Home Opinion Midweek Mouth-off: The right reviewer for the job

Midweek Mouth-off: The right reviewer for the job

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TheMovies.co.za’s recent decision to publish Second Opinion reviews for high profile, potentially divisive movies like Prometheus (Kervyn’s review, Noelle’s review) and Mad Buddies (Gavin’s review, Kervyn’s review) has certainly led to a lot of heated debate and disagreement.

So today’s question is: Should films only be reviewed by reviewers who are in the target audience, or is it open season?

Does every critic have the right to weigh in regardless of their personal preferences? For example, should a Cinema Nouveau regular get to review Big Mommas: Like Father Like Son? And vice versa: should an Adam Sandler fanatic be entitled to write about slow-burn intellectual fare like Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy? Is it a question of “fairness” to the reader – matching critics to the movie so there can be no claims of negative preconceptions affecting review scores – or is it up to the readers themselves to decide who’s opinions they can trust… or take with a grain of salt?

The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Critical Hit as an organisation.

Last Updated: July 4, 2012

18 Comments

  1. Farryl

    July 4, 2012 at 11:03

    Does every critic have the right to weigh in regardless of their personal preferences?
    Yes they do
    Should films only be reviewed by reviewers who are in the target audience, or is it open season?
    Open season

    If i am going to be dragged to watch a drama/chick flick and actually enjoy it, then why does my opinion not matter?
    If my wife is dragged to watch a skiet,skop and donder movie and she actually enjoys it then why does her opinion not matter ?

    Reply

  2. Hugh Lashbrooke

    July 4, 2012 at 11:06

    The most relevant reviews I’ve read are by reviewers who are similar to me when it comes to movie tastes. I don’t care if someone who loves romance movies thought The Lucky One was great – I want to know what someone who lists Independence Day and The Shawshank Redemption in their top movies of all time thinks about it. What would actually be the most helpful on a site like this is if each reviewer’s bio page listed their favourite movies (pretty much like yours does Noelle) – that would help readers judge whether they would generally agree with the reviewer’s opinion or not. So I think open season on who can do reviews is totally fair, but some context for the reviewer’s opinions would help.

    Reply

    • Kervyn Cloete

      July 4, 2012 at 12:07

      That’s actually the best way to do it, in my opinion. However, that does’t mean that you shouldn’t read reviews written by people you don’t agree with, as it’s often good to get a fresh opinion on that matter.

      Reply

      • Hugh Lashbrooke

        July 4, 2012 at 12:10

        Totally – I generally read a couple of different reviews before deciding to see a film. But yeah – I think context for the review would ultimately be the most helpful no matter how many reviews you have for the same film.

        Reply

  3. Gavin Mannion

    July 4, 2012 at 11:19

    Everyone is free to give an opinion but I do feel the movie industry has a bit of an overdose of highbrow reviewers who consistently give bad reviews to things like Transformers, Battleship etc even though those are some of the top movie earners on the planet.

    Which in my opinion is a problem in the industry and why I like the idea of having multiple reviewers in an organisation.

    I didn’t think Kervyn should have reviewed Mad Buddies but I said that publicly and he responded with his valid reasons for wanting to and that’s the awesome benefit of being online and transparent

    Reply

  4. Kervyn Cloete

    July 4, 2012 at 12:02

    I think you all know my opinion on this matter: There shouldn’t be a case of only a certain reviewer, reviewing a certain type of movie. That inherent bias will ensure that you will always (or at least most of the time) just get favourable reviews. You’d never get a fair criticism.

    Reply

    • Gavin Mannion

      July 4, 2012 at 12:07

      But at the same time the opposite applies. If you hate skiet, skop and donner then you are always going to give a slightly more negative review on action films. 

      Reply

      • Kervyn Cloete

        July 4, 2012 at 12:10

        Agreed. Which is why I think potential viewers need to see both sides of the story. If it were up to me, I’d have every single one of us (TheMovies writers) do a separate review for every movie we see, but logistically I know that’s not always possible.

        Reply

    • Wtf101

      July 4, 2012 at 16:01

      I respectfully disagree…  Will I get a fair criticism if some high brow cinema noveau higher up decides to write a review on Expendables 2 then?

      Not on yer life, buster!

      I consider myself to be a Stallone fanboy.  But even I will be honest and call Judge Dredd the biggest piece of crap ever to be filmed.  Okay not really.  that dubious honor belongs to Bloodrayne

      So there is merit in having a fan of a certain genre write reviews for his genre…

      Reply

  5. James Francis

    July 4, 2012 at 12:31

    Reviews will always be subjective. I treat them no different than I do trailers.

    Reply

  6. Wtf101

    July 4, 2012 at 14:25

    Bah.  I have given up on reading reviews before I see a film.  If a movie interests me, I’ll go see it, and only then will I go read a review.

    It is then that I tend to get vocal.

    But should a reviewer not be a person that loves film in general?  Irrespective of genre of movie?  And should he not be able to adapt to the movie he is about to watch/review?

    Reply

    • Gavin Mannion

      July 4, 2012 at 14:33

      That’s not really humanly possible, everyone has preferences and it’s not realistic (IMO) to expect a reviewer to be a fan of all genres of films..

      I for one despise hidden film movies.. I so badly wanted to see Project X but after the disaster that was Chronicle (for me) I couldn’t with any integrity try review something I know will irritate me

      Reply

      • Wtf101

        July 4, 2012 at 15:38

        It does make sense to a degree what you are saying.  But then why have reviewers at all?  And would it not make sense to have certain reviewers review certain genre’s of movies then?

        And why would certain high brow reviewers then even go see something like the Expendables for example and then write a review for that movie?  Obviously they will sink that movie without blinking?

        If personal bias is a factor in determining a movies score, how can I then trust Kervyn’s review of any Twilight movie?  Ja Kervyn, we all know you hate Twilight.  Do not even try and deny it… 🙂

        Reply

        • Gavin Mannion

          July 4, 2012 at 16:07

          Well you have reviewers because they prove themselves, over time, to be consistently fair and knowledgeable and your point about not reading Kervyn’s Twilight review is double sided.

          Reading it will give you an insight into the movie from someone who isn’t a fan so he can turn around and say the story was as crap as to be expected but Bella’s amazing facial expressions and range made the movie worth watching…

          Reply

          • Wtf101

            July 4, 2012 at 16:12

            Ja, and the day that I read that coming from the pen of Kervyn, I will take that as a sign to send the SWAT team, as clearly he has a gun to his head…

          • Kervyn Cloete

            July 4, 2012 at 16:24

            Hey, there was that one short film I posted about in Extras where I said that Kristen Stewart actually gave a decent performance, so never say never! 😉

        • Kervyn Cloete

          July 4, 2012 at 16:10

          That’s just it. You have to find that reviewer who’s tastes mirrors your own (or at least close to it) and put more weight behind his/her opinion. Still listen to the other guys, but just don’t get that worked up when somebody’s opinion differs from yours. Because it’s going to happen.

          And I’ll have you know that I love Twilight. It’s provided me with some of my best comedy material 😀

          Reply

          • Wtf101

            July 4, 2012 at 19:53

             So we may see Kirsten Stewart win best actress Oscar one of these years then, hey Kervyn?

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