This document provides guidance on how to write a movie review. It discusses that a movie review should include the reviewer's opinion in either a formal or informal tone. It then outlines the key steps to writing a review, which include drafting the review, studying source materials about the movie, composing the review with a thesis, plot summary, analysis, and conclusion, and polishing the review through editing and proofreading. Guidance is provided on how to effectively implement each step of the movie review writing process.

1. MOVIE REVIEW
M A N O L O L . G I R O N
Z A M B A L E S N AT I O N A L H I G H S C H O O L

2. MOVIE REVIEW
• A movie review is a type of review that provides a short
description of a movie and includes the reviewer’s opinion
about it.
• A movie review can be formal or informal.
• In academic writing the movie review should definitely use
formal.

3. STEPS FOR WRITING A MOVIE
REVIEW
1. Drafting your Review
2. Studying your source materials
3. Composing your review
4. Polishing your piece

4. DRAFTING YOUR REVIEW
1. Start with a compelling fact or opinion on the movie
a. This sentence needs to give them a feel for review and
the movie– it is good, great, terrible, or just OK
b. Include comparison to relevant event or movie.
c. Review in nutshell. In a very brief statement
d. Context or background information.

5. DRAFTING YOUR REVIEW
II. Give a clear, well-established opinion early on.
a. don’t leave your reader guessing whether you like the
movie or not .
b. let them know early so that you can spend the rest of
the time proving your rating.
c. you can use stars, score out of 10 or 100 or simple
thumbs- up or down
d. then you can write about why you chose that rating.

6. DRAFTING YOUR REVIEW
III. Back up your opinion with specific evidence.
a. this is where taking notes during the movie really pays
off.
b. no one cares about your opinion if you can give facts
that support your argument.

7. DRAFTING YOUR REVIEW
IV. Move beyond the obvious plot analysis.
a. Cinematography. It is all about color in every scene.
b. Tone. It is about humor and excitement alive in every
scene
c. Music and sound.
d. Acting.

8. DRAFTING YOUR REVIEW
V. Bring your review full-circle in the ending.
a. give the review some closure.
b. remember people read the review to decide whether or
not they should watch a movie.
c. end on a sentence that tells them, great, bad, or okay.

9. STUDYING YOUR SOURCE MATERIALS
I. Gather basic facts about the movie
a. the title
b. The year it came out
c. the directors name
d. the name of the lead actors
e. the genre

10. STUDYING YOUR SOURCE MATERIALS
II. Notes the Movie as you watch it.
a. make a note every time something sticks out to you
whether its bad or good.
b. take note of patterns you begin to notice as the movie
unfolds.

11. STUDYING YOUR SOURCE MATERIALS
III. Analyze the mechanics of the movie
a. direction. Consider the director and how she or he choose to
portray the event in the story.
b. Cinematography. Setting and background
c. Writing. Evaluate the scrip including dialogue and
characterization.
d. Editing. Was the movie choppy or did it flow smoothly from
scene to scene?
e. Costume design. Did the clothing choices fit the style of the
movie?
f. Set design. Consider how the setting of the film influenced its
other elements.

12. STUDYING YOUR SOURCE MATERIALS
IV. Watch it one more time
a. Pay attention to details you might have missed the first
time around.
b. Pick new points of focus this time.

13. COMPOSING YOUR REVIEW
I. Create an original thesis base on your analysis.
a. does the film reflect on a current event or
contemporary issue?
b. Does the film seem to have a message, or does it
attempt to elicit a specific response or emotion from
the audience?
c. Does the film connect with you on a personal level?

14. COMPOSING YOUR REVIEW
II. Follow the thesis paragraph with a short plot summary
a. When you name characters in your plot summary, list
the actors’ name directly afterward in parenthesis.
b. find a place to mention the director’s name and the full
movie title.
c. If you feel you must discuss information that might
“spoil” things for readers, warm them first.

15. COMPOSING YOUR REVIEW
III. Move into your analysis of the movie
a. keep your writing clear and easy to understand
b. present the fact and your opinion.

16. COMPOSING YOUR REVIEW
IV. Use of plenty of examples to back up your points
a. back it up with descriptive example

17. COMPOSING YOUR REVIEW
V. Give it some personality
a. let your language and writing style reflect your unique
perspective and personality.

18. COMPOSING YOUR REVIEW
VI. Wrap up your review with a conclusion
a. it should tie back to your original thesis and provide
some guidance as to whether the audience should
go see the movie.

19. POLISHING YOUR PIECE
I. Edit your review
a. Decide whether your review contains enough details
the movie.
b. decide whether your review is interesting enough as a
standard alone piece of writing

20. POLISHING YOUR PIECE
I. Proofread your review
a. Make sure you’ve spelled all the actors’ name correctly
and that you got all the dates right.
b. Clean up Typos, grammatical errors, and other spelling
error as well.
c. a clean , proofread review will seem much more
professional than one that’s full of silly mistakes.

21. REFERENCES
• www.wikiHow