Catharine Cea

Writing 2
De Piero
June 9, 2016
To See or Not to See a Movie
Have you ever heard of a movie, but couldn't decide whether or not you wanted to see it?
When in this situation, many movie-goers turn to film reviews in order to see what others think
of the movie before making their own decision about it. Film reviews can often be seen in
various places and contexts throughout peoples everyday lives, including newspapers,
entertainment magazines, online blogs, and even in aggregate sites that compile reviews from all
sorts of different sources. For example, reviews of the recent Disney movie Zootopia have been
published in locations such as the Los Angeles Times newspaper, Variety magazine, and the
National Public Radio website. Movie reviews like these can be defined as a genre because they
tend to have some of the same conventions within them, which are used to help the writer of the
review reach his/her audience and to help the readers easily understand the purpose of the
review, thus supporting the idea that genres are tools to help people to get things done (Dirk).
Movie reviews are often used for the purpose of demonstrating the writers opinion of the film in
a persuasive tonesupported by production details, a plot summary, and other interesting facts
about the moviein order to provide trustworthy feedback that can assist their readers in
deciding whether or not to actually see the film.
A typical convention of movie reviews is for the author to include information about the
production of the filmincluding the year it was released, the cast, the director, the rating issued

by the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), the running time of the movie, and the
film genre. For example, in the review published in Variety magazine for the film Zootopia, the
author dedicates an entire section at the bottom of the article for all of this information. On the
other hand, in the National Public Radio review of the same film, most of these details are
spread throughout the body of the article. The Los Angeles Times review of Zootopia is more of a
middle ground with the author scattering most of these facts within the article, leaving only the
MPAA rating and running time for the end. No matter where these details are found in each
individual review, they all serve the same purpose. By providing these facts, the authors are able
to inform their readers about the generalities of the film, allowing them to make surface-level
decisions about whether a certain actor or rating will be a factor in their choice to see the movie
or to steer clear from it.
In addition to including these short facts about the film, movie reviews also include a
brief summary of the general plot in order to get the audience acquainted with the basics before
the author jumps into his/her personal opinions about certain aspects of the movie. For example,
the Los Angeles Times review begins its summary by stating the movies endearing heroine is
Judy Hopps (deftly voiced by Ginnifer Goodwin), an energized bunny with 275 siblings and a
lifelong dream to become a cop, an ambition she fulfills when she leaves her devoted parents.
The National Public Radio article summarizes the film in a similar manner, stating that the
movie tells a clear and engaging narrative about Hopps (Ginnifer Goodwin), an idealistic but
naive newcomer to [Zootopia] who fulfills her lifelong dream to become the first bunny officer
on the police force. In both instances, the review is able to provide the audience with an idea of

who the main character is and what her story in the movie is going to be about, allowing the
readers to decide whether they think it will be an appealing tale for them to watch.
It is also important for the author of a film review to discuss their own opinions of the
movie, as this tends to be the main reason people read the reviews in the first place. In the Los
Angeles Times article, the author states that bursting with a rich blend of timely themes, superb
voice work, wonderful visuals and laugh-out-loud wit, Walt Disney Animation Studios
Zootopia is quite simply a great time at the movies. The National Public Radio review also
states that the film has the cuteness and childlike creativity you expect from Disney, while the
story has some real bite for the adults. Both of these examples are meant to tell the audience
why the author recommends the film and make use of numerous adjectives in order to paint a
picture for the readers to persuade them to see Zootopia. The author of the Variety article, on the
other hand, uses his opinions to show his audience why he thinks seeing the movie is not really
worth it. He states that the filmmakers struggle to make their introduction anywhere near as
impressive [as that of other Disney films], despite leaning heavily on an unremarkable I want
song called Try Everything. Unlike the first two reviewers, he is much more critical, as he is
trying to prove to his readers why they should avoid seeing Zootopia. These opinions provided
by the authors are often an important factor in a readers decision of whether or not to see the
film, and thus tend to give the review a more persuasive tone.
The type of source that prints or publishes the film review often affects the style and tone
of the article. The Los Angeles Times and National Public Radio movie reviews are both meant
to reach audiences of average people and try to encourage them to take their children to see
Zootopia, which the reviewers both believe is a good movie. They use words such as

imaginative, well-plotted, clever, dazzling, and delightfully vivid in order to get their
point across to the audience. The article in Variety magazine is much more critical and nit-picky
about the film because it is meant to be read by people working in the entertainment industry.
These people will naturally notice things about the movie that they can criticize, as they care
more about the cinematic qualities of the film than the entertainment value for the average
movie-goer. Thus, the author uses phrases such as its a bit misleading and its an awkward
way to so as to emphasize what elements of the movie he thinks are not very well done.
Therefore, the publication location and intended audience of a movie review often work hand-inhand to help the author determine a tone and attitude towards the film that are appropriate for the
context in which the review is written, thus helping to build the writers ethoswhich refers to
the credibility of the rhetor (Carroll).
In order to get the audience more interested in the specifics of the movie and to give them
an idea of what they would experience if they saw it, the introduction of a film review often
includes some sort of reference or even a quote from the movie itself. For example, the National
Public Radio review finishes its first paragraph with a quote: [Zootopia], as our intrepid bunny
hero Officer Judy Hopps constantly asserts, is a place where anyone can be anything. This is a
line frequently stated and referred to in the movie, and this author chose to use it in his review to
give the audience a certain familiarity with the film before they even see it. Rather than quoting
the film itself to get the readers attention, the author of Variety chooses to make a reference to a
well-known fact about Disneythe company that released the film. He begins his review with
from the company that brought you the utopian simplicity of Its a Small World comes a place
where mammalsare encouraged to be whatever they want. By writing this, the author is able

to use pathosemploying an anecdote or narrative, an image such as a photograph, or even

humorto appeal to the audiences emotional side (Carroll)in order to provide the audience
with a point of reference for the company that created the movie and to even lead them to assume
what kinds of things they might expect from the film based on what they already know about the
Disney company.
A common formatting convention of film reviews is to include images of the movie
within the article, thus causing the readers to make use of visual literacythe ability to read the
different elements of a visual text (Losh and Alexander). All three reviews of Zootopia employ
stills of different scenes from the film and include captions for each of them in order to let the
audience know what is happening in each picture. Movie reviews published online can even
include additional visual aids, including video clips and links to other articles. The Los Angeles
Times review online includes the official trailer of the film, thus supplying the audience with
even more details about Zootopia through a more visual medium. The National Public Radio
and Variety reviews both have links to other articles about the film or about the people involved
with the movie, including the cast and writers. This is able to give the readers more context and
details about the film in case they feel they need even more information than the review can
provide before they make the decision of whether or not they are going to watch the movie.
All genres have different conventions that can serve a multitude of different purposes,
and within each genre there can be even more conventions based on specific sub-genres. The
genre of movie reviews has a variety of different conventions that are all able to work together to
achieve the main purpose of the article: to assist the reader in deciding whether or not to see the
movie being reviewed. Film reviews are usually written with a persuasive argument in mind

because the author tries to convince the reader that the movie he/she is discussing is either good
or bad, and the author often makes his/her recommendation based on the specific audience they
think will read it. Therefore, it is important to learn about the elements of different genresthe
conventions, the intended audience, and other rhetorical featuresin order to be able to write in
them effectively and be able to successfully accomplish the purpose of that specific genre
through writing.

Works Cited
Carroll, Laura Bolin. "Backpacks vs. Briefcases: Steps Toward Rhetorical Analysis." Writing
Spaces: Readings on Writing. Ed. Charles Lowe and Pavel Zemliansky. 2010. Print.
Debruge, Peter. "Film Review: Zootopia." Variety 12 Feb. 2016. Web.
Dirk, Kerry. "Navigating Genres." Writing Spaces: Readings on Writing. Ed. Charles Lowe and
Pavel Zemliansky. Vol. 1. 2010. Print.
Goldstein, Gary. "'Zootopia' Is Quite Simply a Beastly Good Time at the Movies." Los Angeles
Times 3 Mar. 2016. Web.
Lapin, Andrew. "'Zootopia': A Nimble Tale Of Animal Instincts And Smart Bunnies." NPR.
National Public Radio, 4 Mar. 2016. Web.
Losh, Elizabeth, and Jonathan Alexander. "Spaces for Writing." Understanding Rhetoric: A
Graphic Guide to Writing. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2014. Print.