A responsible and principled film critic will follow a few simple rules:<\/p>\n
1. ABOVE ALL, he will not include plot spoilers in his review that will detract from the moviegoer\u2019s ability to enjoy surprises during the movie.<\/p>\n
2. He will not rush to be the first with a review of the film\u2026 he will respect the movie studio\u2019s wishes that the review be held until opening day. Why? Because the studios do not have to give critics a screening of their movie, and, in fact, they\u2019re doing so less and less. It is a privilege to be allowed to see a film early, and thus critics should play by industry rules. Most Christian film review sites respect this. But others betray a lack of professionalism by publishing full reviews weeks in advance.<\/p>\n
With Superman Returns<\/em>, several prominent Christian film critics have already published reviews\u2026 and worse, they\u2019ve given away one of the film\u2019s biggest surprises.<\/p>\n Do you want somebody to spoil the surprises? Hollywood Jesus\u2019 editors should know better than to publish reviews\u2026 especially spoiler-filled reviews\u2026 early. They published a \u201cpreview\u201d by Leo Partible last week that was, let\u2019s face it, a review of the film.<\/p>\n Relevant <\/em>Magazine has also posted their review early.<\/p>\n Also guilty: (Would you have been as startled by The Empire Strikes Back <\/em>if you had read an early review that said something like, \u201cHmmm. What if Vader is really Luke\u2019s father?\u201d)<\/p>\n Now, if the film is out for a time and the surprises are common knowledge \u2014 The Sixth Sense <\/em>has been out for many years, so if you don\u2019t know by now, don\u2019t blame others for talking about it \u2014 then it\u2019s open season. But film critics exist in order to help moviegoers enjoy movies more richly, not to compete for an \u201cI\u2019m first! I\u2019m first!\u201d spot, or an \u201cI\u2019ve seen it and you haven\u2019t!\u201d privilege. And if they go and spoil the plot twists, they\u2019re demonstrating a blatant disregard for the moviegoer\u2019s ability to encounter surprise in the theater.<\/p>\n Sure, there are mainstream publications ignoring the rules as well. I\u2019d expect publications that are competing for audiences to show off in this way. But I would hope that Christian journalists would aim for a higher standard of professionalism.<\/p>\n So if you want to enjoy a suprise or two along the way during Superman Returns<\/em>, be careful out there. Some critics are taking away those oh-so-rare moments of \u201cAha!\u201d and \u201cNo way!\u201d<\/p>\n Oh, and to pre-empt the inevitable comment about my previous post: A) that wasn\u2019t a review\u2026 not even close\u2026 and B) it contained no spoilers whatsoever. If anything, it contained my speculation about Kate Bosworth as an actress, but I could have easily written the same Top Ten before seeing the film.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A responsible and principled film critic will follow a few simple rules:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1051,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[996,824,1966],"class_list":["post-18092","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog","tag-criticism","tag-spoilers","tag-superman-returns"],"yoast_head":"\n
\nIf so, hurry to read the review by Craig Detweiler at Hollywood Jesus. He drops a hint so big you\u2019d have to be blind to miss it.<\/p>\n
\nDavid DiCerto and Catholic News Service. Their review went up a while ago, and it too reveals the film\u2019s big surprise.<\/p>\n