Movie Review Writing

There are many articles dedicated to writing a movie review, and this one isn’t an exception, perhaps it may even become your guide in the world of skilled movie review writers.

Writing a movie review seems to be rather easy at first, but on second thought, we bet you’re gonna change your mind. When you think about writing an assignment like this one, first of all, you think about writing one-of-a-kind best-seller. This is always personal as you present your subjective point of view in a creative way. You present a story of your movie-watching experience to make your readers watch this movie or to make them change their mind. Do not underestimate it because it may help you demonstrate your writing skills, show your creativity and, maybe, even bring your writing talent to light. An assignment like this is aimed at developing cognitive skills of school and college students. A student should look through and examine piles of information – from general information about a movie to the movie itself – before he or she actually proceeds to writing a task. Of course, you may be a terrible writer, especially when it comes to creativity, or anything connected with creative writing, – because such reviews should contain at least a hint of creativity, or they go under the radar – but who prevents you from trying. You may ask to write about a movie that you like, maybe, you have your favorite movie, the one that you are willing to watch again, and again. Just go for it! You may be a talented movie critic, but all you need is a bit of practice! In this article, you may familiarize with the most widespread tips on movie review writing and some problems that may you come across when you get such assignment.

Movie Review Writing Style

There is no one certain style of movie review writing as each complete review is unique. Usually, review writers and journalists adjust for their readers and adjust the style of their pieces of writing accordingly. Of course, this is not true about school or college assignments as teachers or professors tend to give certain formatting and style requirements that you need to follow. This is understandable because you need to learn to follow some formatting rules to complete your studies. So learn about the requirements of your task beforehand, and try to stick to these requirements.

Be careful with quotes and citations as they are to be used in a text according to a specific formatting style, for example, like APA, MLA, Chicago, etc. Your teacher, or rather your college professor, may well ask you to write a movie review using one certain format mentioned above. If you are suddenly unaware of these formatting styles, you are more than welcome to consult with appropriate reading material, or you can consult with your teacher or college professor. In the worst case scenario, you can always google them. Plenty of examples, quotes and citations seem like a great base to support your reasoning, but we’ll return to this point later.

Another important aspect of style is how evenhanded you are when you write a review. Yes, it is personal, but it should not contain too personal negative connotations with harsh judgment. Be evenhanded when you write an analysis of a movie.

Movie Review Writing Tips

There are many tips on writing a movie review, and all of them are great and useful. However, you cannot use all of them at the same time. Eventually, you choose those that are the best for you and forget about the others. And, of course, there are some general tips that are mentioned in every article because these advises can make your writing better.

Before we begin to enumerate all those tips, it is worth mentioning a process of reviewing that you come through before submitting a paper. The process looks like this:

• Seeking Information About a Movie;
• Watching a Movie Itself;
• Taking Some Notes While Watching;
• Watching a Movie Once Again;
• Analyzing Written Material;
• Writing a Review;
• Proofreading a Written Review;

There are several exceptions from the given process. The first item may be applied once you watched a movie. The third item is advisable and recommended, but is not a compulsory one, especially if you are short of time. Another point to the given list is that you are welcome to make some notes right after a movie so you will not distract from a movie’s plot.

Now we can finally give you some tips on writing a movie review. Here you go:

1. First things first, imagine that you are a journalist who writes for a famous magazine or a journal. Play the journalist card, become the journalist for a while. You’ll see how easy it is, you’ll feel the words flowing out of you.
2. This task requires an element of professionalism as you are supposed to write a full-fledged adult assignment, so be sure not to use such inappropriate expressions like “In this review you’ll read…” or “In this review I’m going to tell you…” as these expressions add an element of casualty to your text. Be professional, or at least try to be the one, if you have zero writing skills in this respect.
3. The first section of your review should contain a thesis of your writing. Think about a central idea, a message of a movie that you want to tell your readers about. Further, support your reasoning with appropriate and adequate evidence, observations, examples, etc. Speaking of the latter, examples, quotes and citations are the good base to support your point of view but don’t overuse them. Give examples only when it is necessary.
4. Synopsis of a movie’s plot is your next step. Just don’t get into details. Do not spoiler because your readers will certainly lose interest in a movie. Try to write a brief overview in four or six sentences. Dedicate two or three sentences for each section of a movie (as you know every movie, and every story has the beginning, the main part, and the end).
5. Always try to leave a mystery in your movie review. Make your readers wonder, hook your readers with an appealing introduction or with a movie’s plot. Compose your words in such a way to make them wonder, “Why is it like that?” Remember, it is not just some plain narration of what this movie is about, and whether you liked it or not.
6. A bit of background information about a movie, its director, its actors may be particularly useful and interesting for readers. Write names of actors, the name of a movie director. You may also mention music, and give some information about sound effects. Maybe, there are some songs worth listening. Music makes people feel certain emotions, so make your readers feel through the text.
7. Tell your audience what intrigued you, and what kept you on the edge of your seat till the very end of a movie. Tell your readers about your emotional experience. It is always better to read what feelings a particular movie causes people to feel.
8. End your review with a fine conclusion. Generalize your thoughts to make them an epilogue of your story. It is always better to end a story with some expressions that leave no space for further argumentation. Finally, tell your opinion about a movie, what do you think about it.

Writing any kind of a review is a thankless job as there are readers who may disagree with your point of view. However, you should get ready for some negative reaction. Your opinion is subjective as well as your reader’s opinion.

A movie review provides you with an opportunity not only to watch a movie, but also with an opportunity to try yourself as a journalist. So do not be afraid! Dive into the world of moviemaking, become a true movie critic, give your expert opinion, and make your writing significant for everyone. So go ahead and watch a movie!