Audience and reviews research


The film which I am concentrating on for audience response and reviews is Inception (Nolan, 2010). here I will show the like to dislike ratio and what reviews it received from the websites http://www.imdb.com/ and http://www.rottentomatoes.com/ and 3 established critic reviews. I will also write my own review and discuss how the style would differ for it to suit the two websites and empire magazine. i will also discuss how online reviewing is now so effective.

After reading over the audience reviews on imdb.com it is clear that people enjoyed this film and that it was successful, being that the lowest rating I saw for this film was 8 stars out of ten, some people did pick out faults of the film yet still loved it.
The scoring and reviewing system is slightly different on rottentomatoes.com with an overall score given from the audience and not separate reviews from each user like on imdb.com, however, it does give a better indication overall, with 93% of people who commented on the film liking it and getting an average score of 4 out of 5 stars, clearly this film again was a success among the masses. Before reading the audience reviews I expected them to be based on the stars of the film, and they weren't, the main focus point for the reviews I read were on the director Christopher Nolan, he seemed to be praised a lot throughout the reviews. Also the narrative was main feature in what the audience liked or disliked about the film, some people did not understand the narrative, but those who did really appreciated its complexity and imagination. The Genre of the film was mentioned frequently and viewers believe it to be more than one single genre, and viewed it as a hybrid film. sci-fi, thriller, drama, action, crime were some of the genre's mentioned by audiences, this shows it can fit into any of these categories, and thus is a hybrid genre film.

Compared to the audience reviews i have also read 3 full critic reviews from established news papers and magazines, the daily mirror, the New York times and empire magazine. the daily mail review, although quite brief, did give a positive review and scored 5/5, the author did not give much insight into his main likes and dislikes but did express that he liked the film. The New York times review is very much the opposite to the daily mirror one, its is far more detailed and far more in depth, and also gives a bad review of the film, he criticizes heavily the attempt at trying to create and it being dubbed a 'masterpiece', in this review the author (like he sees the film) becomes very confusing and over complicates the review with fancy words and terminology, however it is clear to realise that this person is not a fan, agreeing that the film is very aesthetically pleasing but the narrative lacks depth, this was very much a more formal review and seemed only willing to pick out the bad points of this film. The final review from the movie mogul magazine Empire, this review as most of the others is a fan of Inception, again this is quite an in depth look into the film, but where as New York times saw it fit to just pick out the bad points, this only picked out the good and appreciated its artistry, the skill and genius of the director and the emotion packed performance of Leonardo Di Caprio. Scoring 5 stars out of 5 the evidence shows this film was a hit.

My Review


People who have not seen this film and are skeptic due to the fact it is about dreaming, and expect there to be some kind of eureka moment at the end where everything becomes apparent that it was all a dream, These people must be dreaming themselves and wake up and see this masterful piece of film making, with artistic and memorizing special effects and mise-en-scene, to exceptional performances from the likes of Leonardo Di Caprio, and a narrative that yes does need concentration but is worth concentrating for. This film comes from Christopher Nolan who was the mastermind behind the hugely successful dark knight and the pulsating thriller memento.
The film is about a skilled thief called Dom Cobb, Who enters peoples sub-conscious whilst dreaming and steals very important secrets, for people who pay to have this information, his latest heist is not to steal an idea or a memory but to implant one, 'inception'. This is explained in the film as the level of someones mind or depth where such an idea can be planted, Dreams within dreams, it is hailed by a few characters throughout the film as 'impossible' but Dom has done it before. Joining Dom is a team of experts in a related field, Arthur(Joseph Gordon-Levitt) as the drug specialists who induces people into these dreams, Ariadne, the architect who builds everything within the dream to try and make the subject believe it is real, Eames(Tom Hardy) who plays a shape changer. All this can get confusing trying to keep up with who plays what role, but it soon becomes clear. A business tycoon is trying to bring down a business empire, by implanting an idea in the mind of the heir to this empire, to splitting the empire into different factions as his father(the owner)is sick, which will be better for this rival as his business can then expand. This seems to be very boring and you think that it is a film based on businessmen, however, it takes an unexpected turn as throughout the film Dom makes the heist dangerous as his judgment is clouded by his dead wife who haunts his sub-conscious, and as they are trapped in the dream world, anything possible, this is where the magicqal and breathtaking special effects take place, for instance when a train randomnly runs through the centre of the city, as it is dom's mind playing tricks on him.
This film sometimes does not need a narrative, the special effects such as a fist fight that takes place whilst floating around a hotel, the jumping back through each dream state to show how time slows down the further u delve into the mind, the chase scenes and high octane action, this film has a lot to offer to different types of film lovers, all in all, it is a thrill ride, you have to get involved to appreciate the film, you cannot just sit back and enjoy, but this is where it is special, you get the full experience of the film and finish the film by talking about it for hours on end. A true 'Masterpiece' from one of the most talented film makers around, I only expect more great things to come from Mr.Nolan.

How i would change my review 
The review i have written is quite informal, and probably suitable for a magazine, For a newspaper I would make it more formal, and add more depth to explaining what the film is about and have a more structured review, pros, cons and my conclusion at the end, for an online review it would be far more brief and informal, mainly just to express that I personally like the film.

How online reviewing has become important
Compared to the more conventional TV, magazine and newspaper reviews written by professional critics, who traditionally just do criticize, the online reviews written by the audience in my opinion are far more valuable as to whether the film was a success, as the audience are the most valuable critics. Personally i would trust online audience reviews over that of a critic, it is far more honest if the masses believe it to be a good film then the numbers don't usually lie. However, in most cases I only trust my own judgment on films, and reviews don't really sway my decision on whether to see a film.