Analyzing Peter Bradshaw's Article 'The Revenant'

While Peter Bradshaw’s article “The Revenant review—gut-churningly brutal, beautiful storytelling” effectively argues why The Revenant’s immersive qualities and powerful plot are worthy of appreciation, he writes ineffectively within the article’s appropriate genre and his article lacks a convincing rebuttal. Before supporting its claim, this paper will summarize the article. Bradshaw discusses many of the strengths of The Revenant. One of the strengths that Bradshaw presents is the quality and power of the movie’s theme. This is expressed when he describes how The Revenant’s themes of revenge and rage strengthen its plot. Another strong part of the movie that Bradshaw discusses is its immersive effects on its viewers. He does this by explaining
One way that Bradshaw does not write within his genre is through his frequent use of clichés. A writer should be very professional for his or her movie review to be reliable and meaningful. However, Bradshaw uses clichés such as “It’s man versus bear” and “pop-eyed malevolence” in the article (Bradshaw). Consequently, these commonly used phrases cause the reader to question the reliability of his article and believe in his or her own potential to write an article of similar stature. Additionally, these phrases serve to make the article conversational rather than academic. Another way that Bradshaw does not write within the genre of a movie review is through his excessive use of complex words and unnecessary modifiers. When he uses phrases such as “unspools great meandering, bravura travelling show,” he creates a disconnect between the readers and himself (Bradshaw). As the genre of the article is a movie review, it should be professional, but it should not have vastly complex words, since movie reviews are read by an audience of people with various intellectual capabilities. When these complicated words are used, the reader can have a difficult time retaining much from the article. This is because most of a movie review’s audience is reading it for a straightforward analysis of a
His article discusses many of the positive attributes of the film, but it neglects to address, and subsequently counter, weaknesses of the movie that could be presented. One such potential weakness is the acting in the movie. A critic can make the argument that the poor performance of some of the actors by not acting as if they were truly in the intended situation at the time takes away from the vengeful theme of the movie. If Bradshaw counters this potential argument, his review can be much more effective. Another point that Bradshaw does not address is the character development in the movie. Because of this, a moviegoer can criticize how some of the characters do not develop as one would expect, based on the circumstances of their situations throughout the movie. This is an important factor of the movie that can weaken Bradshaw’s review because he lacks a rebuttal that could refute it. If Bradshaw discusses this potential argument, his review can provide more analysis and prevent others from criticizing factors that he does not address. If Bradshaw develops his article to address all factors that play into the quality of a movie, his argument can be much stronger and provide a rebuttal for potential criticisms of his