Write a film review for you not dooyoo! (How To Write A Good Movie Review)

Member Name: dididave

Product:	How To Write A Good Movie Review
Date:	18/02/09 (469 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: More rewarding to write a review you are happy with

Disadvantages: You can't please the perfectionsists.

Writing a good movie review should not be rocket science. Members can obsess over what they should or should not include. Should they have a cast list and running time? Is there a need for a background on why they watched it? Do they need to talk about the Director and how the film is shot? However, none of these things really matter. Whether you include them or not will have no immediate impact on what rating I give your review and the Average Joe will not give a toss about the subtle use of lighting and clever use of camera angles.

Writing a good movie review is all about the opinion. All the above are nice added extras for some but they are mere padding to any right thinking individual. All I need in a film review to make it crownworthy and certainly very useful to me is:

Brief plot outline-opinion-conclusion.

I don't need to know huge amounts of background on the characters, neither do I need to know every little plot event. If you have told me this why do I need to see the film? I can sum up pretty much every film I have seen in a short paragraph of no more than four lines and anything more than a paragraph is superfluous as far as I am concerned. You can tell me what you thought of the characters and how well they were acted in your opinion. I don't need however, to know the ins and outs of every character in the film. Some people like a cast list and an outline of how everyone acts and performs. Why? How does having a huge list of who is in it make you decide to go and see it? For the love of God at least whack the lists at the end of the review were they can be ignored.

Film reviews should be all about the opinion. What did you like/dislike about the film? Are there any outstanding performances be they good or bad? Does time fly by or does it drag on a bit too long? You don't need to be a literary genius to tell someone why you loved or hated a film. "It was really, really good and Brad Pitt is so fit" is not an explanation of why you liked it. Telling me you thought Pitt was convincing in the role is, even telling me that you thought his physique was good for an action movie and he is fit is fine.

Although I have been fairly critical of people who talk about the moody lighting and how marvellous the Director is this does not mean you cannot include any of these things. However, making them pertinent to your review makes them useful. Listing the Director is no different to listing the cast but saying, "Ridley Scott is one of my favourite Directors but should steer clear of Romantic Comedies in the future" is great. People get hung up on things like special effects and CGI but again it is all about whether they were important to you when watching the film. I can imagine you needing to tell me the special effects were rubbish in a horror/sci-fi for example but do I really need you to tell me the same in a Period drama?

Less has always been more in my opinion so stick to what you know. People get obsessed with trying to write the perfect review as if they are the next Barry Norman. Remember your audience is just like you, they will be googling a film just to see if it is any good. Do you really think they give a crap that you have not included the running time? You will always get members who insist on one fiddly bit of information being in a film review but I don't write for them and as far as I am concerned neither should you. If your review puts across what you want it too it matter not whether it is four hundred words or a thousand. I have seen both lengths crowned which proves there is no magic formula. So go on write a film review for you!

Summary: Movie review ramblings