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How to Write a Movie Review

Last Updated: August 11, 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 5,654,416 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

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Expert Interview

Thanks for reading our article! If you’d like to learn more about writing, check out our in-depth interview with Marissa Levis .

• ↑ 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 for College

Updated 30 Aug 2024

If you wish to know how to write a movie review, then you are on the right page. A movie review forms part of essays college students writes. While many cinema-loving students find it interesting, others don’t. A film review does not mean writing what happened in a film; instead, it involves doing a critical assessment of the same as an art form that reflects cultural and societal values. Also, you can proof your paper instantly with the Edubirdie plagiarism tool .

What is a movie review? A movie review is a detailed analysis of a film or a documentary. It involves analysis, research, and reporting the writer’s views in a structured way. The writer assumes a position of educating readers whether they have watched the film or not. In fact, many people read movie reviews to decide whether they want to see a film or not.

Film criticism, as a historical and evolving practice, shapes the discourse around cinema. Notable critics and the transition of film reviews from traditional media to various platforms highlight the importance of analysis and personal insights in creating effective movie reviews.

A film review tests students’ critical thinking and reporting skills. It also examines their dexterity in writing in a logical, concise, lucid, and creative manner. This post shall teach you to craft the best film review in your class without being redundant in writing , and you can find many interesting tips on how to write a movie review for college and movie reviews examples. Writing a movie review requires critical analysis and attention to detail, and if you need assistance, a literature review writing service can help you craft a comprehensive and insightful review.

How to Write a Movie Review Like a Professional Critic

Watch the movie:.

Before you can review any film, you must watch it. You cannot review a motion picture you have not watched. Therefore, for success watch the film at least twice. Note: do not watch it like you’re a regular moviegoer or movie enthusiast. Be focused and conscious through the film. Take notes if necessary.

You will need to take notes hence have a notebook and pen handy. Record all events and characters (major and minor). Try to be meticulous do not overlook anything.

Research the movie

Watching the film should give you the overview and feel of the movie. With that, it should be easy and exciting to research the movie. The research augments what you have watched in the movie. In your research, you should find out who the filmmaker is, what prompted the making of the movie, the characterization, historical events the lead to the film, location, plot and so on.

If you are aware of the details behind the movie, the movie will be more understandable and engaging. Note also that if you do not understand the movie you cannot move to the next step which involves analysis. Try not to proceed to the next step unless you vividly understand the movie. If it entails watching it again until you fully get it, do it. The following should form part of your findings regarding the film:

• Title and year
• Names of the lead actors
• Name of the director
• Title of the book (if based on a book)

Draft the review outline

Draft an outline with which you will write the review. The overview will help you organize your review concisely and logically. The outline is more like the skeletal frame on which the whole study will stand. A good draft will yield a perfect report, and the reverse is also true.

An outline enhances the quality of the film review, and it is essential you have your outline before you start writing. A sample outline looks like this:

1. Introduction

• Date released
• Background info

2. Summary of the story

Main characters and their significance in the plot

3. Analysis of the plot elements

4. creative elements, 5. opinions (add examples to back up your claims).

• Camera techniques
• Special effects and so on

6. Conclusion

Analyze the movie.

After fully understanding the movie, you can start its analysis. Critically evaluate the film from the beginning to the end, noting every detail. While analyzing, if you observed any confusing part, re-watch to grasp the idea portrayed there fully. After you fully understand it, then you are set to write the movie review. To write a decent analysis, you need to know how to write a film critique. Observing different camera angles can enhance the viewer's understanding and engagement with the film.

Augment Your Review with Examples

While watching the movie, your observations should be supported with examples, i.e., mention scenes the event took place. If the plot is faulty, mention it but state examples to support that claim. You can also mention poorly developed characters evident in the movie and others. Everything you observed in the film must be noted.

Examples of notables include locations, faulty or beautiful dialogues, quotes that appeal to you, poorly made speeches, bloopers, editing errors and so on. Do take note that it is not enough to make general statements about how awesome or awful the movie is, you must support your claim with evidence in the film. That is why it is called a movie review and not opinion sampling interview about the movie.

Comment on the originality of the movie

Finally mention the uniqueness of the film which you noticed in the one you’ve watched. But even if the movie happens to be a standard feature with conventional approaches, you can still mention this as well. A regular film is still a film.

Write Your Review

With all the fact gathered above, you can now use the outline to write your film review. Make every part easy and enjoyable to read. Importantly, make the introduction engaging and captivating. You should go for a grand opening that will grab the attention of any reader. A good opening keeps the reader on the article.

Let us assume your introduction is watertight and engaging; any sloppy body will lose your reader. Hence, make the body informative and engaging. The review aims to reveal as much information as possible. Therefore, do your best to give all the details in the film to the reader. Engage your analytic mind. Analyzing technical aspects such as cinematography, lighting, and sound quality is crucial for a comprehensive review.

Another essential part of the review is the closing or conclusion. Here you give your view about the movie with evidence revealed in the body. Connect the conclusion with the introduction creatively.

Edit Your Final Draft

After writing your first version of the review, you can re-write the final one after editing. Also, you should check the final draft for spelling errors, grammar mistakes, and so on. Ensure sentences connects logically to each other and watch the format used. Make a final comparison of your work with the requirement by your professor or lecturer.

With the help of free word counter check the number of words required and cut them if more than needed but if not, add relevant information to make them up. Do not add irrelevant details for the sake of space. Ensure your final submitted draft is well edited, polished, plagiarism-free and presented in the recommended format or style.

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Tips to Follow While Writing a Movie Review: Personal Opinion

Since a movie review essay requires dedication and time investment, you might want to know the special tips to get you through the assignment seamlessly. Do recall that perfect conclusion of this assignment will add to your grades, hence the need to take it seriously. If you wish to know How to write a movie critique easily, then this section will tell you that.

The useful tips you should consider are as follows:

• Watch the film at least two times
• If you have seen it before, make sure you re-watch it for the assignment.
• Watch the movie not as a moviegoer but with an analytic mindset of a professional reviewer
• Pay attention to details. Remember, your personal opinion is crucial as it provides a subjective interpretation of the film's events.
• Take notes as you watch
• Don’t be in a rush - take your time, but be aware of the deadline
• Do not write out of the contest of your coursework. Tailor your review to the target audience and their expectations.
• Follow the requirements of your professor
• Use an outline to organize your work
• Start working on the body of your film review first and the introduction next
• Write an engaging introduction and a powerful closing.
• Never forget to edit your work.

Read also: How to write an editorial Essay: Useful Tips for Those Who Want To Perfect Their Skill 

Elements of a Professional Movie Review: Plot Summary

One similar thing about these reviews is that they all should contain the same elements regardless of the genre. The elements of a movie review provide the structure on which you will base the analysis. A proper movie review format comprises the following components:

It’s not enough that the movie title appears on the headline, it must appear in the review too. Mention it in the text and feature it in the introductory paragraph; there is no harm in doing that. A movie review evaluates a particular film and helps readers decide whether to watch it.

The Storyline (Plot)

The motion picture review itself refers to the summary of the movie. Present it in a concise way for people who are yet to watch it. When you are beginning to write a movie review, never have the mindset that your professor or any would-be reader has watched the movie. Therefore, never leave important points or events out. Your job is to elucidate the movie clearly to the reader: mention the faults observed, and the filmmaker’s brilliant points or downers. Including a plot summary provides a brief overview of the film's plot, which is essential for a comprehensive review.

What is a movie analysis without the filmmaker? Your review must feature him or her. Therefore, dedicate a paragraph to him, write about the kind of personality he or she is. Reveal the filmmaker’s political stance (if relevant), background, the controversial life of the person (if he is one), etc. You can also use the opportunity to talk about other movies the director has worked on before now, and then connect it with the one under review.

Significance to your class

Relate the content of the film or documentary to your course topic. Check its importance for historical accuracy. If the film is for history class, discuss any over-dramatization noticed in the act. However, if the film was based on a book you have reviewed in one of your classes, mention the connection between the book and the movie: state variances, comparisons and other elements present in the book that are missing in the film.

Creative elements

Creative elements make or mar films, that is why filmmakers go out of their ways to add them to their movies. It is your job to state how these elements work in the plot and the film in general. For instance, comment on the effectiveness of the sound effect in enriching the viewing experience of the movie? Talk about the lighting, costume, makeup, colors, camera, etc.

The cast carry the movie; without them, there is no movie. Your review should reveal if they acted well or poorly. State if their acting was realistic or not. Do not fail to mention if they have the skills and charisma to portray the role they played. You can also state if they were the right actors to play the role they did. Furthermore, you can suggest actors who could have played certain roles better than those in the film.

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Common Movie Review Mistakes You Should Avoid

After your arduous work of submitting your film report, you might be shocked to learn that your hard work received a query. You may wish to know why, well it could be because you commit any of the following common mistakes:

• Focusing on the wrong thing: Do not shift your focus. You might want to connect the film with some historical events, however, do not give unnecessary analysis or details that are not relevant to the movie under review. For instance, avoid giving the history of motion picture unless the film is about the development of the industry. Try and be focused.
• Alienating yourself from the review: You are the one writing the review, therefore, do not insert yourself in it. The review already has your name and signature on it so adding the possessive pronoun “I” should be discarded. The mistake most student make is writing in the first person, e.g., “I like the movie a lot, I admired the lead character,” and so on. Since the review exposes your understanding, opinions, likes, and dislikes, then it is unnecessary to insert yourself in it.
• Not doing your research: As said earlier, watching the movie is one side of the coin, you need to check out other details. Researching the film is highly critical because it would expound to you all the nitty-gritty details, not in the motion picture.
• Lack of evidence: In writing about a motion picture, you must substantiate any opinion or claim. You need to state your reason for liking, disliking, etc. of the film.
• Avoid irrelevant discussion: Do not start explaining issues not related directly with the motion picture you are analyzing.
• Unstructured review: Never write a movie review without structure, it would reveal you as an unorganized student. Hence structure your review properly by first creating the outline and organize your work. A good movie review should include a structured summary, critical analysis, and a persuasive tone to guide readers in their decision to watch the film or not.
• Avoid Generalization and be Precise: Never generalize ideas when you write a movie review. Avoid general statements like “a fantastic movie,” “beautiful set,” “excellent acting,” and such like. Support any comment you make with evidence from the film.
• Review lacking substance and analysis: Avoid writing a motion picture review that does not have substance or analysis. A review is a piece of educational literature, therefore, add intelligent analysis to it.

Movie Review Example from Top Writers

Here are a few examples of movie review topics to steer you in the right direction:

• Avatar Movie Review
• Beautiful Woman Movie Review
• Black Panther and its Global Significance
• In Pursuit of Happiness: Lessons to Learn
• iRobot: The Depiction of AI in the Future
• Matrix Movie Review
• Roots and Its Implication on the Life of the Black Men
• The Good, the Bad, the Ugly Movie Review
• The Last Holiday Movie Review and the Lesson of Living Life Too Cautiously
• Titanic Movie Review

Quick & Reliable Writing Help

As you can see, a movie review essay is an interesting paper to write. Recall that the whole point of a movie review is to inform the reader about the film and the ideas behind it. Also, it reflects your unbiased and objective view about the film. Adopt all our tips, and you shall submit a professional-looking report.

However, if you don't care about movies or still have issues coming to terms with all we have explained above, then contact us for help. At EduBirdie, our movie and book review writing service  are poised to help with your assignment and guarantee a high-quality review at an affordable price. With us, you shall learn how to do a movie review that will wow any professor.

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The supreme court just signaled what it will do if the election is close, jack white threatens donald trump with lawsuit over music usage, hong kong convicts journalists of sedition, deepening press freedom concerns, what google’s antitrust defeat means for ai, show hn: turn videos into ascii art (open source, js+canvas), the samsung galaxy z fold 6’s paint is peeling off because you’re charging it wrong according to samsung, forget the iphone 16 launch – october could be the real treat for macbook fans, amd ryzen 9700x and 9600x cpus just got a free speed boost from msi – and other motherboard makers are rumored to follow, a residential cruise ship that’s supposed to sail the world for 3 years has been stuck in northern ireland for 3 months, how to write a movie review (with sample reviews).

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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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 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!

How to Write a Movie Review

Writing a Film Review

Movies have become a cultural mainstay of our society. Not only are they art and entertainment, but they have also become a way for people to bond and make connections. Finding someone who has a similar taste in movies can create new friendships and start interesting conversations. That's why understanding how to analyze a movie and write movie reviews is such a useful skill. 

Do you need to know how to write a movie review for college? Or how to write a movie critique? Or maybe just how to do a movie review? In this article, you will learn how to write a movie review step by step, as well as get an in-depth guide into each section of a movie review.

What is a Movie Review?

A film review essay is more than just a plot summary followed by a recommendation. A movie review analyzes different elements of a movie and mixes personal opinion with objective analysis. The goal of the movie review is to tell the reader about the details of a movie while giving them enough information to decide for themselves whether it's worth watching or not. Of course, a good movie review also has to be interesting and engaging! 

How to Write a Good Movie Review

More than most other pieces of writing, there are a lot of steps to take before actually getting into writing a movie review. But don't worry though, most of these steps are pretty fun and if you follow them, you will know how to review movies. 

Watch the film! 

It goes without saying that you need to watch a movie before you write a review for it, so, before you do anything else, watch the movie at least once. Don't worry about trying to pick up specific details on your first watch, just enjoy the movie and get a general impression of whether you liked it or not and what you liked or disliked. Ideally, you should watch the movie at least two times. On your second and third viewings, pay attention to movie review criteria like cinematography, acting, dialogue, character development, deeper meanings, etc. Read some film review examples to get a sense of the things they talk about.

Pause the movie on your second and third viewings and take notes on things that stand out to you. Don't be afraid to take as many notes as you want, after all these notes are just for you.  You might not use all the notes you have taken, but they will help you compose the main part of your body paragraphs.

Express your opinions

Once you have watched the movie a few times and taken notes, make a list of the strongest opinions you have about the movie. If you think that the quality of acting was one of the best parts of the movie, use your notes to come up with specific examples. You should have between 3 and 5 key opinions that you will elaborate on when writing a film review along with examples to back up your claims.

Think about your audience

The language you use is going to change based on who you are writing the movie review for. If it is an assignment for school or university, then you may have to use more technical language.  If you're writing an article for a website or personal blog, then think about who the audience is and use language appropriate for them. Keep in mind that your audience also depends on the genre of the movie you are critiquing. A movie review for a serious period drama will have a different audience than a buddy cop comedy and therefore different language. Look at a movie review sample from different genres to get an idea of the type of language to use. 

Research the actors

Having big movie stars associated with a film is often one of the main selling points of a movie.  If an actor is critically acclaimed, it’s especially important to mention the awards they have won as this is often a sign of the overall quality of the movie. It's also possible that you didn't like the movie overall, but one of your favorite actors was in it so you enjoyed the movie and another fan might enjoy it too. 

Do background research

An easy way to make a movie review interesting is to search for interesting details about the making of the movie. It may be worth mentioning if it was shot in a particularly beautiful place or a unique location, or if the special effects were practical rather than CGI. Include interesting casting decisions or other actors that were considered for a particular role. Think about what information could be interesting to someone who might want to watch the movie and include those details. Go over some movie critique examples to get inspiration. 

Research the professionals

People can be fans not just of the actors, but of directors, writers, cinematographers, costume designers, and many other elements of filmmaking. Many directors are auteurs, which means they have a very particular visual style or storytelling method. How much time you spend on this section is dependent on your audience. If you're writing for social media or a blog for general people, then this might not be interesting to most. But if you're writing for film school or for a specific audience interested in filmmaking, then this section will need to be more elaborate. Look at a film review example written for different audiences to understand the differences. 

Draft an outline

Now that you've done all the required research, it's time to come up with a review outline. An outline is always useful when doing any piece of writing because it gives you a  chance to visualize the structure and plan how you want to incorporate information. This is the general film review format.

Introduction

• Brief summary of the film
• Discuss plot, tone, characters
• Discuss creative and technical elements
• Your opinions

Conclusion 

Come up with a catchy title.

Almost more than any other piece of writing, a movie review’s title needs to be engaging. A title like ”film review of (name of the movie) might be to the point, but isn't going to stand out. A good title should grab the reader's attention and make them want to read more. A few ways you can do this is by talking about a specific actor or director, or by using one of the main plot points of the movie. For example, “A Romantic Comedy for the Unromantic”,  or “Chris Pratt Plays Against Type in the Best Possible Way”. Look at the titles of some movie review examples for inspiration!

Write your review

It's finally time to get to the actual writing! The next part of this article talks in-depth about each section of a film review. 

People aren't going to take a review seriously if you have spelling mistakes or grammatical errors. If it's an assignment for school, then you’re going to lose marks because of mistakes like that. Make sure you reread your paper a few times and check for typos and other silly mistakes.  Read the paper out loud once or twice to get an idea of if it has a good flow. Don't be afraid to move sections around if you think it helps you build a stronger case.

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How to Write a Film Review

Do you want a ‘how to write a movie review’ template? Let's go over the specific parts of a film review and what to include in each one.

Your first sentence needs to capture the reader's attention. You can do this by stating an interesting fact about the movie, starting off by expressing your opinion of whether it's good or bad, mentioning some of the important actors, comparing it to other movies in the genre or to real-world events, whatever it is, make sure it's catchy!

Next, give background information about the movie. This includes things like the title, release date, studio, important cast members, director, budget, etc. Make sure to highlight any achievements of the movie, for example, if it was nominated for any awards. The same goes for the director as well as important members of the cast. This shouldn't just be a dry stating of facts, rather this should be a collection of interesting information about the background of the movie. 

Finally, end your introduction paragraph with your thesis. In the case of a film review, your thesis is essentially what you thought about the film. Without giving away too much, express your overall impression of the movie noting particular things that you thought stood out or were weak.

Summary of the story

The trick to writing the summary of the story is giving readers an idea of what to expect without giving away any important plot points or spoilers. The goal of this section isn't to explain the plot of the movie, It's to make sure that people have a basic understanding of the story so that the rest of the review can make sense. Describe the setting of the movie, which includes the main locations and time period. Introduce the main characters (including the name of the actor in parentheses after the name of their character). And go over the general storyline. 

Plot elements

This is when you start explaining what you thought about the movie. Start with an analysis of the plot itself. Did it have a rising action that builds suspense? Was the climax a good payoff? What were your overall impressions of the movie? How did it make you feel? What do you think the purpose of the movie was and did the director succeed in their goal? 

This is also the section where you get to talk about the different characters in the movie. Why did you enjoy certain characters? Were some characters better developed than others? Could some characters have benefited from more development? Was the villain particularly interesting? 

Think about the overall mood of the movie, did it change over time? How did the tones and symbols of the movie emphasize elements of the plot? Remember that any point you make in this section has to be backed up by examples. So if you say that there are several plot holes that make the movie complicated to understand, mention the specific scenes.

Creative elements

There are a lot of technical and creative elements in a movie that can stand out even if the overall plot and story weren’t the best. On the other hand, even a great story can be spoiled by bad dialogue or set design. These are some of the creative elements you should pay attention to especially when rewatching the movie and taking notes.

Dialogue : This can refer to the overall writing of the movie as well. If you can get your hands on a script then read it! When thinking about dialogue ask yourself, did the conversation between characters seem natural and flow easily? Or did it seem choppy and unnatural? 

Cinematography : Cinematography refers to the camera effects and the choices of how to film a certain scene. The lighting, the choice of camera angles, essentially the unique perspective of the story as told through the camera. 

Editing : Editing refers to the transition between different scenes as well as how well the movie flows together. This could include things like clever montages, longshots, different perspectives, etc.  

Costumes : Some movies, especially historical movies, fantasy films, and science fiction films, depend heavily on costume design. Costumes are an integral part of making a character stand out or making the world seem more real.

Set Design : Set design refers to the backgrounds of scenes. Some sets might be more elaborate whereas others can be minimalistic. Each choice has its pros and cons and effective set design creates proper ambiance, setting the tone and mood for a scene or the movie.

Music and Sound : Sometimes the movie has a great soundtrack or just incredible sound effects that help make it stand out.

Stunts : More important for action movies, but in general stunts and action sequences can be a major selling point for a film.

Special Effects : Most movies rely on some amount of special effects, and whether it be CGI, or practical, or a combination of the two, the quality is important.

Once you have analyzed multiple different elements of the story from its plot, characterization, and other technical and creative elements, you can state your opinions and provide evidence for them. Make sure you refer to specific scenes or specific situations when looking for substantiating evidence. Remember that the goal of a movie review is not to just state whether you liked or disliked a movie, it is to analyze it in an objective way, and give information so that somebody else can decide whether they want to watch the movie or not.

In the conclusion you express your main opinion of the movie along with the most important pieces of evidence. You can talk about the purpose of the movie and whether the director was successful in showing that purpose. End with a recommendation of whether the movie should be watched or not, along with suggestions of movies that are similar to it.

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Mistakes to avoid

You now know how to write a review on a movie but let's take a look at some mistakes that you should be careful to avoid.

Not focusing on the film

It's easy to start writing about things like the historical events the movie you loved is based on or the importance of the Marvel Cinematic Universe overall rather than focus on the movie itself.  While those elements can be interesting to include as background information, the point of a film review is to go over a particular movie so that is what you should spend the most time on.

Not providing evidence 

A common mistake people make when they write movie reviews is to state their opinions without any objective analysis. An easy way to overcome this mistake is to make sure that you provide evidence for any claims that you make.

Spoilers are an easy way to make sure that people will be upset with your movie review. It is common to accidentally give away too much, especially when writing the plot summary. Find the line between giving enough information so that people understand the general story and revealing important plot twists and turning points. Read some sample movie reviews for examples of how to avoid spoilers.

Using personal pronouns

Statements like “I did not like the special effects” or “I did not like the pacing of the movie” are clearly expressions of opinion. It is better to make statements like “the special effects in certain action scenes were cartoonish and took away from the realism of the film”. 

A movie review essay can be incredibly fun to write, especially if you have a strong opinion about the movie. But keep in mind that a movie review isn't just about your opinion, it has to include an objective analysis with claims backed up by evidence from specific scenes. It's difficult to have a movie review definition, but a great movie review is a blend between personal opinion and objective analysis. It informs the reader about the strengths and weaknesses of the movie while letting them make the decision whether they want to watch it or not. 

If you found your way to this article because you were looking for help on how to write a movie review for college, then you're in the perfect place. If you need any help, don't hesitate to reach out to the experts at Studyfy. At Studyfy, we offer a wide range of custom writing services, coursework writing services, and essay writer service . Our team of experienced writers is well-equipped to handle any writing task you may have, no matter the complexity or urgency. Just say, " write a paper for me ," and we will ensure that you receive a high-quality custom essay that meets all your requirements. Trust us to provide you with the best coursework writing services and custom essay writing that will help you achieve your academic goals.

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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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8-Step Guide On How To Write a Movie Review

An ability to write an impeccable movie review is considered to be a great feature, which develops one’s critical skills and helps to capture minor things, which are thoroughly hidden at a first glance. Moreover, knowing how to write a film review advances writing skills so that you can not only write it but also a variety of different essays. However, at the very beginning, one does not know where to start so it may well take plenty of time to get your review done. In such a case, take a look at a movie review example and be sure how to arrange your thoughts and time in order to write a flawless report. Down below the guide on how to write a film critique has been designed to fulfill your requirements related to writing a movie review.

Watch It Twice

Whether it is a documentary or a movie, you should watch it twice simultaneously taking notes of the events, characters, and locations, which might be significant. Do not count on your memory, because sometimes it tends to forget a piece of important information. What is more, our memory is prone to eliminate information we overlook, so that it just deletes those folders. 

After watching, conduct a research

Watching a film is nothing unless you do research. Meaning by that, seek for details such as the filmmaker, film director, their motivation to record a movie. Moreover, locations, characters, dialogues play a crucial role. As a result, your examination slowly collects information, which sheds light on the overall aim of making a specific film.

Fully Understand the Film

Before you start working on your review you must ensure that you got the main point of it. Assess the film from A to Z; if it happens that you found something perplexing re-watch that part and notice what caused confusion, try to find a concealed meaning on the web. 

Declare your takes and support your criticism

Do not be shy to tell what you liked and disliked about the movie. Provide examples, attach some specific events from a film, for example, an awkward plot, stunning cinematography, impressive way of recording, a breathtaking job of a cameraman, in other words, what to your mind was hard to swallow, and so on. 

Do not be a spoiler!

Provide your readers with some basic ideas of the plot, but make sure not to go to far and not to spoil the entire movie. Bear in mind that a great review means to get people interested in watching the film. In order to learn how not to be a spoiler, yet to hook your readers to go to the cinema, check how professionals write them .

Write an Outline

source: unsplash.com

Create bullet points that you will stick to and develop in order to make your review short to the point and united. Include solid examples, for instance, if the character is poorly depicted or the overall quality of the movie is irrelevant, include it in your review and mention the timeline of such an issue. If you want to be persuasive and the reader to agree with your opinion and analysis, it is vital to back up your notion with proof. It is extremely important to avoid making it seem like you are complimenting or harshly disapproving the film without any reason.

A Proper Structure

In order to succeed in writing a movie review, one should organize the paper. Meaning by that, your review has to have essential paragraphs, which are to be further explained.

Starting with the introduction, you provide a reader with the title of your work, a release date of the film, and short background information. Then, you do a short summarizing of the story , which should take no more than half of your introduction. By using transition words, create an analysis of storyline essential features, which means rising action, climax, etc. Then the creative component goes, which draws your attention; it can be dialogues, characters, tone, use of colors, symbolic elements, and so on. Apart from that, you should express your opinion supported by facts and pictures from the story. The last aspect to include is indisputably a conclusion, where you simply paraphrase your proof and evaluate the filmmaker’s success or failure of the movie. 

Do not commit a mistake

Still, there are some things to avoid in order to be clear and understandable while writing a movie review. Pay substantial attention to them because they may well decrease your overall grade. 

Focusing on false things. While writing a review, try to avoid writing about things such as the history of that precise cinematography genre whatsoever. 

No need to write in first person all the time for the reason that it is already considered to be a personal movie review. Substitute it with ‘one’, that will definitely work out.

Negligence in verifying facts about the release date, casting, director, and film background. There may well be some hidden aspects, which are airbrushed to the regular viewer, so, it is always good to know about something, which can hook the viewer.

Being excessively objective, especially without mentioning any reason why you think like that. If you want to express your point of view, be ready to support it with the examples from the film. Last but not least, avoid writing generalities, for instance, ‘awesome acting,’ ‘cool effects,’ ‘it was dissatisfying’, etc. Honestly, it does not have any meaning in it and it sounds neutral. You can find some awe-inspiring examples in terms of vocabulary and overall language and structure.

The Bottom Line

Knowing how to write an exquisite movie review demands solid writing skills and full awareness of the proper structure. As follows, the aspects mentioned above give a clear understanding of what to include in the report to get it done fast, meaningful, and flawless, including all the necessary information to do a thorough analysis of it. Moreover, by making bullet points and writing down the key elements one is to acknowledge that writing a report has never been so easy. Just watch the film or documentary carefully, write down your observations, and the other part will go smoothly, good luck with that!

• Acting - /10 0/10
• Cinematography/Visual Effects - /10 0/10
• Plot/Screenplay - /10 0/10
• Setting/Theme - /10 0/10
• Watchability - /10 0/10
• Rewatchability - /10 0/10

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

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• 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 With Our Template Based Example

Did you know that a lot of people around the world read reviews before watching a movie? Yes, it’s true. A Statista survey was taken out last September in the United States which shows that 12 percent of moviegoers watch reviews before watching a movie while about 2 percent do it rarely.

However, a good movie review is not just about to rate the movie but provides explicit information from different angles. Reviewers must understand how to write a movie review to write an effective one.

Table of Contents

What Is A Movie Review?

A movie review is when someone gives their thoughts on a film, pointing out what’s good and what’s not so good, and how it all comes together. 

They look at things like the story, the acting, how it’s directed, how it looks on camera, the dialogue, the themes, and if it’s entertaining. These reviews can help you decide if a movie is worth watching.

Why Students Have To Write A Movie Review?

Learning how to write a movie review is not just for film reviewers or movie critics. Many Students might have to write film reviews for several reasons, such as:

Academic Assignments

Writing a movie review can be part of student coursework. However, many top teaching universities indulge students in such writing to develop critical thinking, analytical, and writing skills among them. It helps them apply theoretical knowledge learned in classes to practical evaluation.

Extracurricular Activities

Writing reviews might be part of journalism, media studies, or film club activities, allowing students to express their opinions, share insights, and discuss films.

Developing Analytical Skills

Analyzing a movie requires students to dissect various aspects of filmmaking, enhancing their ability to assess and critique artistic works critically. Having such skills could help them write an analytical essay well when needed.

How To Write A Movie Review: Helpful Tips

Whether you are a student, movie critic or movie lover, you have to follow some steps to write a movie review in a clear and persuasive way. Whether you are a beginner or an expert writer, these tips will help you write a compelling review that shines out from others.

Choose A Movie To review

If you are going to review a movie, the first thing you need to do is pick a movie.  It is recommended to choose a movie as per your interest. This could be a crime-based sci-fi, a psychopath movie, or even an adventure movie.

Watch The Film Mindfully

To learn how to write a good movie review, you have to watch the movie with focus. Remember to pay close attention while watching and note down the essential elements like plot development, acting performance, cinematography, and other aspects.

Write Down Special Notes

Note down the key elements, moments, observations, and impressions on a notebook, so you can’t forget them. Later on, these notes will help you to start writing a film review.

Provide Context

Now it’s time to officially know how to start a movie review. Begin with writing an introduction for your film review. However, keep in mind that the introduction of movie analysis is different from other types of writing.

It will include the title of the movie, the director’s name, genre, and release date. After that a concise summary of the movies without revealing major spoilers.

Analyzing The Elements Of The Film

Now it’s time to analyze the key elements from the movie. Evaluate the director’s vision, screenplay, dialogues, and camera work. Furthermore, do your best to analyze the performances of the actors and assess whether the movie is well-edited or not.

To make a deeper connection, talk about the themes, messages conveyed, and overall impression about what works well and what doesn’t. By integrating these elements, you can better understand how to write a movie review.

Express Your Opinion

Well, opinion is the key to a successful movie analysis. A reader will more likely watch the movies when your personal opinion is in the review. Remember to express your thoughts and opinions clearly and persuasively.

By any chance, if you don’t have an idea about opinion writing, get help from opinion writing examples and add your opinion effectively in the movie analysis.

Watch Movie At Least 2 Times

Richard Linklater , a famous American movie director quoted that “It’s hard to see a film one time and really “get it,” and write fully and intelligently about it. That’s a review. That’s not film criticism.”

According to his statement it is clear that to understand how to write a movie review, you need to watch it at atleast 2 times to analyze every angle.

Movie Review Template

You must have noticed that writing a film review is far more different from other kinds of writing like essay writing, paper writing, or research writing. No need to puzzle, as we are here to help you out with a compelling, concise, and easy-to-attempt template for a movie review.

All outlines are clearly mentioned in the above movie review template. You just need to pick a movie and fill the template with relevant information.

Movie Review Examples

Providing examples is the best technique to clear your doubts related to how to write a movie review. In the below section, we have compiled two short and easy examples based on the above-given template to make your concept clearer. Let’s start with the example 1:

Movie Summary Example 1

Title of the Movie: Inception

Director: Christopher Nolan

Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Elliot Page, Tom Hardy, Cillian Murphy

Genre: Science Fiction, Thriller

Release Date: July 16, 2010

Plot Summary

“Inception” follows Dom Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio), a skilled thief who steals secrets from within the subconscious during the dream state. He is offered a chance to have his criminal history erased in exchange for planting an idea into a target’s subconscious. This “inception” mission takes Cobb and his team through a series of complex dream worlds.

Analysis Of The Main Key Point

Direction: The direction of Christopher Nolan in this movie is just mind-blowing and masterful. The way he combines complex storytelling with groundbreaking visual effects is just exceptional. His ability to add multiple layers of dreams into a coherent narrative is respectable.

Script: There is a strong sense of character development and a gripping plot in the screenplay, which is intelligent and thought-provoking. Furthermore, the dialogues were very sharp and effective and contributed to the depth of the story.

Acting: Every cast of the movie delivers a strong performance. Leonardo DiCaprio brings emotional depth to Cobb’s troubled character. Besides this, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Tom Hardy also stand out with their charismatic roles.

Cinematography: The cinematography by Wally Pfister is visually stunning, especially the dream sequences that defy the laws of physics. As a result of the smooth integration of visual effects, the film takes on a surreal quality.

Music and Sound: The sounds by Hans Zimmer enhance the suspense and complement the film’s tone perfectly.

Editing: The editing is tight and well-paced by professional editors to keep the viewer engaged through the film’s complex structure. The transitions between different dream levels are smooth and effective.

Themes and Messages

“Inception” studies the themes of reality, dreams, and the subconscious. It questions the nature of reality and the power of the mind, which leaves the audience entertaining.

Overall Impression

“Inception” is a brilliant and innovative film that combines a convincing narrative with mind-blowing visuals and strong performances. It challenges the audience intellectually and, at the same time, provides an exciting cinematic experience. Highly recommended for fans of sci-fi and psychological thrillers.

8.8 out of 10 or (⭐⭐⭐⭐✰)

Example of Movie Review Summary 2

Title of the Movie: Lady Bird

Director: Greta Gerwig

Cast: Saoirse Ronan, Laurie Metcalf, Timothée Chalamet, Lucas Hedges

Genre: Drama, Comedy

Release Date: November 3, 2017

Christine “Lady Bird” McPherson (Saoirse Ronan) is a senior in high school in Sacramento, California. The film shows her rough relationship with her mother (Laurie Metcalf), her desire to attend college on the East Coast, and her journey of self-discovery.

Direction: Greta Gerwig’s direction is sensitive and fine which catches the spirit of youth with authenticity and warmth. Her personal touch is noticeable throughout the film.

Script: The screenplay is very sharp and heartfelt throughout the film. Furthermore, the dialogue feels natural and genuine. The characters are well-rounded and relatable, making their experiences interlink with the audience.

Acting: Saoirse Ronan’s acting in the movie is as great as Lady Bird. She shows feelings of being both sensitive and brave. Laurie Metcalf plays the role of her mom who is both complicated and loving. Timothée Chalamet and Lucas Hedges play smaller roles but act well.

Cinematography: Sam Levy’s cinematography beautifully captures the suburban scenery of Sacramento. He uses close-up shots that focus on the characters, which helps to tell the story effectively.

Music and Sound: The soundtrack includes songs that match the right time-period. Also, an original score by Jon Brion matches the film’s nostalgic and emotional feel.

Editing: The editing by Nick Houy is completely smooth and in narrative flow. Undoubtedly, he effectively balanced the film’s comedic and dramatic elements.

“Lady Bird” movie clearly shows the themes of identity, family, and the transition from youth to adulthood. It highlights the complexities of mother-daughter relationships and the search for self-acceptance.

No doubt, “Lady Bird ” is a touching and beautiful movie for the upcoming ages. Greta Gerwig’s authentic storytelling tactics perfectly combined with outstanding performances. And for that reason, this movie left a heartfelt and relatable experience for the audience. Overall, It’s a must-watch for anyone who appreciates genuine and emotionally rich narratives.

7.4 out of 10 (⭐⭐⭐✰✰)

Common Mistakes To Avoid In Movie Review Writing

Writing an effective movie review demands a complete attention to detail and an exact approach. Here are common mistakes to avoid:

• A common mistake that most review writers make while reviewing is that they exploit the main spoiler in plot summary.
• Another mistake is writing a review without a clear organization or structure.
• Only focusing on personal preferences and neglecting a fair assessment.
• Ignoring elements like direction, cinematography, sound, and editing.
• The most major common is not considering who the review is for.
• A shift between formal and informal tones or inconsistent writing styles can make the reviewing experience bad.
• Make grammatical errors and typos to distract the reader from your review. To tackle this mistake, you can utilize free grammar and punctuation checker tools to make your review go smoothly.

When you avoid these mistakes, you will likely have an idea about how to write a good movie review in a more insightful, engaging, and professional way.

The Author’s Top Recommended Movies To Review

Now that you have learned every aspect of how to start a movie review, it’s time to write your first one. Below are some top movies that the author has recently watched and wants students, critics and movie lovers to write reviews about them. You can choose one according to your interests.

• Joker (2019): A psychopath, thriller and crime based movie
• under paris (2024): Horror, action mystery
• Unfrosted (2024): Comedy/ Drama
• After everything (2023): A romance/ thriller movie
• The Nest 2020: A thriller/ drama movie
• The Guilty (2021): Triller and chrome
• Uncharted (2022): Action + Adventure Movie
• Return to sender (2015): A psychological thriller and action movie
• Spaceman (2024): Sci-fi + adventurous
• The Green Mile (1999): Crime/Fantasy Movie

Before going to wind up, we recommend you to watch these movies and write a compelling movie review on your own. In case anything remains unresolved, feel free to contact our creative writing helper and let them help you in writing a movie review.

Final Thoughts

Overall to understand how to write a movie review all you need is a template for a movie review, some helpful tips and some movie review examples. 

Surprisingly, we cover all of these factors to help you write an effective review. Just follow the tips, and you’ll be able to turn your ideas and observations into reviews that people can’t put down.

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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

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.

Paper Due? Why Suffer? That's our Job!

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.

Tough Essay Due? Hire Tough Writers!

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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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.

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How To Write a Good Movie Review

Review paper writing

The movie review writing is a common task for students. This assignment can significantly improve a lot of important skills. Writing movie reviews requires attention to detail and the ability to highlight the main idea of a film and correctly express your thoughts. The task has a positive effect on analytical and critical thinking, formulation of the opinion, and, of course, writing skills.

Despite the fact that the film review is a time-consuming task, it remains one of the most interesting assignments for the majority of students. Additionally, if you know the basics of the movie review writing, the task will become much easier to cope with.  

What Is a Movie Review?

When it comes to the exact film review definition, it can be formulated like this – a critical assessment of the movie written in a specific format.

Initially, a movie review was a genre of writing in professional areas like journalism and art criticism. Today, the movie review writing and sharing are available for everyone in the form of comments since any person can watch the film and immediately communicate their impressions about it. Of course, this type of reviews is not created according to any standards and differs greatly from a professionally written critique.

Consequently, the complex movie reviews based on the art criticism principles are, for sure, more attractive and informative for readers than a comment left on the site. The classic movie review is characterized by a complex overview of the film, which should include a constructive analysis of the plot, cast, genre specifics, costumes, and special effects; any subjectivity should be avoided in this type of assignment.

What Is the Purpose of a Movie Review?

The purpose of the movie review essay is to give the objective assessment of the pros and cons of the film. There are some goals you need to reach while writing a movie review paper:

• give the brief plot retelling,
• focus on the work of actors, director, operators, etc.,
• share your general impression about the movie based on the examples,
• specify who might find this film interesting.

It is important to remember that the movie review should not be a list of all plot events but a complex analysis of different aspects of a film.

Basic Steps of Writing a Movie Review

Any task seems to be complicated when you do not know how to start working on it. Though, having a step-by-step guide can simplify the process of writing a film review.

1. Choose and Watch a Film

If you are allowed to choose a film for the movie review task, think carefully about what movie you would like to appraise. At first, you may want to pick one of the favorite films that you have watched dozens of times. However, there is a risk that you will not be able to be objective and will write just a positive comment instead of a professional movie review. Therefore, it is better to select something from novelties or cinema classics that you have always wanted to watch.

As for the watching process, it is recommended to do it at least twice to write a quality movie review. The point is that during the first watching, you can focus on the storyline and your own impressions; at the time of the second one, you can pay more attention to details like decorations, lighting, storyboard, acting, music, etc.     

2. Make Notes

When you are going to watch the film for the first time, it is better to fully immerse yourself in the story shown on the screen. It would be useful to highlight the scenes that you consider important and will want to return to.

However, when it comes to watching the film for the second time, it is necessary to be ready to pause the movie in almost every scene to take notes. Write down absolutely everything that comes to your mind at once. Later, these notes will help you a lot.

3. Analyze and Evaluate the Movie

When your observations are written down, give yourself some time. Let your impressions settle down a little so that you can formulate your thoughts properly and write a good movie review. It is a great idea to:

• Identify what aftertaste is left by the movie  
• Think about what exactly you remember from the film
• Define its main idea, determine what questions the movie asks, and which answers gives
• Give your assessment of the selection of actors and analyze whether everyone managed to cope with the roles.
• Consider special techniques used in the film and their effect on your impression.

4. Draft a Review Outline

It is much easier to start writing a movie review when you have a plan. Try to structure all your notes and make an outline of the paper. This way, you will know what to write in the introduction, body paragraphs, and conclusion and will be able to arrange all arguments in the correct logical order.

5. Write Your Review

When you have made all the preparations and have a basis for the movie review, you can get to the main part of the work. As with any other written assignment, this task requires your concentration, so allocate enough time for it in advance. It is important to support each expressed opinion with arguments and examples from the film.

6. Proofread and Edit Your Final Draft

After writing the text, switch to some other activity and return to the movie review after a little rest.

• First, read the full text to understand whether the main idea is clear.
• Also, make sure that every point you want to convey to the reader is described.
• Further, start the so-called slow reading. Re-read each sentence several times not to miss any grammar or spelling mistakes.
• Finally, make sure that the text is arranged in accordance with the format standards.

Video Guide on How to Write a Movie Review

If there is an opportunity to learn from the best, do not miss it. Check out the movie review writing tips from the New York Times chief film critic A.O. Scott.

Movie Review Outline

A paper plan with your thoughts and notes written down will greatly help you organize the text. When a film review outline is ready, it is much easier to start writing because you know what information to focus on in the paper.

To make a useful plan, you need to be familiar with the required movie review format. Writing an outline, consider the classic film review structure, which includes an introduction, description, analysis, and conclusion. 

Movie Review Introduction

Assuming that the reader knows nothing about the film being described in the movie review, it would be reasonable to begin the text with a short movie presentation.

To start a movie review, you may provide such general facts about a film as title, genre, release date, cast, production company, director, and budget. If you found information about the background of the film or details of the script creation, it would be great to focus on it in your movie review introduction as well.

Movie Description

In this part of the movie review, give a brief summary of the plot and short characteristics of the main heroes. It is recommended not to make this section too extensive since there is a high risk of turning the movie review into a regular retelling. Moreover, the less you describe a plot, the less likely you are to give the reader a couple of spoilers.

Movie Analysis

The objective assessment of the picture is the main part of the movie review. In general, the film analysis should include such elements as:

• main idea and storyline evaluation,
• appraisal of creative components (color spectrum, decorations, costumes, makeup, music, etc.),
• estimation of technologies (special effects, unusual shooting methods, etc.),
• the final analysis of the topic,    
• strong and weak points of the film.

Movie Review Conclusion

Describe your overall impression of the film. Try to think about what made you happy, what surprised, and what upset you in the movie. Although you are giving your own evaluation, remember that it has to be supported by arguments. Explain to whom you would recommend this movie and why.

Movie Review Examples

In case you have never completed such assignments before, it is an excellent idea to have a movie review essay example in front of you while writing. When you see a ready text, it becomes much easier to understand the structure and main features of the paper.

It is better to choose a movie review sample or several of them from films you have already watched. Reading the movie review with a professional critique of the plot, casting, decorations, etc., you will be able to compare it with your own impressions and opinion. So, you can recognize some mistakes in your approach to the film assessment even before starting the work.  

Here are movie review examples of some world-famous pictures:   

• The Shawshank Redemption Review
• The Godfather Review
• The Dark Knight Review
• The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King Review
• Schindler's List Review
• Pulp Fiction Review
• Inception Review
• Fight Club Review
• Forrest Gump Review
• The Matrix Review

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Quick Guide on How to Write a Movie Review Essay

What Is a Movie Review

The internet has revolutionized the realm of film criticism. No matter a movie's level of quality, it is always worth analyzing. Despite the growing number of individuals attempting to write about movies, few are successful. Most people do not provide insightful analysis, instead simply state how much they liked or disliked the film.

A movie criticism, usually composed by a professional in film studies, takes a comprehensive look at the film from a historical, social, political, or theoretical standpoint. This is unlike the opinion or suggestion given in a movie review, which is shorter and more concise.

A remarkable aspect of a good film review is that it doesn't just rate the movie but provides explicit views that form the critique's basis. This form of writing, like crafting essays, research papers, and term papers, should be insightful and draw the reader in quickly. It's important to discuss the reputation of the lead actors and directors and to write about what you expected and if they were met. The reviewer must explain a story's development without recalling major plot points and endings. The review must be concise, engaging, and should involve metaphors, specific words, analogies, etc.

Movie Review Purpose

Most film reviews are intended to guide readers in deciding whether to view, rent, or purchase the film. They should provide the necessary information to aid readers in deciding without divulging any fundamental details, such as the storyline or any surprises. This paper is common in schools because the lecturer wants to evaluate the student's ability to think critically and report the event easily for others to understand.

Movie reviews typically present a brief summary of the film's storyline. They provide readers with an overview of the characters, relationships, and scenarios but do not convey the complete narrative. Perusing the review should be different from seeing the movie. Nonetheless, feel free to highlight the essential moments or pivotal points that make the film worthwhile viewing.

Our college essay writing service has put together some advice on composing a movie review essay like a real critic, so let's explore the article further!

How to Write a Movie Review: Movie Review Outline

The structure is key when it comes to the quality of your paper. Don't neglect the power of a good outline, no matter what paper you're writing. Outlines help you stay on track and make sure your paper flows well.

Taking the time to arrange your ideas before starting to write is an effective way to save time further down the line. With a well-structured plan already in place, you won't have to worry about other elements. This will also make the writing process less stressful. Here is a guide on how to organize your movie review outline:

How Do You Start a Movie Review Essay: Introduction

The introductory paragraph is the first obvious step in crafting a movie review essay outline. Here, you want to quickly captivate the reader. Deliver your viewpoint instantly and make it unambiguous. Don't leave the audience wondering whether you enjoyed the film. Tell them right off the bat so you have time to justify your assessment throughout the remainder of the process.

In the introduction movie review should also describe your thesis. Develop the main concept for your essay that you can support using your perceptions of the movie's various aspects. The reader should be able to tell from this statement if you thought the film was fantastic, awful, or simply alright. By including a thesis statement, you may move your analysis beyond the plot synopsis phase into the movie critique category, which is considered a separate creative process.

Crafting Your Essay Movie Review Analysis

According to our research paper service , film analysis is similar to building a case. You're attempting to influence the reader to follow your recommendation to watch or disregard the film. So, you must ensure your essay movie review will be convincing. Giving instances that demonstrate the validity of your personal opinion is the only method to do this. If you find any dialogue in the movie that you think best exemplifies whether the work is strong or not, utilize quotes. This also applies to all of the movie's artistic decisions. But, just because a movie's narrative isn't strong or engaging doesn't indicate the rest of the film is worthless. Carefully highlight how some factors might undermine the movie in your explanation.

The movie's plot is only one component and shouldn't dominate the overall piece. The following are the important aspects to include in your movie review structure:

Cinematography - Cinematography covers much more than simply camera angles. It includes how the picture is lit, how it moves, appears, and what lenses are used. Here you can try the following analysis: 'Warm, gentle colors are used throughout the film, combined with soothing whites and grays, to simultaneously create and gradually tear away the characters' romantic sentiments for one another. There is a painting-like quality to each image.'

Editing - The editing is arguably the absolute star of what creates a good movie review example. It affects both the duration and the flow of a movie. Without effective editing, there would be uncomfortable gaps between pictures and many errors.

Costuming - The clothing the characters wear is called a costume, but there are a number of things to consider while evaluating movie costumes. You should be able to decide if the outfits suit the characters and the movie's atmosphere.

Casting and Acting - Finding the ideal performers to bring characters to life is the goal of casting. This sometimes entails seeing performers portray both familiar personas and figures who are entirely at odds with who they are. Casting, therefore, involves more than just finding talented performers. You can assess the acting in the following way: 'Even though he excels while on the go, his stoic behaviorism causes him to fall short of his co-star during calm scenes where he keeps a blank look on his face.'

Once you have finished analyzing the acting, directing, cinematography, setting, etc., wrap up with concise, stimulating wording to sustain readers' attention. Don't forget to provide a few examples to support your statements about the film.

Concluding Your Essay Movie Review

Finalize your review by coming full circle. Close the review by returning to your introductory fact or thesis. Give your readers a refresher on the movie's most intriguing aspects. It's important to remember that before choosing a movie, viewers check reviews. Finish with a statement indicating whether it is worthwhile for them to view. Be specific about who this movie will be more fascinating to and why in your suggestions. Remember that your ending is your last shot at influencing your audience, so use it wisely.

No matter the kind of movie review you have to complete, our professional specialists are willing to help you. Directly forward your needs to our research paper service and get it done quickly.

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Short Movie Review Form

If you are currently working on a new or old movie review, reading our suggestions should be sufficient to help you earn an A. So what if you'll be writing many reviews in the future? In this situation, we advise you to develop a uniform movie review template, which will enable you to save time and complete your upcoming projects successfully.

So, how to write a movie review template, you may ask? Well, our essay helper prepared a simple yet great movie review template you may use as a foundation for your own writing if you need some help getting started:

Example Papers

Once you know how to review a movie and learn the most valuable tips to handle this assignment, it is time to look at some movie review examples to get you on the right track.

Check out the following pieces to see which of these movie review essay examples you might want to keep at hand when working on your own assignment:

Helpful Tips on Writing Movie Reviews

Here are some extra helpful tips to keep in mind when unsure how to write a movie review essay:

• Add Your Own Personal Feel to Your Movie Critique - You might not have much spare time for your pastime of reviewing. You won't be able to write a movie review, though, if you just wing it without reading what others have said. Make a note of the things that intrigued you, alarmed you, made you uncomfortable, or caused you to pause and consider something, and then use that list as the basis for your research.
• Develop a Distinctive Writing Style - Have an idol—it's good for you. You must be careful not to just paraphrase and duplicate what they say without adding your own original viewpoint. Instead, in order to stand out from the throng, you must discover your own voice. When writing movie reviews, you should also have a distinct writing style.
• Include Extensive Information -Mention the film's photographer, special effects designer, and director. Your review might be significantly impacted by this. Then you may list all the memorable movie moments that also stuck with you.
• Voice Your Views and Back Up Your Criticism - Give your own assessment of the film. Make sure you have evidence to support your criticisms. Use the movie's details that most shocked or humiliated you. Review genuine information rather than merely expressing your opinions without supporting details.

Final Thoughts

Composing a good movie review essay sample is easy if you follow this article's main steps and techniques. Furthermore, we strongly believe that this guide will assist you in achieving remarkable outcomes and ease your writing process. The staff at EssayPro is always available to provide a helping hand if you need a little additional push with movie review examples or even if it's simply coming up with a catchy essay title .

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FAQs on Writing an Essay Movie Review

Here are the most frequently asked questions on how to write a movie review. We provided extra details on movie analysis to simplify writing film reviews.

What are the 6 Important Things to Include in a Film Review?

How long should a movie review be, what are the 5 c's in film.

is an expert in nursing and healthcare, with a strong background in history, law, and literature. Holding advanced degrees in nursing and public health, his analytical approach and comprehensive knowledge help students navigate complex topics. On EssayPro blog, Adam provides insightful articles on everything from historical analysis to the intricacies of healthcare policies. In his downtime, he enjoys historical documentaries and volunteering at local clinics.

How to Write a Movie Review in 7 Steps

Table of contents

• 1 What Is a Review of a Movie?
• 2 Before You Start a Movie Review
• 3.1 Content
• 4.0.1 Introduction
• 4.0.2 Plot Summary
• 4.0.3 Analysis and Critique
• 4.0.4 Personal Opinion
• 4.0.5 Conclusion
• 5.1 Hook the reader
• 5.2 Portray a unique angle
• 5.3 Mention directors, cinematographers, and special effects
• 5.4 Add personal insights
• 5.5 Conclusive thoughts
• 5.6 Take a look as a pro-filmmaker
• 5.7 Adapt to your audience
• 6 Movie Review Examples
• 7 Mastering the Art of Movie Reviews: Final Thoughts

Crafting a nuanced movie review can be both an exhilarating and formidable challenge. For those grappling with the complexities of this art, rest assured ─ there’s a solution that transcends mere assistance. Enter the blog of the PapersOwl service for individuals seeking expert guidance. Our team of writers boasts extensive experience developing academic texts, ensuring that your movie reviews reflect sophistication.

Recognizing the pivotal role of movie review essays in fostering these discussions, we aim to empower you with valuable insights on how to write a movie review.

• The purpose of a good movie review;
• Main components and features of movie review;
• A step-by-step guide to writing an expert movie review.

Let’s dive into the details and unlock the secrets to movie review writing like a pro.

What Is a Review of a Movie?

A movie review essay is a thoughtful and critical analysis of a film, aiming to provide readers with insights into various aspects of the cinematic experience. It goes beyond merely recounting the plot, delving into the film’s themes, characters, cinematography, and overall impact.

When you write a film review, you encourage critical thinking and contribute to the ongoing discourse surrounding the diverse world of cinema. Beyond narrating the storyline, it analyzes elements like direction, acting, cinematography, and screenplay, aiming to capture the essence of the cinematic experience.

Before You Start a Movie Review

Before embarking on your movie review journey, immerse yourself in the film’s intricacies. We advise you to watch it at least once, ideally twice, to truly appreciate its depth. Indeed, multiple viewings unveil subtle details, providing a nuanced understanding of cinematic nuances. During these screenings, strategically take notes, focusing not only on plot intricacies, character nuances, and directorial choices but also on the impact of the musical score.

Moreover, extend your preparation beyond viewing. Research the movie and gather background information about the film, its director, cast, and production. This step adds depth to your review, allowing you to contextualize your observations and enrich your analysis. By combining thoughtful viewing with thorough research, you set the stage for a movie review that reflects your insights and contributes meaningfully to the broader cinematic conversation.

What Are the Main Components of a Movie Review?

When delving into the art of movie reviewing, a well-structured approach enhances the impact of your film analysis essay. Here’s a breakdown of key elements of a movie review outline to consider, ensuring your review is valuable and reader-friendly.

• Main Subject: Cover the central themes and messages conveyed by the film.
• Characters and Setting: Contextualize the film by exploring characters, their relationships, and the setting.
• Plot Analysis: Dive into the plot intricacies, discussing its strengths, weaknesses, and central message.

Evaluate the formal and aesthetic film aspects, including sound mixing, cinematography, script, lighting, costume/make-up, and editing. Articulate your thoughts on these components to write a good film review, providing an analysis of how they contribute to the overall cinematic experience.

By meticulously incorporating these elements into your reviews of movies, you not only provide a comprehensive analysis but also offer readers valuable insights into the film’s nuances. This structured and informative approach ensures that your review is expertly crafted and a valuable resource for those seeking a nuanced understanding of the cinematic work.

Structuring Your Review

Before writing a movie review, it’s recommended to share the notes and impressions you gathered during your viewing experience to present a concise, informative, and meaningful overview. Thus, you can highlight aspects you appreciated and structure your essay notes , providing reasons and examples. Equally, address elements that fell short and illustrate your points.

Introduction

In the opening passage, begin your review with an engaging text, revealing vital details like the movie’s title, director, and genre. This initial step must offer readers a tantalizing glimpse into the cinematic realm they are about to explore.

Plot Summary

Moving on to the plot summary, skillfully avoid spoilers in your student movie review format. Remember that the movie review structure guides readers through key narrative points, ensuring a comprehensive overview that intrigues without divulging critical plot twists.

Analysis and Critique

Next, delve into the film’s core components in your movie review essay. Here, you should evaluate acting performances, directing choices, cinematography, script quality, pacing, and the soundtrack. Thus, you can write a film critique that explores its strengths and weaknesses.

Personal Opinion

Transitioning to your personal opinion, share your interpretation and emotional response to the movie. For example, inject a unique perspective that forges a connection with readers. Additionally, you can write a review on a movie and how the film resonated with you, adding a personal touch to your review.

To conclude your professional movie reviews, summarize key thoughts and deliver a final evaluation. Here, you can reinforce your overall perspective and recommendation, leaving readers with a clear understanding of your stance. Indeed, a well-crafted conclusion ensures your review resonates as a valuable and comprehensive critique. Besides, utilize transition words for enhanced readability and fluidity throughout your review.

Top 7 Writing Tips for an Effective Review

Here are essential tips to ensure you write about movies reviews that are captivating for your readers:

Hook the reader

Write a movie report with an intriguing opening that instantly captivates readers. Create curiosity that will immediately hook the audience through a compelling quote, vivid imagery, or an enticing narrative snippet.

Portray a unique angle

Set your review apart when writing a film review by embracing a distinctive angle or perspective. Explore facets of the film that have yet to be extensively discussed. Thus, uncover hidden layers, unique themes, or overlooked details to give readers fresh insights, making your movie critique stand out in the cinematic discourse.

Mention directors, cinematographers, and special effects

To write a review essay on a movie, incorporate vital behind-the-scenes contributors into your review, including directors, cinematographers, and special effects teams. This way, you acknowledge their roles in shaping the film’s visual allure and narrative impact, underscoring their significance in translating the cinematic vision into a captivating reality.

Add personal insights

Analyzing what makes a good movie review, you should connect the film to broader themes or personal experiences, enhancing reader engagement. Draw parallels to universal concepts to deepen the emotional resonance, making the narrative more relatable and impactful.

Conclusive thoughts

End your film review writing with a potent summary based on movie review criteria, encapsulating your overall opinion. Provide a decisive recommendation, leaving readers with a compelling takeaway that solidifies your stance on the film description.

Take a look as a pro-filmmaker

Assess the film through the eyes of a professional filmmaker to write a film analysis professionally, exploring the five Cs of cinematography: composition, camera movement, cutting, close-ups, and continuity. Consequently, analyze how these elements contribute to the film’s visual narrative, enriching your critique with an expert perspective.

Adapt to your audience

Customize your language and style to resonate with your audience, whether casual moviegoers or cinema aficionados. Write a good movie review and tailor your tone for accessibility, ensuring your review is engaging and relevant to your intended readership.

Movie Review Examples

Elevate your understanding of how to critique a movie by immersing yourself in the well-crafted reviews found in the arts and entertainment sections of esteemed publications such as The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Guardian, The New Yorker, The Atlantic, and Rolling Stone . These outlets house reviews composed by movie review writers renowned for their expertise.

Pay attention to the masterful use of language, the depth of analysis, and the delicate balance between objectivity and subjectivity. Additionally, it examines how critics seamlessly weave personal insights into a broader cultural context in writing movie reviews, enhancing the richness of their assessments.

Mastering the Art of Movie Reviews: Final Thoughts

Today, we explored the intricacies of crafting compelling critiques. Assume a captivating introduction, delve into the essential elements of the review, and conclude with impactful insights to write a film review essay. Importantly, balance active and passive voice for academic writing prowess. Embrace these insights to elevate critical review of movies, captivate readers with your nuanced and expertly crafted analyses, and write an essay for you !

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How to Write a Great Movie Review Like a Professional Critic

Moviemaking is an amazing and colorful world filled with magic, joy, and fantasy. The films have become an important part of our culture. We watch them, we discuss them, and we love them. And one more thing: we write movie reviews. Unfortunately, creating a high-quality review may seem a difficult task, especially for beginners.

We examine all aspects of writing great papers in our guideline on how to write a movie review: structure, preparatory work, purposes, stages, etc. The writing process can be exciting and easy if you have detailed and helpful instructions. Don’t miss your chance to learn more about the mysterious world of film criticism!

What Is a Movie Review?

A movie review is a well-balanced synthesis of personal opinion about the film and critical analysis of its technical and thematic content. As a rule, the word limit of a movie review is about 1000 words. Although the text should not be very long, the preparatory work may take a few days. That is why you should not wait until the last minute to start working on your movie review.

The film review is classified as a creative review. It means that any film is considered as artwork, and you need to pursue both analytical and creative approaches while writing your review.

Their combination will allow you to create an exhaustive and persuasive paper. In order to produce a high-quality review for the chosen film, you should, in the first place, figure out how to write a good movie review. Our article includes all necessary information to help you learn more about writing film reviews.

The Main Purposes of Your Movie Review

The fundamental functions of a professional movie review can be expressed in four words: to inform, analyze, convince, and entertain. Let’s take a closer look at each of these aspects.

Your top-priority task is to inform your readers about the content and the quality of the film. Without basic knowledge, it is impossible to decide whether you’d like to watch the movie or not. If you write only about technical elements without a word about the genre of the film or its cast, your review will not be informative enough. For example, imagine your reader has a soft spot for the movies featuring Ryan Reynolds and doesn’t actually care about formal techniques. You may discourage him or her (more likely her) from watching the movie that she’d probably like if you omit mentioning Ryan Reynolds in your review and concentrate exclusively on the editing or plot.

If you are sure that the movie is great and worth watching, you have to be persuasive enough in order to convince your readers that your evaluation is correct. On the other hand, if you want to keep your readers out of wasting their time on bad movies, you also have to use your power of persuasion. The destiny of their leisure time is in your hands!

Sometimes, an inexperienced audience needs some instructions for the right way of watching a certain movie. A detailed analysis will help them to notice the most important film elements and not to look over the best scenes. Moreover, particular movies have a confusing plot with unexpected twists that need additional explanations.

Finally, your movie review should be exciting and catchy. Nobody would prefer reading a boring list of advantages and disadvantages without interesting facts and funny stories about the actors and shooting the film.

Now that you are already aware of the main purposes of the movie review, we can proceed to the next subpoint about the preparatory work.

How to Prepare for Writing a Movie Review

Before we explain bit by bit how to write a film review, it is necessary to tell more about the prewriting activities.

As mentioned above, the length of a movie review doesn’t usually exceed the limit of 1000 words. Unfortunately, even a short film review requires thorough preparation that may last a couple of days.

First of all, you should choose the movie if your instructor doesn’t assign it. Sometimes, the instructions only specify the genre or the thematic content of the film. In that case, try to find a renowned film that has been well received both by critics and the audience. As a result, chances are high that you’ll enjoy the movie and write a good review.

Next step is to watch the film. Be ready for two or even three viewings, because it is almost impossible to notice all details on the first attempt. During the first viewing, you should immerse yourself in the atmosphere of the movie in order to get an overall impression. At that moment, don’t worry about details and content; just go with the stream of the story. The second viewing requires much more attention than inspiration. Look closer at the specific aspects of editing, cinematography, acting, sound, etc. If the film touches on some events or issues that you don’t know much about, provide research. You have to gather enough information, otherwise your opinion can’t be considered as cogent and credible.

If you don’t succeed at formulating a central claim for your review after two viewings, you should probably watch the movie for the third time or, at least, a few key scenes. Your task is to find a suitable way to connect the thematic and the technical content of the film in order to evaluate their combination.

You may also watch the movies created by the same director for a better understanding of his or her individual style. Since acting is the base of every film, you can also check out how actors portray other characters and decide if this particular role corresponds with their regular specialization.

Take notes about the breathtaking scenes, key moments, and impressive details. Your memos will serve you as a starting point for your review. You should also note verbatim some phrases of the main characters. They may serve as a great epigraph for your movie review.

You can’t know everything about the film just from watching it. Investigate the background and, with a bit of patience and luck, you’ll find a great number of interesting facts that can decorate your review and make it more attractive for readers. You should mention some details about the process of shooting, the difficulties faced by the production team, and other curiosities.

If the movie claimed prestigious awards, it would sound like an immaculate argument for cinephiles to watch it immediately. You shouldn’t neglect the informative details, but don’t get carried away! Remember that the review has to also include your personal opinion along with general information about the movie. Before writing your own movie review, you can read some professional reviews written by professional critics. You can find them on the websites of well-known newspapers or magazines like The Washington Post, The New Yorker, Rolling Stone, The New York Times, etc.

10 Questions to Ask Before Writing a Movie Review

• Is this film part of a franchise? How does it suit the series?
• Is the plot based on a novel, fantasy, or real-life events?
• Did the writer manage to create a clear and captivating plot?
• Is the rhythm of the movie dynamic or smooth? Are there too many needless details?
• What is the target audience of the film? Is it G-rated, R-rated, or unrated?
• Do movies on the same theme/topic that are worth mentioning in your review exist?
• What sorts of shots does the cameraman use in the film? How do these techniques affect the overall impression?
• Does the movie have an exclusively entertaining character or touch on serious issues?
• Was the casting successful? Did all actors manage to portray their characters?
• What is the general atmosphere of the movie? Is it tense/joyful/obscure?

If you answer all these questions, you’ll get an approximate draft for your movie review. Of course, that is not enough. Now, we will continue our helpful guideline on how to write a movie review step by step.

How to Write a Great Movie Review Step by Step

Writing a film review is a complex and long process. The reasonable question here would be, “How do you write a movie review and avoid getting puzzled by all the details?” The easiest way to complete your paper is to break the writing process down into a few stages. This method allows for managing your time more accurately.

1. Begin with a catchy introduction.

Your introductory paragraph should include essential information about the movie: title, genre, director’s name, and release date. You can also mention, if appropriate, the awards (the most prestigious ones), the budget and the box office (if they are impressive), and the cast members. In addition to the general information, it is necessary to include your thesis into the introduction. A compelling thesis is a starting point for the critical part of your review that goes beyond the elementary plot summary and description of the technical elements. The thesis may display different aspects such as:

the connection between the film’s central idea and the current issues or events; the similarity between the plot and your personal experience; the interrelation between the thematic content of the film and its formal elements.

2. Don’t put your evaluation into cold storage.

If your readers don’t have much time to read the entire review, you can, at least, provide them with your evaluation at the beginning of the text. Don’t reserve your personal opinion for the concluding paragraph. You are not a crime writer: lay your cards on the table in the first or the second paragraph.

3. Compose a brief plot summary.

Describe four or five major events but don’t reveal the ending. Besides, avoid the “spoilers” by all means because your readers will hate you for destroying the suspense. If you still want to mention a significant turn, please, warn the readers about it.

4. Describe an overall impression.

The main purpose of the plot summary is to tell what the film is about. The description should inform the readers not about what you’ve seen but what you’ve felt. Mention the emotions and thoughts awakened by the concrete scenes, the most touching score, and the moments that pulled your heartstrings. Share your cinematic experience in order to make your review less formal and more personal.

5. Determine the purpose of the movie.

Answer the question, “Why was this film created?” Sometimes, you may find the response in the interviews with the members of the shooting team. In other cases, the purpose can be obvious thanks to the plot. If the movie has an entertaining characteristic, don’t try to dig deeper to find some implied sense. Certain films are good because of their simplicity.

6. Add some details about filmmaking.

The analysis of the formal techniques is an indispensable part of any exhaustive movie review. Concentrate your attention on one or two elements that you consider to be the most significant for this particular film. Be careful with the specific terminology because your movie review shouldn’t look like a crossword. Here are some aspects that you can describe:

• Cinematography

This term includes everything that happens with cameras during the shooting. You can describe three main aspects of cinematography if you see them as important for comprehension of the film: camera movement, camera angles, and camera distances.

Although the sound affects the atmosphere of the movie as well as the visual elements, it is often underestimated. However, talented film score composers are highly praised in the movie-making world. Every sound in the film can be classified as diegetic and non-diegetic. Diegetic sound is like thunder, birdsong, barking, or conversations in the restaurant are the part of the narration. Non-diegetic sound is like off-screen commentaries or film scores that come from outside the universe of the film.

In a nutshell, the goal of editing is to create a smooth connection between all pieces of the film. The editor creates the “world of the story” in order to give the viewer a sense of space. The filmmakers use various methods to compose the integral reality of the movie: graphic similarities, eyeline match, establishing shots, etc.

• Mise-en-scène

This aspect is the most global because it includes literally everything that you see on the screen. Every landscape, actor’s smile, and visual effect is a part of the mise-en-scène.

7. Look for the deep meaning.

A good movie is never superficial. There are always key phrases, symbolic things, and repeating elements that are significant for the deeper understanding of the film and, consequently, for your overarching review. Be attentive in order to unlock all secrets of filmmaking!

8. Provide the examples.

No review can sound trustworthy without examples. Phrases like “the acting is great” or “the sound is bad” don’t inspire trust. Be more specific! For example, when you talk about the portrayal of a particular character, mention what exactly makes the actor relevant for this role: appearance, manner of speaking, facial expressions, etc.

9. Write a strong conclusion.

Remind your readers about the film elements that impressed you the most. Add some personal recommendations and specify for whom this film will be more interesting and why. Remember that your conclusion is the last chance to convince your readers, so do your best!

10. Edit and proofread your movie review.

Read your paper two or three times. Correct all the mistakes: word choice, grammar, style, spelling, typos, etc. Errors can spoil even the most professional review!

How to Write a Movie Review: Example Analyzed

In our opinion, the best way to explain how to write a movie review paper is to provide you with a particular movie review examples . Below, you’ll find not only an excellent example of a review, but the comments written by one of our professionals who describes different elements of the movie review template and their functions.

Click the images to see their full size.

We hope that our guideline has given you a detailed and extensive response to the question, “how to write a great movie review?” We are always glad to provide you with helpful information about writing academic papers of any kind. Read our guidelines and improve your writing skills every day with our paper writing service !

Also, you can find a classification essay about movies on payforwriting.

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How to Write a Film Review

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Feature films and documentaries are sometimes used as research sources. They are also used quite frequently as supplemental learning tools in the classroom. A common writing assignment is a critical review or analysis of films.

Your instructor will choose a specific film or documentary for a reason -- because it relates to the material at hand in some way. A good review will explain how the film has enhanced the learning experience, but it should also provide an account of your personal response .

The components and format of your film analysis will depend on the course and your instructor’s preferences, but there are several standard components of a review.

Components to Include in Your Review

The elements listed here do not appear in any specific order. The placement of these items (or the omission of them) will vary, depending on relevance.

You’ll have to decide, for example, if artistic elements are so important that they should be included in the body of your paper (as in a film class), or if they are so seemingly insignificant that they appear at the end (perhaps in an economics class).

Title of the film or documentary: Be sure to name the film in your first paragraph. State the date of its release.

Summary: What happened in this film? As a reviewer, you must explain what happened in the film and express your opinion about the success or failure of the film maker’s creation.

Don’t be afraid to express your opinion, but include specific reasons for likes and dislikes. (You can’t say “it was boring” unless you provide justification.)

Filmmaker: You should do a little research on the person who created this film.

• Is the director or writer a controversial figure?
• Is the filmmaker known for a political stance?
• Does the filmmaker have a significant background?

If the filmmaker is known for controversy, this segment of your paper can be lengthy. Devote several paragraphs to an assessment of his or her other works and establish the significance of this work in the film maker’s career.

Significance to your class: Why are you seeing this film in the first place? How does the content fit into your course topic?

Is this film important for historical accuracy? If you are viewing a motion picture for your history class, be sure to make note of embellishments or over-dramatization.

If you are reviewing a documentary for a history class, be sure to observe and comment on the sources used.

Is this a motion picture based on a play you’ve read in English class? If so, make sure you specify whether the film illuminated or clarified elements you missed when reading the play .

If you are reviewing a film for your psychology class, be sure to examine the emotional impact or any emotional manipulation you observe.

Creative elements: Filmmakers go to great lengths to choose the creative elements of their films. How are these elements important to the overall product?

Costumes for a period film can enhance a film or they can betray the intent of the film. Colors can be vivid or they can be dull. The use of color can stimulate and manipulate moods. Black and white shots can add drama. Good sound effects can enrich the viewing experience, while bad sound effects can destroy a film.

Camera angles and movement can add elements to the story. A jagged transition adds intensity. Gradual transitions and subtle camera movements serve a specific purpose, as well.

Finally, actors can make or break a film. Were the actors effective, or did poor acting skills detract from the film’s purpose? Did you notice the use of symbols ?

Formatting Your Paper

The order and emphasis of your paragraphs will depend on your class. The format will also depend on the course topic and your instructor's preference. For example, a typical documentary review for a history class will follow guidelines for a Turabian book review , unless your instructor states otherwise. A typical outline would be:

• Introduction, to include film title, topic, and release date
• Accuracy of the depiction
• Use of sources
• Creative elements
• Your opinion

A paper for your literature class, on the other hand, should adhere to MLA formatting guidelines . The film would most likely be a feature film, so the outline might go like this:

• Introduction, with title and release date
• Summary of the story
• Analysis of story elements -- like rising action , climax
• Creative elements, use of color, camera techniques, mood, and tone

Your conclusion should detail whether the filmmaker was successful in his or her purpose for making this film, and re-state your evidence. It may also explain how the film was (was not) helpful for illuminating and providing a deeper understanding of a topic in your class.

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How to Write a Movie Review

For the B2 FCE Cambridge exam

A movie review is an informal piece of writing that describes and evaluates a movie. Movie reviews are usually written by experts giving their opinion about the movie and published in newspapers, magazines, or blogs.

Parts of a movie review

This should include the movie title and an eye-catching heading

2. Introduction

This paragraph should include the name of the movie , the genre , the director , the stars and any prizes they have won. You can also include information about the place and the time the movie is set and filmed. The purpose of this paragraph is that you engage the reader and give them a general idea of the type of movie you are going to review.

This part should include an outline of the main events along with general information about the characters and the plot. Your summary should NOT spoil the film . Therefore, you should not mention anything about the ending of the movie.

4. Analysis

In this section you should share your opinion about the movie . Your review should examine the plot, the actors, the special effects and the soundtrack. You can also compare the movie you are reviewing to a similar film in the same genre. In this section you can also give examples of the good elements and the bad elements in the movie.

5. Conclusion

In this part you should summarize your thoughts on the good and bad elements of the movie . Finally, you should evaluate the movie (give stars ⭐⭐⭐, thumbs up 👍 or thumbs down 👎) and make a recommendation. You should mention why you recommend/ don’t recommend the movie.

Now that you know which parts should be included in a movie review 🎞️🍿, let’s see an example:

Check the movie trailer out to learn more about “Little Boy”

Useful language to describe movies

Movie genre.

• an action movie
• an animated movie
• a historical movie
• a horror movie
• a romantic comedy
• a science fiction movie
• a war movie

People and things in movies

• cinematography
• special effects

Adjectives to describe movies

Verbs and phrases

• It was directed by …
• It was written by…
• It was dubbed into [languge]
• The movie explores themes of …
• The movie shows…
• [Actor] played the part/role of [character]
• It is set in…
• It is based on the book…
• It was shot on location in [city]
• It’s about…
• One of the main storylines is…
• It stars…
• In the end…
• My favourite scene is…
• I strongly recommend the movie because…

Pro tips for writing a movie review

• Remember to write the movie’s title.
• Write an eye-catching heading.
• Remember to mention the genre of the movie.
• Don’t forget the audience. Who is the movie for?
• Don’t forget to include the names of the characters, the year the movie was made and if the movie or the actors have won any awards (For example, an Oscar, a Golden Globe, an MTV Movie Award, etc).
• Never ever mention the ending!!! You don’t want to spoil the movie.
• Remember to share your personal opinion and your evaluation.

Time to practice

You see this announcement in your English school magazine.

Type your answer in the box below, and I’ll give you personalized feedback.

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