I read a New York Times movie review of The Dark Knight Rises. The review begins with a short description of the movies tone and plot, then the authors positive opinion of the movie. The review focuses on the theme and plot of the movie. The author does address cinematic elements, such as Nolan's use of music and cinematography, but the main focus is on the plot and the parallels that the movie's theme draws with the messiness of the current political situation. The review also addresses the story and the tone it takes from it's source material.
The real life parallels that the reviewer draws, especially the parallels the author draws with Gotham's destruction and the chaos of 9/11, give the review a mostly serious tone. Although the author reviews the ending sequence and writes that it is very well done, the author avoids any specifics about the ending which preserves the surprises at the ending of the movie.
The author structures the review so that first a short synopsis is given, along with the reviews opinion, then the plot is summarized and reviewed. This is followed by an examination of the theme of the movie and the quality of the acting.
The article ends with the author recommending the movie to the reader.
I think that in our movie reviews we should be allowed free choice when choosing our movie. If more structure is required than entire freedom, we should be told what era or genre the movie should be from, but still be given final say in what movie we review.
We should probably use the review we read as a basic structure for our reviews, and there should be requirements of what elements we must review, but I believe the final organization should be up to the author.
Annotated Review:
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Image Source: Movie Theater
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