Follow TV Tropes

Following

Context Main / Review

Go To

1The process of evaluating a work, such as a film, TV show, book, video game, or other media in a public manner. May include a rating but it is not necessary. Reviews appear in traditional media including newspapers, TV, magazines, and academic journals, and, more recently, in web-based formats such as ReviewBlog and VideoReviewShow.
2
3Reviewers are often called critics, and can come in many forms, from those seeking to evaluate a work for public benefit, to those who deliberately pick up on a bad work and [[AccentuateTheNegative insult it in the funniest way possible]]. Over the years this has made reviewing an important industry, especially with {{New Media}}. Whole companies and sites can depend on whether their works get a good review. This is most visible in the gaming and film industry. If a game or movie gets even a mediocre rating the makers can expect poor sales.
4
5Sometimes caustic, snarky reviews are a bigger source of entertainment than the works being reviewed. This can lead to interesting twists. If a work gets a bad enough rating but the reviews attack it in a dramatic way ("The worst film/game ever made"), it can gain a ton more sales just because people think it's SoBadItsGood. This can go for films, shows, comics, and games. Thus, reviews can be seen much like a forced advertisement that makers have to gamble on. Of course, unscrupulous advertisers have been known to QuoteMine and select just a few words that make it look like the reviewer loved it. ("It was ... very good at all!")
6
7Reviews frequently give works a star rating, usually on a FourPointScale or OnAScaleFromOneToTen. This can result in people giving more weight to the rating than to the written content of the review -- Creator/RogerEbert has notably complained about this -- leading to a situation where 8/10 might be considered a pan. Particularly good or bad works might warrant RankInflation or FMinusMinus. If the reviewer can't figure out how to rate a given work in their system, it BrokeTheRatingScale.
8
9Given that reviews usually describe the work they're reviewing (of course), there's always some potential for {{Spoiler}}s. Considerate reviewers will either find ways around mentioning sensitive plot points, or at least flag them with a Spoiler Warning. [[{{Jerkass}} Inconsiderate reviewers]]... well, SpoilAtYourOwnRisk; in addition to outraging the fans, some people have even been ''sued'' for divulging information that the creators didn't want to be public just yet.
10
11The CausticCritic doesn't hesitate to [[AccentuateTheNegative express their disapproval of a work's flaws]]. Kinder souls may offer ConstructiveCriticism. On the other hand, the CompassionateCritic may accentuate the negative out of the belief that it's tough love.
12
13When done poorly, a review might contain nothing more than Administrivia/ComplainingAboutShowsYouDontLike or SugarWiki/GushingAboutShowsYouLike. These crop up in good reviews too, but they tend to have more nuance and, crucially, reasoned arguments for ''why'' the critic thinks the work in question is good or bad.
14
15Woe to the reviewer who gets caught [[ComplainingAboutShowsYouDontWatch Complaining About Shows They Don't Watch]]; that's considered very bad form, for obvious [[CowboyBeBopAtHisComputer reasons]].
16
17Alert readers may spot ReviewerStockPhrases and ReviewerStandardComparisons, showing that the reviewer was pressed for time or wasn't inspired to go beyond journalistic cliches. Cleverer reviewers may invoke lines from the work to create a ReviewIronicEcho.
18
19Some readers adhere a little too closely to their favorite reviewer's opinions, leading to the belief that ReviewsAreTheGospel. The opposite is HePannedItNowHeSucks. In between the two is CriticalBacklash, where a work panned by reviewers turns out to be not as bad as you expected.
20
21When a reviewer appears in fiction, they often get portrayed as a StrawCritic (an obnoxiously subjective critic), probably because some writers can't resist the chance to say TakeThatCritics. Go to CriticismTropes to see other ways reviewers are depicted InUniverse and what tropes they employ.
22
23Compare and contrast FictionScience, which is when people examine fictional works under the light of RealLife science. Check CriticsAndReviewers for an index of, well, those people who criticize and review.
24
25Not to be confused with ''WesternAnimation/TheCritic'', a [[TheNineties Nineties]] [[WesternAnimation animated series]] about a film critic.
26
27By the way, you can post reviews on Website/ThisVeryWiki; see the details at JustForFun/TVTropesReviews or see a list of them [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/reviews_index.php here]].
28----
29!![[SubGenre Sub-genres]]:
30[[index]]
31* AnalysisChannel
32* ReviewBlog
33* VideoReviewShow
34[[/index]]
35
36
37!!Examples that don't fit the sub-tropes:

Top