And It Goes Something Like This.... (How To Write A Good Movie Review)

Member Name: plipplop

Product:	How To Write A Good Movie Review
Date:	06/03/07 (639 review reads)
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I read a lot of movie reviews, both on opinion sites like www.Dooyoo.co.uk, in the papers and in magazines. The type of review you read on an opinion site tends to be quite different to that of the “proper press” and in many ways, I think that’s a good thing. I like the slightly more laboured, personal approach taken on sites like this because it helps you make an informed decision a little more easily. Some “professional” film reviewers are cultural snobs, who wouldn’t know how to have a laugh if they tried and with so many artistic, hidden agendas, I often find it difficult to decide for myself. The reviewer(s) in Metro newspaper, for example, seem to have little time or interest in blockbusters and rate independent / art house movies way above your average popcorn movie on principle.

I like all sorts of films, with horror at the top of the list, but political drama, action, science fiction and martial arts are all high on my list of favourites. With at least five or six movies released every week at the cinema alone, it’s really difficult to sort the wheat from the chaff, so my constant attention to reviews is an inherent part of what I decide to watch, and in which order.

There are some excellent film reviewers here on Dooyoo. I shan’t name them. You’ll know who they are, and standards (in my humble opinion) are pretty high. The film category is one of the most active on Dooyoo too, which means that there are always plenty of reviews to read and I think it’s one of the better web sites around if you want to read a good cross-section of reviews. Recent developments have removed the brouhaha about using the right category (thank goodness) and now everything has settled down, we can concentrate on the subject matter rather than the category.

But there ARE foibles of opinion sites that detract from the reader’s experience. Where else, for example, would you find a review broken into little paragraphs with headings for the cast, the special effects and the soundtrack? Whilst such a structure shouldn’t necessarily prevent the review from being useful or interesting, from a personal perspective, I think it’s just a horrible way to present things as it interrupts the flow of the review so badly. Recommendation number one has to be, therefore, no headings please.

Recommendation number two is no personal back story, please. I couldn’t care less if you hired this on Wednesday because it was raining and you were supposed to go to the cinema but the car broke down and so you had to find your own entertainment and you only had £3.25 so this was the cheapest DVD in Tesco. Like, who cares?

Given that films are supposed to be a form of art, I’d probably prefer not to have lots of technical information either. A list of the cast members, a statement on the certificate, the running time and some trivia quoted from the Internet Movie Database is nice enough, but given that I’m just as capable of typing in http://www.imdb.co.uk as anyone else, I’m not sure it adds an awful lot of value. I’d much rather read about these things in the body of the review. Tell me the certificate by all means, but tell me whether you think it was justified or not, or whether it surprised you. If you mention the running time, then surely you would want to comment on how appropriate it was? Good reviewing must surely be about adding personal observations rather than listing facts and figures? Leave those for the shampoo reviews please. I don’t think there is a checklist of things you MUST or MUST NOT mention because this will depend on the film. In some films, for example, the music / soundtrack will really strike a chord with you. In other movies it will simply pass you by. I think there’s a lot to be said for only saying something if it’s worth saying.

(There are things I wouldn’t include though. I’m not actually interested in your political opinion, for example, and when reviewing certain films you can get bogged down in this.)

When writing a film review, can I suggest that you need to choose the subject matter with some care? For example, when expressing an opinion, it’s good to write a review on a product about which you actually have an opinion. So often, you can read reviews that sit so squarely on the fence, you still don’t know whether the writer recommended them or not. I’d like to read how a movie made you feel. Were you frightened? Did it make you laugh? Were you shocked? In each case, was that the point – and why? A film should make you feel something, and the stronger the feeling, the better the review, I reckon. But don’t expect everyone else to agree or to empathise. And there’s a difference between praise and sycophantisms. If you start to mention “artful cinematography” and other posh reviewers’ language, I’m going to start to feel as though you copied something or read a book or just tried to hard.

A plot outline is good. I quite like the ones that draw you in like the blurb on the dust cover of a book, but brevity is probably the best option (not my strongest point, it must be said). A review that is ONLY the plot outline is of no value, however. It’s your opinion of the plot that’s more important so try and focus on that. Don’t make assumptions either. A review of the third Star Wars film might need to be taken in isolation. Too much assumption that the reader has seen the previous two can cause confusion or lack of understanding. It’s a difficult balance and not one easily mastered, but do try and find some way to help people understand previous films in a series, as briefly as possible. Many films are based on novels or plays, which means that comparison with the written medium is likely if not inevitable. I think both perspectives are hugely valuable. I like to read reviews of adaptations from those who have read the book AND from those who haven’t but I would always state which side you fall into. Similarly, if you’re reviewing a sequel and you haven’t seen the one before, it can be useful to make that clear too, because you’ll be reviewing something in isolation.

Plot spoilers are a real no-no. Try not to give anything away, and that’s not just the twist at the end. Sometimes, you have to be a little sketchy in your references to things because by being too specific you can give a surprise away.

If you understand things like direction, cinematography and screenplay then discuss them. If you’d rather talk about look and feel, visuals, sound and script, then use that language instead. If you want to talk about special effects and music, then the same applies. But don’t bandy around terms that you “think” sound clever or artful because the chances are they won’t. I like honest, sincere reviews that are founded on personal opinion, rather than diatribes based on the output of a semi-complete degree in media studies. Everyone has a different perspective on the finished movie and if you stick to being honest, I don’t think you can go wrong. Genre experts always make good reviewers because they know their stuff. People who know nothing about the genre also make good reviewers because they have a wildly different perspective.

References to other movies are often interesting and useful but I think they need to be built appropriately into the review. For example:

“Joe Bloggs plays the lead (Brad) who you may recognise as the guy who drowned at the beginning of Poseidon. He’s much better in this and far more likeable than his character in Poseidon.”

I think that’s much more useful than:

“Joe Bloggs (Poseidon) plays the lead (Brad).”

For starters, you run the risk of starting to drown in references made in brackets but also, the first example actually makes a useful point. Chances are with the second one, you still might not know who the writer is talking about.

I like personal touches too, things that particular authors include that nobody else does. I remember, for example, a reviewer on Ciao who always ended his reviews with a comical series of bullet points called “Things I learnt from this film”. I think something like this is a nice way to set your reviews apart from the crowd. I’ve yet to come up with my own original idea for this though!

If you’re reviewing a DVD and want to talk about special features etc, then please don’t just list them. That’s a description not a review. To review the commentary, you need to listen to it and the same applies to other “featurettes” and extras. There are some technical things here that you kind of need to know what you’re talking about to review (technical ratios etc) and with the advent of Blu-Ray and HDVD things are likely to get more complicated. I’m not convinced that many people who buy DVDs are hugely driven by extras and rather selfishly I kind of opted to stick to just the film part because I think that’s the only part I can confidently and enthusiastically talk about. But that’s a very personal thing.

Other little things? It’s probably best not to use swear words on a site like this. Movie magazines will throw a “f**k” or a “c**t” at you without hesitating but with a wider cross-section of readers here, some censorship seems appropriate. Don’t copy other people’s work (surely goes without saying). Don’t lie. Don’t review films you haven’t seen. And so on.

In summary, I’d suggest you review a film because you’re interested in the subject matter and because you think you have something worthwhile to say. Don’t take the same approach to a film review as you would something like a mobile phone because they’re fundamentally different things. Above all, try and have fun reading and writing film reviews and you probably can’t go wrong.

Well, maybe.

Summary: Some personal thoughts on good and bad reviewing techniques