Down the Rabbit Hole

So I was trying to think of where I want to start my critiquing, should I start with fantasy? Horror? Maybe a comedy for starts, or possibly an action flick.

But when considering it I realized, what better way to start my reign of critiquing and oppressing my opinion over defenseless films than to first go under the hood, or perhaps a better allusion would be down the rabbit hole, to figure out what I look for and see how I critique these movies.

First is the mad hatter of movies, because it can be funny or serious, witty or wise, cruel or kind, you get the gist, dialogue. I've touched on how important this is in books, and in movies you get very little difference, the biggest being that it's just even MORE important! Dialogue can be many things, but what it should be, no matter what genre of movie, is compelling and entertaining. It should be clear and understandable (unless its purposefully misconstruing, in which case I totally dig it if it's done well) and should always have a purpose. If it fits all these things, then I consider it as passing level dialogue. If not, well go read my post about Left Behind, then you'll see what I think of bad dialogue. Hint, not much.

Alice falls down, Alice meets the Cheshire Cat, Alice goes on an adventure, blah blah blah, Alice gets back home. You guessed it, second is the plot of the movie which shares many characteristics with the plot. In that I mean that it has to be compelling, entertaining, and with a clear and understandable story. Sure it can be twisted and curvy all over the place, but in the end you should be able to say in a quick and clear summary, "Blank wanted Blank, but then blank happened, but in the end Blank finally did Blank." Some movies seem way to confusing to sum up in that format, but really all should be able to, especially classics. Besides that there are a view requirements; one being that in should be chronologically accurate. Not that that effects the enjoyment of the movie much, but it can be quite confusing if done poorly. Also it should challenge the character, movies are ultimately about facing conflict, and if a plot is too easy on the character or really has no sense of difficulty, then whats the point?

The last thing would be characters; Alice, Cheshire, Mad Hatter, all iconic characters, but why? Because they're all well rounded. What I mean is that each has their own unique wants, needs, morals, traits, and skills. You can't quite sum up a good character in a mere sentence, they should be authentic. They should feel real. If they can do this, then you got a chance at being a good movie.

That's usually the stuff I'm most mindful of when critiquing, and you'll probably hear all those things pop up during my posts. Until next time guys, peace.

-Ink