You may have noticed when you woke up this morning that a lot of sites are publishing their Star Wars reviews today. Heck, we even impulsively published something in anticipation of the traffic that would be generated from folks who want to know if their excitement for the new film is justified. I took down our initial review because of one simple fact: anticipation and unjustified hype for a movie can skew perception. I remember being a kid and walking out of seeing the Spawn way back in 1997 and 14 year old me spewing out ‘This was the greatest movie EVAH!’. That alone should say something. With that said there are a few things you should probably keep an eye out for if you’re reading one of these early reviews:
Do these “reviews” critique the film
This is a slippery slope. Some writers on the internet think the only way to critique a film is to spoil the events of a movie, which is untrue. A good writer should know how to critique something without ruining a plot and give you a good idea if they have a positive or negative reaction to an aspect of film making.
Do these “reviews” even talk about the film?
Some reviews you see out there will simply talk about their own personal excitement for the film and say vague things like “JJ Nailed it” or “It’s good!”. Now, these statements may be reassuring but if you scratch beneath the surface you may ask yourself “what are they really saying? If you look at them closely enough, they aren’t really saying anything. They’re simply saying that within an hour of viewing the film they forced themselves to type something up to publish on the web and get you to click on them without really dissecting the movie itself. Were they satisfied? Maybe, Maybe not but one thing you can probably take away is that they felt better about this movie than they did about the prequels which is like saying “I ran faster than a turtle” or “I can jump higher than someone physically impaired”. The bar was set so low on the prequels and excitement for the new trilogy so high that you may not really get what’s needed from these new reviews.
Which sites have the good review and which ones have the skewed ones?
This is a tougher question to answer. It entirely depends on your personal tastes and preferences as you feverishly click through reviews searching for answers. The best reviews for me will be the ones that talk about the aspects of film making that I adhere to without spoiling a movie: Acting, Cinematography, Plot, Setting, Buyability, Recylability. What this means is “did the actors perform well or did they Hayden Christensenthe movie to shit”. That’s important to me! Did the cinematography allow for shots that I thought were compelling or did they shaky cam the movie into Cloverfield hell? Was it a decent plot or was it just a rehash that tugged at nostalgia and offered little stimulation? Buyability/Recylability – Will I want to see this in theaters and is there any chance that I’ll want to see it more than once: These things matter to me!
This isn’t to say that other sites are mistaken in their approach but ultimately are they satisfying. I say take your time, find your niche, and regardless settle in on the fact that you will watch this movie and a week after viewing you’ll form your real opinion after discussing with friends.
