Techniques in Movie Critiques

Like the confusion between book reports and book reviews, there is a great deal of confusion between movie critiques and movie reviews. Part of this confusion stems from word usage. A move critique is to a movie review, what a book review is to a book report.

Writing Your Movie Critique

Writing a critique is no different than writing any other type of essay and should be formatted in the same manner:

• An introduction giving the basic overview of what is being talked about and what aspects were noted by the critic.
• A presentation of the critiqued points and the supporting evidence of them drawn from the movie.
• An overview of the movie’s content and a summary of the critiqued points and how they affect the overall quality of the movie.

Issues in a Movie Critique

Beginning your critique should always start with a viewing of the movie not for enjoyment, but for evaluation and analysis. Since there are several avenues of critique, this may take multiple viewings. As you are viewing, pay attention to the points that come to your attention of what was done well and what should have been done better. Performing this requires you to be objective, regardless of the movie’s plot and aesthetics.

One of the first things most critics will examine is the premise or implied supposition of the movie. This is the core idea or concept upon which the movie is written and does the plot properly build upon the premise. The premise and plot should also be evaluated for originality.

Closely related to the plot are the individual scenes. Frequently, entire scenes that were originally part of the movie end up on the cutting room floor not because they aren’t important to the movie, but purely for the sake of cutting the movie’s length. Often, this leaves loose ends, plot jarring (the sudden jump between scenes in which something obviously happened between the scenes), or continuity problems. In other situations, a scene might be perceived as contrived and/or gratuitous, bolstering ratings more than adding to the overall storyline.

Additionally, the order of the scenes can be significant. Combining these concerns with the premise and plot establishes the basic continuum of the movie.

The same basic question asked of the premise and plot would apply to the characters and their dialog.

Frequently critics talk about the characters and dialog being too stereotyped or practiced. This might be another subject of criticism in the movie critique.

The presentation of the movie can also be an area of conflict in critiques. One critic might find the use of special effects dramatic. Another might consider it overdone, accusing the director of covering a weak plot or scene with a special effects spectacle.

Final Thoughts

It is not hard to see that the critiquing of a movie can be a very subjective matter. It is, after all, the opinions of the critic regarding the significance, entertainment and technical quality of the movie. Our writers are fully qualified to create critiques for movies, documentaries, and other major visual and audio presentations. With their extensive experience in writing, critical thinking and analysis, they can produce a high-quality critique, focusing on any angle you wish or need.

Contact us today for help on your next major project.