Skip to content →

What to look for in a Film Review

There are numerous blogs and websites dedicated to film reviews. While there is beauty in democratization, anyone can ideally create their blog and write to their heart content and tread lightly.

Bloggers may not only write too much plot overview but can sometimes fail to explain their role on particular film while writing movie reviews. Nowadays, it can be quite hard to find a quality film criticism on the internet. Perhaps some of the best reviews are quite a few and far in between. This article pinpoints some of the things to look for in a good review.

There are few things to consider when reading a film review. First, see the way the describer employs in describing the plot. If so, check if it revolves around the plot. In this case, you should be able to notice specific scenes described in detail. Perhaps it may be challenging to distinguish film review from the plot summary particularly for amateur reviewers. Check the length of the plot, if it’s longer than one paragraph, then that review is of low quality.

A good critic will observe and report accordingly, after which they try to understand or attempt to interpret the film. Basically, this goes for art films or popular fare.

Most of the readers looking for film reviews are particularly not interested whether or not a movie is worth seeing. However, the essential thing is the interpretation of the film. Skimming the entire movie may not capture any meaning, but reading between the lines of the film is what great critics employ to accurately convey the meaning of a particular film to the audience. To be a good critic, you need to have a good understanding of film history and be up-to-date on politics and culture.

Most often, the age of a critic is used as a way of judging their wisdom. That means young critics lack relevant knowledge due to their short life experience as compared to those who have experienced more in their lifetime. Hence, young critics may not see emotional and the literal depth of a given work of art. How is film an allusion to the text? Is it a political film? Does the film represent a trend in culture? Well, these are some of the things any good critic can easily link with the film and interpret based on such information.

Critic or blogger can be diverse with the variety of films being reviewed. But if he is specifically writing about one film or genre, it shows that he is not willing to diversify the specific type of film. Such individuals should consider reviewing blogs and websites dedicated to a particular type of film. Although these niche websites are okay, it’s also vital knowing the importance of having variety. Generally, film critics reviewing movies about different themes, from various countries, and variety of genres are the best because they’re knowledgeable on trends of contemporary films and can also explore and learn more about cultural landscape.

Another way to identify a good critic is by checking diction within the film reviews. Using words like “awesome”, “cool”, or “interesting” in film review do convey the weight required to deliver accurate information to the reader. A good critic should explain the factors supporting the art if indeed the film is interesting.

Published in TV and Film