Each person could find what he or she needs in a movie: humor, adrenaline, drama, love, a journey back through time, or an alternative reality. So, writing a movie review seems to be one of the most interesting assignments for most students. However, enjoying a good film in the evening and watching it solely for the purpose of writing a review are not quite the same. This article is aimed to teach you how to avoid common mistakes and how to write an excellent movie review.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• What Is a Movie Review
• Movie Review Purpose
• Step-by-Step Guide
• The Outline
• Short Movie Review Form
• Example Papers
• Mistakes to Avoid
• Movie Review FAQ
• Movie Review Help

What Is a Movie Review

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

Professional reviews differ from those made by amateurs; they are more structured, sharper, more detailed, but at the same time more compact in wording. In a professional movie review you will always find awareness of the film’s director(s), 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.

Though, you can find a lot of reviews that are made by ordinary movie fans — and sometimes they can end up being more informative and useful than a professional one.

Movie Review Purpose

The key to writing an outstanding movie review is understanding its purpose. So, keep your goals in mind while writing:

• Discuss the film plot briefly. Share some information about characters, relations and events, but don’t tell the whole story. Reading the review shouldn’t replace watching the film. Yet, you are free to mention the most important moments or turning points that make the film worth watching.
• Analyze the film in general and in certain aspects, such as the acting, the work of the director, theme, music, and special effects. Make a conclusion if the main idea of the film was duly implemented. Try to be 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. Try not to be categorical, but let your readers know what they can expect from the film, and who might find it interesting. Say if it matches an official film description and declared genre, why it might be worth watching, and what its weaknesses are.
• Entertain the reader. Reading movie reviews is actually kind of fun in itself. We’ve, as a society, gotten used to using this option before choosing a film to watch. Try to make an easy-to-read review, and write in an interesting manner.

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

Writing a movie review may not be as challenging as it first appears. This type of academic assignment is not the most complicated one by far. However, it still has its own peculiarities – and if you can get these right, you will succeed.

To get started with your paper, you need to know and understand the main characteristics of a good movie review:

• It provides bibliographic information;
• It shares a clear but concise characterization of the movie in question;
• It includes a description of the plot, which, however, does not give away any spoilers;
• It identifies the key characters and actors;
• It identifies the setting, themes, conflicts, in addition to other details present in the movie and evaluates them;
• It compares the film to other similar ones;
• It identifies the key strong and weak points of the film;
• It gives an overall evaluation of the movie.

Also, another important thing to be aware of in order to understand how to start a movie review is the proper formatting of such an assignment. The key to success in handling your movie review is decent organization. Just like every other academic paper, a good film review essay should follow a specific structure, style, and, most importantly, formatting.

Here are the key takeaways for how to format your paper:

• Use 1-inch margins on all sides;
• Pick a clear and readable font (the preferred fonts are Times New Roman, Courier, and Bookman);
• Set the font size to 12 pt.;
• Center the title of the paper along with your name.

Finally, to succeed in writing a movie review, all you need to do is follow the right sequence of actions that will gradually bring you to your desired result. In this section of our article, we are going to share a detailed step-by-step guide for how to write a film review.

Choose a Film

If you have a choice, think carefully about what film you would like to analyze. Surely most of us would choose one of our favorites. Though, it’s not obligatory to write a review on tone of the films you like, you may write about one you don’t like, and explain why. Such an approach could be different and refreshing, and could bring you extra credit.

Watch the Movie

Even if you’ve seen it a hundred times, watch it again in order to discover new details, and to understand the characters and their motives betters. We recommend watching a film at least two, or better yet three times. While watching it for the first time, we usually concentrate on the main heroes, their storyline and emotions. The second time around usually helps you to notice the details of minor characters and their stories, such as music, timelines, costumes, decorations and locations. All these things contribute to how you perceive the movie and your critique.