whether it achieved those goals, and whether you consider it worthy of being recommended to others to spend their money to go and see. Remember to cover the five W’s—who, what, where, when, and why. The audience needs to know about the film’s basics before you can move ahead and start analyzing whether it was good or bad and why.

3. Go beyond the basics

The five W’s are only the foundation for a movie review. They are not its heart and soul. Like any other type of review, you are entering into a conversation with your readers and with the producers of the art you are reviewing. The idea is to discuss what the movie intended to achieve and how well it did so. Remember, a great review does more than simply summarize the movie. It discusses themes, ideas, imagery, aesthetics, and more.

4. Gauge your audience’s knowledge

Where you publish your review will shape how you write it. If you are writing for a publication targeted to film fans, you can assume a greater level of film knowledge than if you are writing for a newspaper or general interest website. If you are writing for a specialty publication, such as, for example, horror movie fans, you can assume greater familiarity with the history of the genre than if you are writing for a broad general audience.

5. Think like your audience

Consider what your audience wants to know about the movie. Romance fans want to know if the movie is emotionally satisfying. Horror movie fans will want to know how much gore is in the movie and whether the kills are fun to watch. Comedy fans will want to hear about the jokes. Tell the audience what they want to know.

6. Provide sufficient detail

While the length of a review is often limited, be sure you provide enough detail and information that the audience can make up their own mind and decide if they want to see the movie, even if they disagree with your opinion. A small trick for you — specifically look for details you think others wouldn’t notice, to add some novelty in your paper. Stand out among other essays your professor has to read. 

7. Take plenty of notes

Don’t rely on your memory to cover all of the elements of the movie, and don’t rely on the press materials, if you received them, to tell the whole story accurately. Memory is fallible, and that can lead to errors that your audience will quickly discover. Errors can create credibility problems. Instead, take notes while you watch so you can refer back to your notes about key plot developments and your reaction to them as they unfolded.

8. Remember to share your own opinion

A movie review isn’t just a summary of the movie. You also need to explain what you thought about it and to support that opinion with evidence. Just stating likes and dislikes is definitely not enough for a paper to be considered a good movie review. What you need to do, is to share your opinion as if you are an expert who makes a choice, and has to explain his/her choice so others agree with it, or at least understand the reasoning fully. 

No Time for Movies? Get Some Timely Writing Help

Let’s face it — to write a quality movie review paper, you need time. After reading the tips given above, you understand that you need to watch a movie several times, take plenty of notes, analyze them, look for some similar scenarios, etc. If you are not ready to do it right away, and you are not ready to settle for a subpar paper, the only way is to delegate it to someone else. We recommend finding a reliable writing service that will cover for you when you have other urgent things on your to-do list.

If you get stuck writing a movie review, a wide range of professional essay writing services from Smart Writing Service can help you out. A team of academic writers for this online company produce custom movie reviews, essays, and other types of papers that can give you the advantage you need for your next movie review.

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Breakout English

How to write a film review

Writing a review is an option in many different English language exams, and films are such an obvious choice for reviews, so knowing how to write a film review is pretty important. It’s a great topic for the classroom too. Everyone watches films and there is a lot of opportunity to teach vocabulary, either film-related vocabulary or film review adjectives. I like to start off a class about films with some chat, or my personal favourite, the Movie Music Quiz , which also now has an excellent Movie Picture Quiz version too.

The structure of a film review

Like any writing task, it’s essential to know the structure of a film review before you start writing. A basic film review template shows you how to write a film review using a simple structure. Film reviews for First (FCE) and Advanced (CAE) Cambridge exams, as well as Trinity ISE exams, should all use a 4 paragraph structure. Another thing to remember is that your review should always have a title, and that title should include the name of the film.

• Introduction – Essential details and mini-summary
• Summary – A description of the film and some important details
• Analysis – An evaluation of different elements
• Conclusion – Your opinion and a recommendation

Introduction

In the introduction of a film review, it is crucial to mention the film title and the names of the director and the main actors. A brief summary of the film’s plot and background information can also be included, but it should not give away too much detail. The introduction should engage the reader and entice them to continue reading the review. Additionally, it is important to mention the genre and target audience of the film, which will give the reader an idea of what to expect.

In the summary section, the film review should give a comprehensive but concise description of the film, focusing on the plot, characters, and any significant events. The summary should be written in a way that does not give away the ending or spoil the film for the reader. It is important to maintain objectivity and not include personal opinions in this section. This section should provide enough detail for the reader to have a clear understanding of the film without giving too much away.

The analysis section is where the reviewer can showcase their critical skills and provide an in-depth evaluation of the film. The review should examine various elements of the film such as the script, direction, cinematography, acting, and special effects. You could also make a comparison to similar films in the same genre. The analysis should be written in an objective style with the opinion only showing through the language used.

In the conclusion, the reviewer should give their personal opinion of the film, summarising their thoughts on its strengths and weaknesses. They should also consider the target audience and whether they believe the film will appeal to them. Finally, the reviewer should provide a clear recommendation. The conclusion should be concise, leaving the reader with a clear understanding of the reviewer’s overall opinion of the film.

Using adjectives in reviews

Reviews are a great way to show off your language with impressive adjectives. If you read a film review in a newspaper or magazine, you’ll notice that the reviewer rarely, if ever, gives an explicit direct opinion. However, their opinion of the film is always crystal clear. This is through the use of adjectives.

Many adjectives have a clear connotation. They are either perceived as positive or negative. Compare these two examples. Which one is a positive description and which is negative?

• It’s a first-rate experience with an imaginative plot and a star-studded cast.
• The second-rate writing combined with weak performances is typical of this director’s work.

When using adjectives in a film review, it is important to choose words that accurately convey the reviewer’s opinion. Adjectives with strong connotations, either positive or negative, can be very effective in expressing the reviewer’s thoughts about the film. However, it is also important to use a variety of adjectives to avoid repetition and keep the review interesting. The use of adjectives can also help to paint a picture of the film, allowing the reader to get a sense of its atmosphere and tone.

The materials

Many exams, such as the Cambridge First (FCE) and Advanced (CAE) exams, as well as Trinity ISE exams, require students to write a film review as part of their writing task. These materials will provide students with a solid understanding of the structure of a film review and help them to develop their writing skills. This will give them the confidence they need to write a review that meets the requirements of the exam and impresses the examiner.

The materials will help you learn how to write an introduction, summary, analysis, and conclusion of a film review. You will also see a range of useful adjectives that you can use to express your opinions in their reviews. Finally, you will get an opportunity to practise writing film reviews, which will help you to develop your skills. Then you can check your answers with the samples provided in the answer key. Whether you’re preparing for an exam or just looking to improve your writing skills, these materials will provide you with everything you need to write a great film review.

1 thought on “How to write a film review”

Interesting and useful material to be used in class. thanks!

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How to Write a Movie Review Online and Earn Money Doing It

Love watching movies and making recommendations? Consider writing movie reviews online and getting paid for it.

Do you love watching movies, picking them apart, and making recommendations to your friends? Then, you may have already wondered about getting paid to write movie reviews. For many people, it's a dream job, which makes it a competitive field to get started in.

But we're here to show you the ropes. We'll start by showing you how to write a decent movie review. Then we'll explain all the ways you can start writing movie reviews for money.

Learning How to Write a Movie Review Online

When it comes to writing and publishing online, movie reviews couldn't be much simpler. There's some general advice you probably want to follow, which we'll get into below. But so long as you approach each review as one friend advising another, it should come out well.

It's good to open with a brief summary of the plot, before outlining what does and doesn't work about the movie. Keep everything vague to avoid spoilers and try to build a strong argument for why that movie is or isn't worth watching

Since you're writing for the web, name-drop any major cast and crew members involved in the production to help your review appear in search results . Just be sure to insert those names and titles as organically as you can.

Tie everything up with a summary of your thoughts and a recommendation to the reader. You might say the movie is a "blast for action-lovers" or "not worth it for anyone who doesn't enjoy the genre." Anything that lets the reader know if you think it's good for them or not.

Finally, give the movie a rating based on the system your website or publisher uses. This might be stars, letters, numbers, or anything else.

Now, let's get stuck into how you become a movie reviewer online and earn some money.

1. Write Movie Reviews for Royalties

One of the easiest ways to get paid writing movie reviews online is to submit to websites that pay royalties for your content. The money you get paid depends on how many people read your review. It might come from subscription fees or ad revenue.

You might also hear these sites referred to as revenue sharing or pay-per-view sites.

There's a range of different sites to which you can submit your movie reviews and earn royalties. They seem to change all the time, but the most popular ones now include:

• Cultured Vultures

All you need to do is sign up and start publishing your reviews. HubPages even has a movie reviews category you can publish to.

We want to highlight Cultured Vultures , a website that specializes in content like movie reviews. Cultured Vultures built its site with amateur writers in mind and strives to pay as much as it can for all its content, offering around $2.50 for every 200 views during the first week of publication.

Once your review is online, other folks can read or comment on it and you should receive royalty payments for the traffic it receives. It won't be a fortune since it's difficult getting noticed on these sites, but it's better than writing for free.

What's more, revenue sharing sites are a great place to start building a portfolio of your work. This is particularly important if you want to go freelance.

2. Become a Freelance Movie Review Writer

Most people can't expect to earn a living off the revenue sharing sites above. But it is possible to build up a full-time income if you find out how to become a freelance movie reviewer online. When you've got a portfolio of high-quality reviews, all you need to do is start answering the calls for writers across the web.

Do a quick Google search for "write movie reviews for us" to turn up all the latest websites looking for a freelance movie reviewer. Of course, these results are bound to change all the time, but we found the following sites looking to hire writers:

• Taste of Cinema
• Cinema Escapist

There are plenty of other useful Google searches to try as well, for instance, "looking for movie writers" or "paid to write movie reviews." Any of these are likely to turn up different writing opportunities. You can also set up Google Alerts with these keywords.

Another approach is to visit the websites and blogs devoted to movies to see if they're hiring writers. Even if there isn't an explicit ad, it's worth your time to send an email of inquiry. Let them know you exist, then keep returning to the site to see if things change in the future.

And finally, don't neglect the plethora of job boards and project sites devoted to helping freelancers find work. We're talking about sites like Upwork and Fiverr or job boards like ProBlogger .

These sites run the entire gamut of subject matter, but there are clients out there looking to hire movie reviewers. Of course, you could always write for yourself instead.

Related: Sites Like Rotten Tomatoes to Find Average Ratings and Reviews for Anything

3. Monetize Your Own Website

There's nothing to stop you from building a new website to host your own movie reviews, then earning money from it through monetization schemes. This has proven to be an effective way for lots of people to earn a living across a range of different subjects.

Although that's not to say it's easy.

In fact, going down this route demands a lot of other skills alongside your writing ability, particularly marketing and research. It isn't always easy finding out how to make money with a movie blog.

You can build a website at little-to-no-cost with services WordPress or Squarespace . Once you get up and running, find a way to drive people to your site through ads, word of mouth, or search engine optimization.

One of the most common approaches to creating revenue from your audience is by converting visitors into sales. This is a popular approach for any kind of review because you can use an Amazon affiliate link to encourage your readers to buy the product you're writing about. All you need to do is sign up for the Amazon Affiliate Program and link your reviews to the Blu-Ray, DVD, or digital download for that movie.

Another great way to get paid for the movie reviews you write is to use Google Adsense on your website. These widgets work with Google's enormous network of advertisers to serve up the most relevant ads to your readers. You can block ads you don't like, choose where they appear, and pick the types of ads that work best with your site.

If you don't want to go down the advertising route, you could always set up a Patreon account and ask readers to support you directly. A lot of writers feel more comfortable with this form of monetization.

Consider Starting a YouTube Channel Instead

Getting paid to write movie reviews is an exciting way to make a living. But remember that written reviews only account for a small part of the market, hundreds of thousands of people watch movie reviews on YouTube instead.

Consider starting your own YouTube channel to share video movie reviews. You could do this alongside the ones you write. YouTube is a great way to build your personal brand, earn some extra money, and find a passionate audience for your work.

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‘The Idea of You’ Review: Surviving Celebrity

Anne Hathaway headlines a movie that’s got a lot to say about the perils of fame.

• Share full article

By Alissa Wilkinson

Women of a certain age (that is, my age) feel like they grew up alongside Anne Hathaway, because, well, we did. We were awkward teens together when she made “The Princess Diaries” in 2001. We felt ourselves to be put-upon entry-level hirelings right when “The Devil Wears Prada” came out in 2006. We understood her broken-down narcissistic addict in “Rachel Getting Married,” because who couldn’t? And we watched the Hathaway backlash, pegged to public perception that she was trying too hard, and worried that people saw us the same way.

Now we’re 40-ish. We know for sure that Gen Z considers millennials to be cringe, and, thankfully, we no longer feel the need to care. The greatest gift of reaching middle age is having settled into yourself, and that is apparently what Hathaway, age 41, has done . She has been through the celebrity wringer (and more ) and come out the other side looking radiant, with a long list of credits in movies that swing from standard commercial fare to auteurist masterpieces.

This is perhaps why it’s so satisfying to see her name come first — alone, before the title credit — in “The Idea of You,” which is on its surface a relatively fluffy little film. Based on the sleeper hit novel by Robinne Lee, “The Idea of You” is plainly fantasy, in the fan fiction mold, that poses the question: What if Harry Styles, the British megastar and former frontman of One Direction, fell madly in love with a hot 40-year-old mom? In this universe, the Styles character is Hayes Campbell (Nicholas Galitzine), the British frontman of a five-member boy band called August Moon.

Hathaway plays Solène Marchand, an art gallery owner whose arrogantly useless ex-husband, Daniel (Reid Scott), buys v.i.p. meet-and-greet tickets for their 16-year-old daughter, Izzy (Ella Rubin), and her two best friends, all of whom were huge August Moon fans … in the seventh grade.

The event is at Coachella, and Daniel is set to take the teenagers but backs out at the last second, citing a work emergency. Solène reluctantly agrees to take them, and while at the festival, mistakes Hayes’s trailer for the bathroom. They meet, it’s cute, and you can guess what happens next.

Or can you? It was clear about 10 minutes into the movie that what was required for enjoyment was to surrender to the daydreaming, and so, with very little internal protest, I did. How could I resist? Solène is smart, competent, kind and secure; she has great hair and a great wardrobe; and most important, she seems like a real person, even if the situation in which she finds herself greatly stretches the bonds of credibility.

More than once, I was struck by how authentically 40 Solène seemed to me — a woman capable of making her own decisions, even ones she thinks might be ill-advised — and how weirdly rare it is to see that kind of character in a movie. She has a kid, and friends, and a career. She reads books and looks at art, and she is flattered by this 24-year-old superstar’s attention but takes a long time to come around to the idea that it may not be a joke.

Solène also feels real shame and real resolve in the course of the winding fairy tale story, which predictably has to go south. But most of all, she’s in a movie that doesn’t try to shame her, or patronize her, or make her appear ridiculous for having desires and fantasies of her own. She’s just who she is, and it’s simple to understand her appeal to someone whose life has never been his own.

Directed by Michael Showalter, who wrote the adapted screenplay with Jennifer Westfeldt, “The Idea of You” succeeds mostly because of Hathaway’s performance, though she and Galitzine spark and banter pleasurably (and he can dance and sing, too). It tweaks the novel in a number of ways — Hayes is older than the book’s character, for one thing — and also seems to implicitly know it’s a movie, and that movies have a strange relationship with age-gap romances.

In fact, that’s one of its strengths. Several times, characters remark on the double standard attached to people’s judgment of Solène and Hayes’s relationship, hypothesizing that in a gender-swapped situation, people would be high-fiving the older man who landed the hot younger star. Sixteen years looks like a lot on paper, but in the movies, at least, it is barely a blip.

That musing is interesting enough, if a familiar one. More fascinating in “The Idea of You” is its treatment of the cage of celebrity. Hayes seems mature compared with his bandmates and the girls who follow them around, but he’s also clearly stuck in some kind of arrested development. And I do mean stuck: He is self-aware enough to tell Solène, plaintively, that he auditioned for the band when he was 14 and not much has changed beyond his level of fame. He wants a life beyond the spotlight, badly.

And that’s just what he can’t get. Neither can Solène, nor, eventually, anyone around her. The idea of living a quiet life might obviously be out of reach, but the added elements of tabloid news and rabid fans unafraid to treat Hayes as if they know him make things far worse. The film starts to feel a little like the tale of a monster, but the monster is parasociality, encouraged by the illusion of intimacy that the modern superstar machine relies on to keep selling tickets and merch and albums and whatever else keeps the star in the spotlight.

It’s probably coincidental that “The Idea of You” comes on the heels of Taylor Swift’s latest album, “The Tortured Poets Department,” on which she strongly implies that her carefully cultivated fandom has made her love life a nightmare. But spiritually, at least, they’re of a piece — even if the origins of the film’s plot seem as much borne of parasociality as a critique of it. And that makes Hathaway’s performance extra poignant. She’s been dragged into that buzz saw before. And somehow, she’s figured out how to make a life on the other side of it.

The Idea of You Rated R for getting hot and heavy, plus some language. Running time: 1 hour 55 minutes. Watch on Prime Video .

Alissa Wilkinson is a Times movie critic. She’s been writing about movies since 2005. More about Alissa Wilkinson

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The best movies of 2024 so far, according to critics

‘Perfect Days,’ ‘Sasquatch Sunset,’ ‘Love Lies Bleeding’ and ‘Civil War’ all make our evolving list of 2024’s best films

When it comes to movies, why wait for the end-of-year best-of lists? A number of movies have already garnered three stars or more from The Washington Post’s critics and contributors (Ann Hornaday, Ty Burr, Amy Nicholson, Jen Yamato, Jessica Kiang, Michael O’Sullivan, Mark Jenkins and Michael Brodeur — identified by their initials below).

Throughout the year, we’ll update this list — bookmark it! — with the films that we loved and where to watch them. (Note that all movies reviewed by The Post in 2024 are eligible for inclusion.)

Writer-director Alex Garland doesn’t investigate how this war started or how long it’s been going on or whether it’s worth fighting. His lean, cruel film is about the ethics of photographing violence, and those blinders make it charge forward with gusto. The film feels poetically, deeply true, even when it’s suggesting that humans are more apt to tear one another apart for petty grievances than over a sincere defense of some kind of principles. Starring Kristen Dunst, Wagner Moura, Cailee Spaeny. (R, 109 minutes) — Amy Nicholson

Where to watch: In theaters

Challengers

A slick, sexy, hugely entertaining, tennis-themed romantic triangle that offers three young performers at the top of their games under the guidance of Luca Guadagnino, a director who gives them room to swing in all senses of the word. The movie’s a paean to hard work and hedonism, and if its pleasures are mostly surface — grass, clay, emotional — it’s still been too long since we’ve had an intelligent frolic like this. Mike Faist and Josh O’Connor play rising tennis stars; Zendaya is their coach, holding down the center with her furiously knitted brow. (R, 131 minutes) — Ty Burr

Wicked Little Letters

An art-house audience pleaser , based on an actual historical incident, that slaps a veneer of tea-cozy classiness over cartoonish characters and changing social values. In a dingy English seaside town in 1920, someone has been sending anonymous poison-pen letters to church lady Edith (Olivia Colman) — written in language so obscene that it’s practically an art form — and suspicion quickly falls on the foul-mouthed Rose (Jessie Buckley), a single mother freshly arrived from Ireland. The movie is good fun and surprisingly obvious — a slapstick comedy of manners that only hints at darker human urges. (R, 100 minutes) — T.B.

Sasquatch Sunset

Either the silliest movie you’ll see in 2024 or one of the most unexpectedly affecting, but, like the meme says, why not both ? A year in the life of a family of Bigfoots — Bigfeet? — it functions simultaneously as slow-motion slapstick, a very hairy nature documentary and a melancholy portrait of creatures not unlike us as they confront their own disappearance from the Earth. With no narration and no dialogue beside grunts, hoots and warbles, the movie effectively puts an audience on the same (big) footing as the characters. Starring Jesse Eisenberg, Riley Keough and Nathan Zellner. (R, 89 minutes) — T.B.

Two-time Oscar winner Ennio Morricone , who died in 202o at the age of 91, was a composer and arranger of music that helped define what it sounds like to go to the movies. Now, director Giuseppe Tornatore — who worked with Morricone for nearly all his films, including 1988’s “Cinema Paradiso” — turns an overdue spotlight on the composer behind the legendary scores of “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly,” “The Thing” and more than 500 others. At nearly three hours, “Ennio” is a long haul, exhaustive without ever becoming exhausting. Though it could definitely survive edits, its length feels like the product of genuine ardor and care. (Unrated, 156 minutes) — Michael Brodeur

Where to watch: In theaters and on demand

The People’s Joker

Hollywood’s superhero blockbuster business has grown creatively stale, but Vera Drew’s irreverent renegade opus is just the antidote the genre desperately needs. Both a tough-love letter to the commodified IP it satirizes and a scathing takedown of mainstream comedy institutions, this defiantly personal low-budget marvel is also a genuinely affecting queer coming-of-age tale in which Drew stars as Joker, a closeted trans woman and aspiring comedian who leaves her Smallville hometown for a dystopian Gotham City. Her film is the cinematic coup of the year, finally delivering the boundary-obliterating antiheroine Hollywood deserves. (Unrated, 92 minutes) — Jen Yamato

The Iranian French actress Zar Amir Ebrahimi has the eyes of a silent film heroine and the face of a Modigliani. In repose, she can convey a sense of sorrow that feels both elegant and timeless, but in “ Shayda ,” that stillness is fraught with specific threat: the anguish of a woman fleeing an abusive husband. Made with a striking sensitivity to mood and moment, the film marks a strong debut for Iranian Australian writer-director Noora Niasari, who mines her own experience and that of her mother for a gripping yet tender suspense drama. (PG-13, 117 minutes) — T.B.

Antiquity and the modern day sit side by side in the films of Italy’s Alice Rohrwacher, permeating each other with the timelessness of a folk tale passed around a campfire. The writer-director’s latest concerns a raffish band of working-class tombaroli — grave robbers — who dig up ancient Etruscan artifacts and sell them on the black market, but the movie’s also a meditation on the tension between romanticizing the past and profiting from it. Wise, funny and mysterious, it’s a one-of-a-kind charmer. (Unrated, 132 minutes) — T.B.

Where to watch: Not yet streaming

Love Lies Bleeding

Rose Glass’s gorgeously pulpy film is a grisly delirium of female rage and romance in which queerness is neither a liability nor a simple fact of life that deserves respect: It’s a goddamn superpower. Kristen Stewart, in a skeevy mullet and a sleeveless tee, plays a gym manager who falls in crazy, scuzzy love with a bodybuilding drifter (Katy O’Brian). There are pyrotechnics and sucked toes and a jaw beaten clean off a skull. In terms of graphic gore, the head-stomping scene in “American History X” and the corpse-splitting moment in “Bone Tomahawk” need to scooch over on the podium. (R, 104 minutes) — Jessica Kiang

Where to watch: In theaters, available for streaming later this year on Max

They Shot the Piano Player

Spanish filmmaker Fernando Trueba (“Belle Époque”) and artist/co-director Javier Mariscal celebrate the spirit of Brazilian bossa nova and the ghosts of artists who live on only in recordings and archival interviews. But this animated documentary ’s central ghost remains touchingly and frustratingly unknowable: Francisco Tenório Júnior, a gifted pianist, considered by his peers as one of the best of their generation, who disappeared in 1976 while on tour in Argentina. “They Shot the Piano Player” doesn’t unravel a mystery so much as confirm a tragedy. (PG-13, 103 minutes) — T.B.

Four Daughters

Film as family therapy and family therapy as film. This gripping and format-stretching documentary by writer-director Kaouther Ben Hania brings actors into the household of a Tunisian mother named Olfa and her two youngest daughters, both teenagers. The three women play themselves alongside two professional actors filling in for the girls’ two missing siblings — what happened to them will unfurl, one twist at a time. (Unrated, 110 minutes) — A.N.

Where to watch: Netflix

Perfect Days

The premise is perfectly simple: Hirayama (Kôji Yakusho) lives in Tokyo, where he cleans bathrooms, approaching his job with the same care and detail he gives to the tree seedlings he’s nurturing in his modest, sparsely furnished apartment. The fact that writer-director Wim Wenders has called a movie about cleaning toilets “Perfect Days” might strike some viewers as the height of absurdity, even perverse humor (the film bears more than a whiff of Jim Jarmusch at his most wryly absurdist). But once they get a glimpse of Hirayama in action, the dreams behind the drudgery reveal themselves. (PG, 123 minutes) — Ann Hornaday

Where to watch: On demand

Directed by Oscar-winning filmmaker Morgan Neville (“Twenty Feet from Stardom”), this documentary take on comic Steve Martin is broken into two feature-length installments, titled “Then” (94 minutes) and “Now” (97 minutes). The first and lesser half is pretty standard stuff, covering in enjoyable but repetitive detail the period of Martin’s gradual stand-up ascendancy to selling out stadiums. The much more engaging “Now” dips in and out of Martin’s movie career, includes interviews (Jerry Seinfeld, Tina Fey, Lorne Michaels) and delivers candid moments with Martin’s bestie, Martin Short. (TV-MA, 191 minutes in two parts) — J.K.

Where to watch: Apple TV Plus

The Zone of Interest

Jonathan Glazer’s quietly shattering, Oscar-winning portrait of a family living next door to Auschwitz is really two movies in one: the film that audiences see on-screen — a bucolic domestic drama, filled with children, gardens and daily rituals — and the movie we conjure in our minds, with images of emaciated bodies, shaved heads and screams barely audible above the clinking teacups and cooing babies. Adapted from Martin Amis’s novel, the film is about denial and Hannah Arendt’s banality of evil. But the mental contortions Rudolf Höss (Christian Friedel) and his wife Hedwig (Sandra Hüller) go through to justify their own monstrosity go beyond obliviousness into something far more insidious and timeless. (PG-13, 106 minutes) — A.H.

Where to watch: Max

Ava DuVernay’s audacious, ambitious adaptation of the equally audacious and ambitious book “Caste,” operates on so many levels at once that the effect is often dizzyingly disorienting. But hang in there: Viewers who allow themselves to be taken on this wide-ranging, occasionally digressive journey will emerge not just edified but emotionally wrung out and, somehow, cleansed. (PG-13, 135 minutes) — A.H.

The Taste of Things

A radiant Juliette Binoche plays Eugénie, a gifted cook who for the past 20 years has been running the kitchen of a 19th-century epicurean named Dodin Bouffant (Benoît Magimel). No one breaks a sweat in “ The Taste of Things ” — they glow. No one swears or yells “Corner!” or “Yes, chef!” — they whisper, or simply deliver an approving glance of gustatory satisfaction. This is the anti-“Bear,” a sensuous fantasia of gastronomical pleasure less redolent of the Beef than “Babette’s Feast.” (PG-13, 134 minutes) — A.H.

Born two months before the Nazis surrendered, celebrated German artist Anselm Kiefer grew up amid his homeland’s rubble. Destruction still compels and even delights him, as Wim Wenders demonstrates in his epic 3D documentary. The colossal spaces Kiefer inhabits and transforms are ideal for Wenders’s approach, which conveys the physicality of the artist’s work and places the viewer virtually within the maelstrom of creation. It’s a fascinating, if somewhat unnerving, place to be. (Unrated, 93 minutes) — Mark Jenkins

How to Have Sex

The title of this promising writing-directing debut from Molly Manning Walker is something of a misdirect. Her startlingly intimate portrait of teenage girls in search of the endless party while on summer holiday in Greece is more accurately described as a tutorial in how not to have sex, i.e., when you’re young, inebriated, feeling pressured or vulnerable to manipulation. In its frankness and often frightening candor, it’s of a piece with coming-of-age dramas like “Thirteen” and “The Diary of a Teenage Girl,” with a dash of “Spring Breakers.” (Unrated, 90 minutes) — A.H.

Io Capitano

Matteo Garrone’s Oscar-nominated, migrant-themed drama fashions a hero’s journey that feels utterly of the moment: inspired by the true stories of African immigrants , but told in a way that features episodes of both harrowing verisimilitude and hallucinatory magic realism. It’s a film that is gorgeous at times yet also tough to watch. (Unrated, 121 minutes) — Michael O’Sullivan

The Teachers’ Lounge

Despite the title of Germany’s Oscar submission , the primary setting is a sixth-grade classroom, where things have gone missing lately. As school officials attempt to get to the bottom of the thefts, that classroom becomes a mirror of the outside world, with all its diversity, divisions and discontents. The film is far more than a conventional whodunit, though it does build a nice head of suspense as it grapples with themes of justice, doubt and bias. Its larger message is also one worth hearing, if not exactly news: In an age of cancel culture, the classroom is a battlefield. (PG-13, 98 minutes) — M.O.

Sometimes I Think About Dying

As subdued in tone and emotion as the neutral beige and brown ensembles favored by its mousy, office-worker protagonist (Daisy Ridley), this film offers an unconventional love story : one less about the thrill of romance than about the terror — and ultimate release — of connection. Director Rachel Lambert delivers its story with a reserve that is made up for by a genuinely affecting tenderness for its flawed yet searching characters. It’s kind of a downer, yes, but also stimulating as hell. (PG-13, 91 minutes) — M.O.

The Monk and the Gun

This sweet, off-kilter comedy offers a sly satire of today’s polarized world. Written and directed by Pawo Choyning Dorji, and focusing on Bhutan’s preparations for the democratic elections first held in 2008, it shares the same wry spirit and gentle tension between tradition and modernity that characterized the Bhutanese-born, American-trained filmmaker’s heartwarming Oscar-nominated 2019 film, “Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom,” but with some added bite. (PG-13, 112 minutes) — M.O.

This rebooted hybrid of the hit 2004 movie “ Mean Girls ” and the Broadway stage musical it spawned wisely doesn’t try to simply adapt for the screen something that worked onstage and wouldn’t translate to film. Yes, it’s got songs (by Jeff Richmond and Nell Benjamin), but they feel abridged and ever so slightly diminished, delivered more in the context of the original narrative of viral shaming, which has been tweaked for our TikTok times. The remake is sharp, well-acted and funny, and there are a few surprises for “Mean Girls” cultists. (PG-13, 105 minutes) — M.O.

Where to watch: Paramount Plus

A previous version of this article misidentified one of the actors in "Challengers." That actor's name is Josh O’Connor. The article has been corrected.

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The life and music of Amy Winehouse, through the journey of adolescence to adulthood and the creation of one of the best-selling albums of our time. The life and music of Amy Winehouse, through the journey of adolescence to adulthood and the creation of one of the best-selling albums of our time. The life and music of Amy Winehouse, through the journey of adolescence to adulthood and the creation of one of the best-selling albums of our time.

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Something in the Water Review: This Shark Thriller Needs More Bite

• Well-developed characters provide an interesting dynamic
• Thrills and comedy blend, but could use a fear factor boost
• Directors and writers hold back, balancing thrills with humor issues

Sharks, blood, and promised jump scares convene in Something in the Water , which has been dubbed as a comedy thriller. But the laughs never fully rise to the surface, and the thrills never make a huge splash. However, much to our surprise, this watered-down Jaws meets Bridesmaids does pack enough surprises, keeping it afloat and worthy, perhaps, of some escapist fun.

Directed by Hayley Easton Street and written by Cat Clarke, the story revolves around a dream destination wedding gone horribly awry. Five friends arrive in the tropics to attend the wedding of their dear friend, Lizzie (Lauren Lyle of Outlander ) . Before the wedding, Cam (Nicole Rieko Setsuko), Ruth (Ellouise Shakespeare-Hart), and Izzie lure Meg (Hiftu Quasem) and her former partner Kayla (Natalie Mitson) out for a girls' day on the water. The plot is designed to get the women chatting again as they had previously broken up after a deeply traumatic that still haunts them. One mysterious shark attack later changes everything. It’s all about survival after that.

Beginning With a Fine Premise

Something in the water (2024).

Release Date May 3, 2024

Director Hayley Easton Street

Cast Ellouise Shakespeare-Hart, Nicole Rieko Setsuko, Natalie Mitson, Hiftu Quasem, Lauren Lyle

Runtime 1h 26m

Main Genre Thriller

Writers Cat Clarke

• Well fleshed out characters with interesting relationships
• Some good thrills and comedic moments
• The fear factor could be intensified
• It feels as though the director and writer held back

Ruth is the first one to draw blood. Lots of it. But the women are determined to get back to safer shores. Twists of fate collide with stupidity and, well, these gals put themselves deeper into danger. Director Hayley Easton Street does an effective job at sea, giving the film a needed sense of danger and urgency. Cat Clarke’s script dives deeper into the psychological nature of these relationships, turning the tale into more about how five very different people will manage to unite and work together to survive.

That take gives the film something to play off, tossing some humor into the mix as various characters either overreact to their situation or confront the sheer absurdity of how they wound up stranded in the ocean while an ominous shark swims around — somewhere. One shark eventually turns into several, which amplifies the terror. The premise works, however, the film suffers from indecision about which direction it really wants to go.

Issues with Balancing Thrills and Humor

The creative backstory of Something in the Water is intriguing. Director Hayley Easton Street was an art director for Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, and Zack Snyder's Justice League. That lends the film a sharp eye and a stylistic way to capture the ocean setting and some of the shark encounters with the trim budget allowed.

Meanwhile, screenwriter Cat Clarke, who penned seven best-selling YA novels, is known for capturing both humor and darkness. She reportedly wanted to write a shark movie that would make audiences cry — for both the humans involved and the sharks going after them. Ultimately, that touches on a greater environmental dilemma as more humans now frolic in what used to be pristine ocean waters. Sharks are predators. Humans enter their territory. There’s more than a hint of stewardship, too: Shouldn’t we all be a bit more aware or concerned about ocean life at this point?

Yet, humor and darkness do emerge in Something in the Water, but not nearly enough. It’s clear both the director and screenwriter may have been a tad conservative in their approach, not willing to push beyond a kind of creative safety net. This is understandable considering today’s audiences tend to bark if things are too extreme or not extreme enough.

Why We Need More Ocean Movies (That Aren't About Sharks)

However, Clark, who wrote episodes for Good Omens and Ten Percent, gives audiences just enough pep in the interactions between the women in the film. Lauren Lyle ( Outlander, Karen Pirie ) gets the most humor as spoiled bride Lizzie. Nicole Rieko Setsuko’s Cam doles out some serious spunk. At one point, after several of the women have been floating in the water far too long, her character becomes so kick-ass fun when the predator comes at her that the film, well, jumps its own shark, as it were.

Why the Film Needs More Thrills

Collectively, the cast is appealing. The core dilemma facing Meg and Kayla must be resolved at some point. Or so we’re led to believe. The film opens with a traumatic event the two endured and, to its credit, the filmmakers handle that story arc in a believable way. It’s just that the movie, like so many other thrillers being mass-produced today, lacks something else. Surprisingly, here, it’s not depth. The characters are fully formed (enough). The dilemma lies in a combination of editing and turning up the dial on the action and thrills.

Best Movies to Watch During Shark Week

Still, Something in the Water is fine for a 90-minute date night film or outing with friends. It does the trick. It’s not in Fall or 47 Meters Down, two movies that had enough creative problems of their own but seemed to grab audiences. This film will get your blood pumping, increase your heart rate, and make you tense up (here and there). That’s enough of a reason to head to the theater. Dive in. Something in the Water is playing in theaters. Watch the trailer below.

'Surrounded' Review: Letitia Wright & Michael K. Williams Carry a Middling Western Thriller

The last film featuring the late, great Michael K. Williams is at its best when he is on screen for one final performance.

From the moment the cinematic titan that was Michael K. Williams comes onto the screen in the perpetually grim yet frequently gorgeous revisionist Western that is Surrounded , it is as if the whole world fades away for us to get one final glimpse of his greatness. Just as was the case in every layered performance he gave in a life that was cut tragically short, there is a gravity to him that grabs hold of you and doesn’t let go. Be it in the way his piercing eyes stare into your very soul or how his gravelly voice echoes through the darkness of the night, just getting to observe Williams bring life to one more character is mesmerizing. Though the story follows another figure, Letitia Wright ’s Moses ‘Mo’ Washington, he represents the best of what this meandering meditation on violence wrapped in a gruesome thriller has to offer.

Set in 1870’s America five years after the end of the Civil War, we first meet Mo as she wanders into a community where the brutality that defines the country is still evident in an extended tracking shot. A former Buffalo Soldier pretending to be a man, she is looking to just keep her head down and find a way to get safe passage west to build a life on land for which she now has the papers. She finds this in an eclectic group who are soon setting out on a stagecoach and, after she reluctantly gives up her gun, allows her to sit on the back with the luggage. For those who have seen any Western ever, it is clear from the outset that this journey is not going to be a smooth one. Almost immediately, the rickety wagon on which Mo was riding is attacked by the infamous outlaw Tommy Walsh ( Jamie Bell ) and his band of men. Fighting soon breaks out, resulting in the first of many bodies that the film will pile on higher and higher. It will fall to Mo to watch over Tommy at an enormous tree until her fellow survivors return with a posse to collect his bounty. She will have to use her wits in order to survive almost entirely alone in a world where almost everyone is seeking to kill her.

RELATED: Letitia Wright, Jamie Bell, and Michael K. Williams Take on the Wild West in a Trailer for 'Surrounded'

'Surrounded' Hinges on Letitia Wright's Determined Performance

Drawing inspiration from both cinematic and American history, with the real Buffalo Soldier Cathay Williams serving as a loose point of reference for Mo, the film is best when it lets its cast take the reins. While Wright has become most known for her work in the ever-expanding Marvel Cinematic Universe, it is the focused performance she gives in this film that really shows off her abilities to truly carry a story. Similar to last year’s The Silent Twins , she plays a character of few words whose eyes speak volumes. Written by Andrew Pagana and Justin Thomas with Wright in mind, it all hangs on her every move to keep moving forward.

When juxtaposed against Bell, whose Tommy fluctuates between unbridled rage and sinister deception, Wright is the grounding point to the entire experience. It is hard to imagine the film working nearly as well as it does without her holding it together. You believe every moment where Mo is staring down death in how Wright captures the character’s steely determination to survive the relentlessly hostile world. In some breathtaking overhead shots, the beautiful vastness of the landscape is made almost suffocating. Directed by Anthony Mandler , whose previous film Monster grappled with similar themes in a vastly different era, it makes the most of the space even as there are some effects here and there that leave much to be desired.

Where things start to get a little shaky is in how the narrative seems unwilling to just sit with this feeling. An early scene where Mo attempts to go find the remnants of the stagecoach that crashed results in a conflict with a group of Indigenous men that, while complicated by its conclusion, feel like throwaway characters. The film brings an awareness of the tropes of the genre, especially in terms of who is made central to these types of stories, but this is an instance where it falls headfirst into them all the same. Even when it drags itself back out of them, the process in which it does so is often fraught — teetering on the edge of becoming lost in so-so action and contrivances as opposed to more earned thematic tension.

Michael K. Williams Steals One Final Scene in 'Surrounded'

That said, any reservations vanish when Williams enters into the story. Though it is a small role which is painfully brief, he alters the trajectory of the story by the power of his presence alone. Discussing his character requires a great degree of withholding, but Williams makes him into a memorable one. Not only does he provide a surprising injection of humor, there is a menace to him that is hidden in the light mirth. His character walks up upon the tree late at night, offering help and support that breaks up the many threats. Though Mo wants someone to trust and Williams brings plenty of charm to the role, there are moments where you catch sight of signs that he may not be who he says he is. Unfortunately, the writing ends up being less subtle than the performance and culminates in a clunky reveal that undercuts itself. Just as he would often do throughout his career, Williams makes the character into something more than what was on the page. In another world, we could've seen a movie just about him.The scene is central to the story and, in many ways, the film would have benefited from sitting with it for far longer than it did. Much of this stems from a desire to see Williams for as much as it would be possible to prolong his final film role. However, having more patience would have also served the story and the growing tension of the experience. The discussion the two characters have about how to survive and get what they need is a dynamic one. Alas, just as remains the case with Williams being taken from this world, there was so much more for him to do in this role had he been given the proper room to do so. He was and will always be an infinite talent who felt like he was only just getting started in showing what he could do.

While the film around him is not nearly as vibrant and can only hold a candle to his brilliance that shines even in brevity, there is still much that proves to be gripping despite the many missteps it makes along the way. Wright carries the film on her shoulders, pushing through to what is a bit of a conventional conclusion where the pieces not only don’t come together, but don’t carry the same weight as the journey to get there. It invites more interesting readings, but is also a basic survival thriller that can feel like it is hitting you over the head with a rock as opposed to letting the moments in search of serenity linger. There are layers of complexity in both Wright’s performance and that of the late Williams which elevate the experience, making for a sturdy enough riff on the Western that still could have been so much more.

Surrounded is on VOD today.

Star (2024) Twitter (X) Review: Kavin Movie Receives Positive Response

By Rohan Verma

The Telugu film Star has finally hit theaters, sparking excitement among audiences eagerly sharing their initial reactions on social media platforms. Directed by Elan, the film revolves around Kalai, who aspires to become a film star. Along his journey, he faces criticism and challenges from the audience and his fellow actors.

Elan’s disclosure about drawing inspiration from actor Vijay’s early career adds an intriguing layer to the film. For those unaware, actor Vijay faced criticism for his looks and acting early in his career. The cast includes Kavin, Lal, Geetha Kailasam, Aaditi Pohankar, Preity Mukhundhan, and others. Additionally, the film received a U certificate from the Central Board of Film Certification, making it suitable for all audiences. The audience’s initial positive reactions on social media platforms promise a good start for the film.

Star Twitter reviews explored

The overwhelming praise and the audience’s positive reactions indicate that Star is meeting the audiences’ expectations. Fans have lauded Kavin’s performance, labeling the film as a blockbuster, with some even deeming it a must-watch.

One netizen wrote to X , “Performer #Kavin Peaked in #STARMovie. What a mature acting & elevated every scene with his Presence. The Long single-shot emotional scene towards the end was Outstanding & yet again proved he is a STAR.”

#STAR BLOCKBUSTER ? 8 .5⭐ / 10 An Engaging Entertainer , Elan Direction ?? @Kavin_m_0431 's Career Best Film ? Hereafter #Kavin is not a Raising STAR ✘ #STAR ✔ @thisisysr Background Score is The Soul of The Film Might be The Second Hero one Surprises is waiting for… pic.twitter.com/JYsvQ6QsCD — santhoshraja (@santhoshra81005) May 9, 2024

#STAR / #STARMovie – A Neat entertainer ? But not definitely upto the mark of OVERHYPED REVIEWS from Yesterday !! Go without any expectations….Movie won't disappoint for sure? #Kavin & #Yuvan are the soul of the movie❤️ pic.twitter.com/mEkc8alSjN — AmuthaBharathi (@CinemaWithAB) May 10, 2024

#star is watched Consecutive blockbuster for Kavin bro ?? excellent performance by him The best film of Kollywood of 2024 till now is in arguably star Elan once again gives a solid film after ppk and his collaboration with yuvan is yet another hit ♥️ And the suprise ?❤️‍? — Nitin narayan (@Nitinnarayan21) May 9, 2024

Another user shared a video , showcasing the actor’s growth and connection with viewers. He wrote, “Kavin was overwhelmed with emotion after receiving an outstanding response from the public audience, delighted to witness his growth.”

While praising the film, another user wrote , “One of the best feel-good movies of Tamil cinema. Particularly, the climax single shot scene will be the talk of a town across the industries. Brilliant writing @elann_t A lifetime role for Kavin and he excelled in it. A star was born and he is here to rule Kavin.”

Considering these reviews, it seems that Star has resonated deeply with audiences. As viewers continue to share their reactions, it will remain to see how Star performs at the box office.

Rohan Verma, widely known as Wrestling Hindi News, is a multifaceted content creator with a thriving YouTube channel boasting over 100,000 subscribers. While his digital presence is synonymous with the pulse of the wrestling world, Rohan is more than just a sports journalist; he's a versatile content writer and author with a distinct flair.

Beyond the adrenaline of the wrestling ring, Rohan Verma has a deep-seated passion for the Indian movie and TV industry. His unique perspective and keen insights into the intricacies of the entertainment world make him a notable voice in the realm of pop culture.

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RETRO REVIEW: The Amazing Spider-Man 2 Dooms Itself to Big-Budget Failure

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 is buzzy with three underdeveloped villains, which unfortunately leaves the Sony movie's moments of intimacy in the dust.

Marvel found box office success in 2014 with the releases of Guardians of the Galaxy , Captain America: The Winter Soldier and X-Men: Days of Future Past ... and then The Amazing Spider-Man 2 happened. Marc Webb's The Amazing Spider-Man sequel wasn't necessarily terrible, but it proved that the webbed superhero needed to hang up his suit for a little bit. Two years after the first film, now college-student Peter is wracked with guilt over his continuing relationship with Gwen Stacy, having promised her father to keep her out of his life. The guilt triples when three new villains walk into Spider-Man's life -- one of them being Peter's best friend Harry Osborn, played by Dane DeHaan .

It's a tale as old as time with Spider-Man, as Peter is forced to decide whether putting the people he loves at risk is worth wearing the mask. While Webb's original approach to a coming-of-age Spider-Man flick paid off , there's an eerie feeling throughout Amazing Spider-Man 2 that Sony was the sequel's true director. Unfortunately, the overabundance of set-ups and future assurances results in a messy narrative, with little focus on what makes Spider-Man amazing.

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 Works Best in Its Few Emotional Moments

Intimate exchanges between peter, gwen and aunt may make the film, 10 spider-man storylines that will never work on the big screen.

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 pays more attention to how Peter Parker's role as a superhero conflicts with his personal relationships. Webb's intentions come through in sporadic moments, but they're unfortunately overshadowed by savvy exhibitions of action. There's a recurring thread throughout the film in which Spider-Man stops bullies from picking on a little boy (played by Jorge Vega) and fixes his school project for him. Spider-Man offers to walk the little boy home, as radio presenters narrate whether Spider-Man is helping or hurting the city. Months after Spider-Man's sudden disappearance, the little boy -- now dressed as Spider-Man in a homemade costume -- steps in front of Rhino to stop the villain. It's a small, but meaningful subplot that nails why Peter's inner conflict is necessary. Without Spider-Man, the city and its people would have very little hope.

Although the Rhino fight is bombarded by dicey dialogue and big explosions, The Amazing Spider-Man 2 tries to be an intimate movie. There's a scene between Peter and Sally Field's undervalued Aunt May in which she lays out all her insecurities, calling herself "dumb" and feeling unworthy of being Peter's sole role model in life. The exchange is tear-jerking and it feels absolutely sincere when Peter reminds her that he's her boy, even if he's not her biological son. It's a beautiful statement about the relationship between adoptive children and their parents at a time when the child grows more curious about their biological parents.

Garfield and Stone continue to have the most electrifying chemistry of any Spider-Man couple, since The Amazing Spider-Man 2 utilizes the "forbidden love" trope. Peter and Gwen's on-again, off-again relationship allows for their romantic tension to light up the screen more than Electro's powers. The quiet moments between the two are almost always interrupted by Peter's Spidey senses triggering him, acting as a motif for Peter choosing his Spider-Man responsibilities. Their unconditional love for each other makes Gwen's untimely, if not wholly comics-accurate, death one of the most heartbreaking moments in a Spider-Man film. Peter's grieving reaction is so poignant that the emotional weight carries over into Spider-Man: No Way Home seven years later.

Juggling Three Villains Ineffectively Copies Spider-Man 3

The amazing spider-man 2 fails to avoid spider-man 3's mistakes, retro review: spider-man 3 is too much of a good thing.

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 's biggest flaw is one that could've easily been avoided -- since another film already failed because of it. Spider-Man 3 forced director Sam Raimi to squeeze in the stories of three villains. The result was crammed and cloudy, putting an apparent end to Raimi's take on the web-slinger . One would think that The Amazing Spider-Man 2 would've learned from this mistake, and given Webb and Garfield the chance to create a proper Spider-Man franchise. But nope -- someone had the bright idea to patch up Spider-Man 3 's wounds and try again. Is Marvel averse trying something fresh and new? Because Dark Phoenix fell into this same trap, too.

The villains in The Amazing Spider-Man 2 are delicate, morbid versions of their true selves. The frontrunner, Jamie Foxx's Max Dillon, is a down on his luck loner who turns into Electro after falling into a vat of eels in an Oscorp facility. Who wouldn't sympathize with him? Harry Osborn is Peter's supposed best friend, but they haven't spoken in years, and he follows the same formula. The backstory of an "Osborn curse" and Dane DeHaan's dashing looks give Harry a bad-boy persona -- but his villainous side is a goofy rich-guy caricature that puts the Green Goblin name to shame. Lastly, there's Aleksei Systsevich AKA Rhino, in a wasted performance by Academy Award-nominated and Emmy Award-winning actor Paul Giamatti. Rhino is the archetypal evil Russian who is over-the-top and loves to destroy things because... he likes it apparently? The Amazing Spider-Man 2 isn't clear about his intentions, and he only appears in the first and last minutes of the film. It's clear that Rhino was thrown in at the last second.

With three terrible villains, The Amazing Spider-Man 2 is split between three different narratives that hardly coexist. There are a few webs that connect them all, but these are weakened by poor plotting and weak characterization. Electro's story is granted the most depth and attention; the international subtitle of the film is Rise of Electro . But when Harry's predicament about his own imminent death is thrown into the mix, Electro's nuance as an overlooked Spider-Man fanatic who accidentally becomes New York's number one enemy is lost. There could've been another universe where Electro and Spider-Man had a genuine frenemies relationship that turned sour, but Peter becomes too caught up in Harry's situation.

Speaking of Harry, he sticks out like a sore thumb in a movie where he lacks importance. Gwen, May and Electro are far more on Peter's radar than Harry. This is supposed to be Peter's childhood friend, who has been there for him through thick and thin. Instead, he's treated as a side mission that's easy to ignore until the last second. The fact that Harry as Green Goblin is responsible for Gwen's death is underwhelming; Harry hasn't earned the Green Goblin suit yet because of how quickly his arc comes together. That's the ramification of this turbulent lineup of bad guys: nothing feels earned.

Pressure To Create a Franchise Is The Amazing Spider-Man 2's Downfall

The spider-man sequel is full of set-ups and not enough payoff, 10 most controversial franchise sequels (and a defense for each one).

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 does not work as a standalone movie. It's painfully obvious that the inclusions of Rhino and Harry Osborn were meant to set up a third Amazing Spider-Man movie that never happened. Several other minor characters were also introduced in the movie, such as Felicia Hardy/Black Cat (played by Felicity Jones), Alistar Smythe (B. J. Novak), Gustav Fiers/The Gentleman (Michael Massee) and Shailene Woodley's Mary Jane Watson in deleted scenes .

But taking away extraneous characters wouldn't fix all the film's issues. Deepening the backstory of Peter's parents is a bold move, but one that violates the Spider-Man legacy. Richard Parker was the mastermind behind the radioactive spider, and the genetic project only worked because Richard used his own DNA to create the spider. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 insinuates that Peter got his powers through destiny, which has never been the case, as Across the Spider-Verse points out . Spider-People are chosen by random coincidence. It's what they do with their new powers that makes them heroes. Amazing Spider-Man 2 's backstory deeply misunderstands the appeal of Spider-Man: he's an everyday guy just trying to help out the neighborhood.

The pressure of creating a rebooted Spider-Man franchise lets the overstuffed movie lose focus. There are elements that the film gets right: Hans Zimmer's brilliant score, Spider-Man's close relationship with pedestrians, Peter using his brainpower to invent new gadgets and webbing, and freeze-framing to slow down fast-paced action sequences. Marc Webb has all the ingredients to make a great franchise, but gets caught up in the larger spectacle. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 is proof that eating too much of the metaphorical candy at once can make someone sick, no matter how good it tastes.

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 returns to theaters for a limited time on May 13, 2024. The film is also available to stream on Disney+, Netflix and Apple TV+.

The Amazing Spider-Man 2

When New York is put under siege by Oscorp, it is up to Spider-Man to save the city he swore to protect as well as his loved ones.

• Excels in its most intimate moments with Peter Parker, Aunt May and Gwen Stacy.
• Spider-Man's interactions with pedestrians make him an authentic version of the character.
• With three villains, the film loses focus quite easily.
• Ultimately acts as a setup for future installments rather than a cohesive narrative.
• Richard Parker's backstory negates what it truly means to be Spider-Man.

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A recent post on the Music Network of Maine Facebook page by singer-songwriter Anni Clark about an upcoming show.

Maine music fan and guitarist John Perry started the Music Network of Maine Facebook page about a decade ago. It’s described as a place for videos, photos and events involving Maine musicians and shows in the state.

On any given day, you can see anywhere from a handful to dozens of posts about upcoming performances by musicians and bands happening at venues all over the state.

Singer-songwriter Anni Clark is an active contributor, and her most recent post shared info about a May 9 show in Westbrook. Another recent post had details about a Fleetwood Mac tribute show scheduled for May 18 in Bath.

Account: Music Network of Maine

Platform: Facebook

Followers: 12,700

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