Ultimate Film Review - Category Definitions

Storyline 

This is about the journey the film takes you on. We consider how the story develops over time and how unique or status quo the story is. We look at how easy or hard it is to follow and it’s predictability.  A score of a ‘1’ means it is poorly written and not developed well. A ‘10’ means it is one of the best storylines ever created for a motion picture. 

Character Depth 

We are considering how dynamic the characters are and how the film developed them. Are the characters just stereotypes used only to move the story along, or are they multidimensional providing a reflection of the human journey. 

Acting

This one is easy.  The acting level should match the type of film. A theatrical film should be acted in a theatrical way. A film reflecting reality should feel natural, we have to believe in the character. 

Special Effects 

These can be CGI or practical effects. We are looking at how well they are done and their use in building upon the story as well as the frequency of their use. If you love special effects movies, you want a high score in this category. 

Costume

For this category we are considering how well the costumes fit the story, and how remarkable they are compared to other films. If you want to see amazing costumes, you want a high score is this category.

Visual Aesthetics

This is all about how visually stunning the film is. Examples of high scoring films in this category include Dr. Strange, Spiderman through the Spider-Verse, Inception and The Lord of the Rings animated version.

Cinematography

We are considering how creative the director is with the camera and how well they uses camera angles, camera movement and point of view to add depth to the storyline. Examples of high scoring films in this category include; Birdman, 

Editing

A well edited film should show everything it needs to, to successfully tell the story without any extra baggage.

Music/Score

Is the music/soundtrack good? Does it go well with moment, and the over all story. Is it too much? Is it used to drive emotion instead of the visuals and dialogue? Is it used in a thoughtful way, i.e. ironic use of pop music? 

Conceptual Depth 

Did the film make you think? Were you still thinking about it the next day? The next week? Did it change how you think about the world in some way? Examples of high scoring films in this category include ????

Dialogue

This scale goes from ‘made for a child' to ‘witty and thoughtful banter’. Films like; My Dinner with Andre’ and Pulp Fiction score high in this category.

Realism

Is the film paying attention to the rules of the physical world or does anything go? A score of ‘10’ means the film is hyper realistic. 

Violence

We are looking at the type and amount of violence in the film. A low score means there is very little violence of any type. A high score means it is a very violent film; blood, gore, fighting, killing, brutality, torture.  John Wick and the Kill Bill series score high in this area. 

Sexy

This scale runs from ‘0’ meaning nothing sexy at all, to ‘10’ a rated ‘X’ film. High scoring film examples in this category would be; Secretary, 50 Shades of Gray, and 9 1/2 Weeks. 

How did it end

How satisfying was the ending? Did it tie up all the loose ends? Did it complete the story well?

Worth it

This is about how much we like the film. Where we try to consider each of the other categories through an unbiased lens, this category is totally slanted to our combined tastes. In general we like thoughtful films, aesthetic films, dark films and the avant garde. Our favorite genres are sci-fi, fantasy, horror, comedy, and dramas. This is reviewed on a  1 - 10 scale, with ten representing the films we think are the most worth it to experience.