Decisions, decisions. We make them all the time. If you’re about to go to the theatre or spend a night watching movies, you start wondering: “What film should I choose?” First of all, it depends on your mood. Are you up for something classic? Maybe you wanna watch the latest blockbuster, or you’re in the mood for some artsy European cinema.
According to the data provided by Statista, most adults read reviews before choosing a movie to watch. In the category of respondents between 35 and 44 years of age, 37% respondents said that they sometimes read reviews; 20% said they relied on people’s opinions most of the time, and 10% said that they always read the reviews before watching a film.
How You Choose a Movie to Watch
With so many options, it’s not an easy decision to make. So you do what most people do:
- You watch some trailers. The problem with trailers is that they all look too cool. They can make even the most boring movie appealing, so you don’t turn them into the only decisive factor.
- You check if your favorite actors or directors have come up with new projects. This process takes a long time, and you feel like it’s still not enough.
- Finally, you turn to the ultimate source of recommendations: reviews. Other people already watched the movie, so you’re interested: did they like it? Some opinion pieces, like those published in The New York Times, are pretty elaborate. The authors get into details, so you have an impression about the movie’s quality before watching it. Other reviews are brief but fun, and they tell you what you need to know: “Is this movie worthy of my time?”
The Influence of Movie Reviews on People’s Choices
Criticism is an essential element of every type of art. Before buying an expensive painting, art lovers mainly rely on their feelings about it. However, they also consider the painter’s reputation, as well as critics’ opinions on his work. They are making an investment with the hope that the painting will be valued more in the future.
Movie fans are also making an investment: of their time. Everyone is too busy nowadays. Between work, studying, exercise, family, and all kinds of activities, we don’t have too much time to spend on all the movies we want to see. That’s why most of us go through online reviews. Those who need more elaborate opinions spend time reading film analysis essay samples, which focus on all elements of composition. Students are prone to reading these samples, since their professors impose writing academic reviews on the films they watch.
Since everyone is able to find reviews online, film critiques are seen as a consumer tool nowadays. They can create hype for a particular movie, but they can also change people’s mind about watching it. If a particular film gets bad feedback in general, fewer people are going to watch it. For movies that have just been released, such reputation makes a negative financial influence.
Should Film Reviews Matter So Much?
Millions of people read reviews. If they are featured in popular magazines or at the top of IMDb and Rotten Tomato pages, millions of potential viewers will form their opinion thanks to them. Professional movie critics have the best job in the world. They do what they love: watch films and write about them. They have the authority to tell people whether or not a movie is worthy of their time.
But who reviews the reviewers? No matter how hard they try to stay unbiased, their reviews are based on personal inclinations. There are no absolute standards by which a movie can be watched and judged. Independent critics should always remind their readers that the final impression depends on the viewer and nobody else.
Approach Movie Reviews with a Grain of Salt
If you like a movie’s trailer or story description, find the time to watch it. You don’t have to spend hours on it if you end up not liking what you see. However, you’ll give yourself a chance to form an opinion without being influenced by critics and other viewers.
Reviews are great when you need some assistance in choosing films to see. However, don’t let them influence your opinions of the movies before you even see them. Authoritative critics have their way of doing that: they convince people that a movie is good or bad, so the viewers are robbed out of the experience of forming a genuine opinion.
Our recommendation is to focus on trailers and descriptions, as well as brief reviews by viewers. Leave essay samples and evaluations from professional critics for later. You’ll read them after you watch the film and decide if you like it or not. Elaborate reviews are still great; they help you scratch the surface and see into the depth of the movie’s message. Some viewers are so inspired by critics that decide to watch the movies again, just to focus on the points they missed.
Judy Nelson loves writing but tries to avoid the conventional formats. Through her blog posts, Judy inspires students to write more creatively. It is possible for them to fall in love with academic writing, as long as they approach it from a different angle.
