How to write a movie review

By: Jasmine Jakobsson

Contents

What is a review? 3

Why movie reviews are written 4

The First Steps to Writing a Movie Review 5

Writing about the Movie 6

Writing the Review 7

Conclusion 8

Bibliography 9

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What is a Review?
A review is when people, mostly critics, write about a piece of work someone else has done,
such as books, movies, music and plays. When critics write a review they write down their
own opinion of the movie or the book. They criticize it, hence the name, critic.
Reviews are usually published in newspapers and online, where readers can get a hold of
them very easily. If anyone ever wants to know about a certain movie, book or play, they can
go online, search after a review on it and very easily get a lot of information about that piece
of work.
A thing that is important about reviews is that the critics write their own opinion, if they
don’t include their opinion, a person can’t really call it a review. It then becomes more of a
summary than a review.

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Why movie reviews are written
Most people love movies, some more than others. Many watch movies just for the pleasure
without analyzing it too much. But If you learn how to write a movie review you can raise
your interest and appreciation in movies. You can also prevent people from wasting their
money on a bad movie.

When you write a movie review you have to tear the movie into pieces. Think about
characterization, plot, style, appearance, music, special effects. Write it all down on a piece of
paper. After that you ask yourself questions: What is the main argument of the movie? What
is the topic of the movie? How has this movie helped you to understand the subject? What has
the movie accomplished? Would you recommend the movie to anyone?

This is a step by step book on how to write a movie review.

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The First Steps to Writing a Movie Review
1. Go and see the movie

The first step of writing a movie review is to actually go and see a movie. Even if you’re
pretty sure it’s going to be bad, give it a try, who knows, you might like it. Also, you do not
just want to go and see movies that you like, especially not if you’re a movie critic.

2. Research!

Before you watch it, make sure to research about the movie. Ask questions like; what have
the actors and director worked on before? Is the movie based on a book or is it based on a true
story? Dig a little and see what comes up. This will help you to appreciate, understand the
movie better and write a better movie review.

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Writing About the Movie

3. Always remember to take notes

Your job as a movie reviewer is to give opinions of the movie. To make this easier for you,
take notes during the movie. Write things that interest you, things that catch your attention
and things that you don’t like. Write down anything that comes to mind when taking notes,
even if they seem really silly. These notes can and will help you a lot when you’re writing the
review.

4. Take a chill pill

After watching the movie, wait a couple of hours and let the movie soak in before you start
writing a review about it. You don’t want to write too emotionally. It’s always good to wait a
bit, and if you want to make things even easier, start discussing the movie with a friend or a
relative. They can give you loads of new ideas and new perspectives of things you never even
thought about.
After this, you begin to write your review. Try to come up with a topic sentence or a thesis
statement that will let you know what to write in a general perspective of the whole review.

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Writing the Review

5. The beginning of the review

You now have to write the review. Remember to always include the information of the
movie, what year it was made, who the director is, what actors are starring in it and what
genre the movie has. The rating of the review is optional, you can either rate from 0-5 or 0-10,
or you could just leave it, it’s completely your choice. Also, to make it even more fun than it
already is, when rating the movie, you can use stars!!

6. Introduction; what is the movie about?

In the beginning of the review, talk about the movie. What the movie is about. This is
important because you want your readers to know what the movie is about.

7. The body; I wonder if the soundtrack is any good…

You then start focusing on the details, the environment, sound and picture. Was the movie
properly filmed? Did the music fit with different situations in the movie? Did the actors act
well? Ask yourself these types of questions and include them in the review. Another thing you
can think about is the movie’s message, is there a message or a statement that the director
want the audience to benefit from?

8. Conclusion; what did I really think of the movie?

A review is not only a summary of what the movie is about, you also have to include your
opinion. ALWAYS. Your readers are reading your review because they want to know what
YOU think, so always remember to include your opinion. What did you think of the movie?
Why? Exactly what was it that you liked or disliked?1 Don’t forget this, it’s very important!!
When writing a review make sure the review is compact and it has good structure. Before
you can become a famous and professional movie critic, your reviews must be professional
and formal.

1
Almqvist & Wiksell, Kort hanbok i Svenska, Falköping 2002, p. 20.

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Conclusion
You have finally reached the end! Hopefully you now know how to write a movie review.
Just remember to have fun while writing it. You’re probably doing it because you like
movies, so don’t forget that, you love movies and hopefully this will make you love them
even more. However if you are forced to do this as a homework, just look at it from the bright
side, your homework includes watching a movie*.

*
Or you could just tell them to bugger off!

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Bibliography
• Almqvist & Wiksell, Kort hanbok i Svenska, Falköping 2002, p. 20.

• " How to Write a Movie Review Our Template ." Documents, Templates, Forms,

Ebooks, Papers & Presentations . N.p., n.d. Web. 8 Feb. 2011.

<http://www.docstoc.com/docs/2563046/How-to-Write-a-Movie-Review-Our-

Template>.

• Danesco, B.. "How To Write a Movie Review | Writing Tips." How To Do Things »

How To Articles & How To Videos. N.p., n.d. Web. 8 Feb. 2011.

<http://www.howtodothings.com/hobbies/a2206-how-to-write-a-movie-review.html>.

• "How To Write a Movie Review - a guide | Spirit of Baraka." Spirit of Baraka |

Celebrating Baraka, Koyaanisqatsi and other non-verbal films. N.p., n.d. Web. 10

Feb. 2011. <http://www.spiritofbaraka.com/how-write-a-movie-review>.

• "How to Write a Movie Review." Freelance Writing - Internet Article Marketing -

Publish Articles Online - EduBook. N.p., n.d. Web. 8 Feb. 2011.

<http://www.edubook.com/how-to-write-a-movie-review/3329/>.

• "How to Write a Movie Review - wikiHow." wikiHow - The How-to Manual That You

Can Edit. N.p., n.d. Web. 8 Feb. 2011. <http://www.wikihow.com/Write-a-Movie-

Review>.

• "eHow." How to Write a Movie Review. N.p., n.d. Web. 4 Feb. 2011.

<<www.ehow.com/how_2002071_write-movie-review.html >>.

• Moore, Natasha. "movie review." newspaper. school. Rudbeck, Sollentuna. 9 Feb.

2011. Class lecture.