Movie Reviews: Just One Person's Opinion

Many people don't realize that a movie review is just one person's opinion, on one particular day, and ascribe a larger value to the reviews. They think that somehow, the critic writing (or speaking/filming) the review has an insider perspective on whether a film is inherently "good" or "bad".

What they don't think about are all the factors which can lead a critic or reviewer to value a certain aspect of one movie over that of another, or the fact that there could be any number of things going on to influence the critic's opinion of the piece.

In an ideal world, a professional critic is someone who can separate their own personal prejudices and tastes from the inherent value of a film, and evaluate a cinematic work on its own merits and based on its own intentions. This is one of the things that separates professional movie reviews from amateur hobbyists, who ply their opinions both on- and off-line and are often not able to make judgments of a) what the film they've watched is trying to communicate and b) whether it was successful based on that initial desire to communicate an idea.

Where professional critics can contribute in a highly valuable way is through their knowledge of and dedication to cinema. A professional reviewer with experience over a number of years has a wide breadth of knowledge about film directors, the actors who perform in the film in question, the producers, and other technical contributors, based on their work over a number of years. They also, one would hope, have a wider perspective on the history of cinema and how any one particular work fits into the wider range of cinema production output over the history of the medium. Even so, their opinion can be influenced by any number of things, and those reading professional movie reviews should realize that the review is simply a tool with which they can evaluate what their own reaction to the piece is likely to be. Using this information, one can decide whether a film is worth the cost of the ticket for them or their cinema group.

Hobbyist reviews on sites like Rotten Tomatoes and other internet websites have gained popularity over the years because they aggregate the reactions - not the professional reviews - of a wide number of people. Where a professional critic's review is just the reaction of one person, these aggregating sites offer the perspective of dozens, hundreds, or even thousands of average viewers who can provide a look at their gut reaction to the content of a film and pass that on to other viewers. This is useful for picking a movie based on mainstream tastes, however, one should realize when accessing these sites that you are not likely to see or have explained the position of a film within the canon of movie production history, nor are the capsule reviews from those who have seen the film necessarily educated or placed within the context of what the film is trying to achieve. They are opinions, and may differ from yours.

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