How to Write a Movie Critique
Posted on April 24, 2007
Movie critiques can be easily confused with movie reviews. However, movie reviews give a personal impression while criticizing means giving some practical advice. In our turn, we want to give you some practical advice on writing a good movie critique.
We studied the resources available online, extended them with our professional writing tips, and now give them to you.
1. Writing a Movie Critique. How to Begin
Definition:
A writing critique names specific things that make a movie (or screenplay) work, or not work, so that the creator can improve.
General guidelines:
- choose a movie;
- narrow your critiques down to a certain point;
- now watch it once more, paying attention to the points that come into your sphere of evaluation interest;
- take notes;
- be specific;
- be objective;
Our tips on writing a movie critique:
- Criticizing doesn’t mean spilling negative emotions. Too much pessimism will kill any reader’s desire to get closely acquainted with your writing. Even though “the movie sucked”, try to give it a sophisticated evaluation.
2. Writing a Movie Critique. Premise
Definition:
The premise is the supposition implied in the story.
General guidelines:
- analyze the “fatal flow”;
- badly constructed premise ruins the overall impression of the movie; therefore, if it does, point it out, and say what could’ve been improved;
Our tips on writing a movie critique:
- Don’t forget to give specific examples from the movie itself, not only bare words.
3. Writing a Movie Critique. Characterization
Definition:
Characterization is the depth of personality’s beliefs, motivations, etc.
General guidelines:
- concentrate on any/all movie characters;
- see if the way they dress, talk, act, look come naturally from their characters;
- the more depth there is to characters, the more character-driven the story;
- character motivation makes the audience believe the story is true; moreover, it helps understand what is hidden beneath.
Our tips on writing a movie critique:
- Don’t give serious treatment to action movie characters. Personalities there impress more with fists and athletic bodies, than with sensitive hearts.
4. Writing a Movie Critique. Structure and Plot
Definition:
A plot is the rendering and ordering of the events and actions of a story. The structure of something is how the parts of it relate to each other, how “it is put together”.
General guidelines:
- see if the plot is predictable;
- some plots can be unpredictable, and it gives you enough room for evaluation;
- structure encompasses the idea of 3 acts - introducing the main characters, mounting tension through the story, and the ending part;
- a plot has to correspond to characters motivations;
- before the ending, there has to be the highest point of tension.
Our tips on writing a movie critique:
- Unpredictable plots sometimes appeal to philosophical issues. Whatever there is, be sure to identify the reason and its main request.
5. Writing a Movie Critique. Dialogue
Definition:
A dialogue is a conversation between two or more persons.
General guidelines:
- good dialogues are not too long;
- don’t concentrate on looking for realism in dialogues; instead, look for logical development.
Our tips on writing a movie critique:
- Look for body language – do actors’ gestures correspond to their words?
6. Writing a Movie Critique. Originality
Definition:
Originality is an unexpected turning point that attracts attention.
General guidelines:
Original” might be a character, a plot, a twist, an engaging idea, a setting, or something else that the audience has not seen before.
Our tips on writing a movie critique:
- There are sometimes reasons for original thing to appear. Maybe, the movie director felt that the audience is tired of something, and decided to introduce fresh ideas. Identify, what that “something” was.
7. Writing a Movie Critique. Scenes
Definition:
A scene is a self-contained episode within a larger work.
General guidelines:
- the scenes have to stay focused;
- they have to develop more smoothly as part of a longer dramatic unit;
- scenes should at least be part of the chain that makes up the story;
- they should typically contain conflict, and the character typically reacts to the conflict with a change in mood or direction.
Our tips on writing a movie critique:
- If anything has been done exceptionally badly/well, say about it.
8. Writing a Movie Critique. Visual Presentation
Definition:
A visual presentation occurs when characters act and react to each other and the set to communicate drama, and this interaction typically involves a lot of dialogue.
General guidelines:
- the set should communicate a motif;
- the particular type of story will determine how much interaction there can be.
Our tips on writing a movie critique:
- Give as many examples, as possible.
9. Writing a Movie Critique. The Structure of the Critique
Definition:
A structure of writing is similar to any essay structure.
General guidelines:
- Introduction: give basic information, make a plot summary, state your thesis, and give readers a clue on what your critique is going o be about.
- Body paragraphs: these break a thesis into separate points, and examine each one separately. Don’t forget about examples.
- Conclusion: it synthesizes the questions you raised in the movie critique.
Our tips on writing a movie critique:
- Go over your paper to eliminate factual and spelling/grammar/punctuation mistakes.
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September 20th, 2008 at 8:23 pm
this is great but the print is too small and I don’t know how to enlarge it for teaching purposes.
Can you help me. thanks, daryl conner
October 7th, 2008 at 6:32 pm
Can you show a sample of a movie critique?
That would be much appreciated.
October 27th, 2008 at 9:03 am
These are great techniques but I think example paragraphs or sentences would also help.