Film Review Analysis - Shutter Island

The review I have chosen to analyse is ‘Shutter Island’ taken from ‘Empire’ magazine. The film follows the conventional layout of the magazine in term of its large stills taken from the film, colloquial language, witty photograph captions and colour scheme. Reviews from ‘Empire’ also have the basic factual details separated on the left hand side of the review and include a ‘Look Closer’ box that is inserted with the stills.
A still featuring the two main characters dominates the review: as films are a visual experience the magazine would be aware that a large photograph would engage viewer’s attention as they help to immediately shed some light on the film itself. One of the main characters shown is played by Leonardo DiCaprio, as the star of the film his inclusion in the still would be a selling point. Despite this, the article is focused on the director’s role and background so featuring DiCaprio in the picture is a good way of profiling him. The shot is not one that reveals anything of the plot because it is not the aim of the review to reveal plot twists, but merely to summarise it as it does in left hand column. 
The attention is diverted away from DiCaprio in the introductory sentence to the review reading “The World’s Greatest Director takes over the asylum…” the first of many references to Martin Scorsese. The title of the film doesn’t reveal any plot details and so this has the role of subtly introducing it and connecting the director to his project. It also reiterates how it is may be the director’s attributes that the review focuses on as he is in ‘control of the asylum’ and in turn, the film.
The factual information regarding the film is distinguished from the rest of text using coloured fonts for headings in order to provide an unbiased account of the summary and the main points; it is the part of the review which is free of evaluative comments and opinions. This is replicated in the ‘Look Closer’ text inserted into the picture which appeals to the interest of the reader by providing facts that cover all aspects of the film and its making. 
References to other films and their directors are made at the beginning of the review which is assuming prior knowledge from the readers; if they are reading ‘Empire’ regularly film is something they will probably have an interest in. The author of the review is glorifying the director by suggesting that he is unique to the others that are mentioned, as well as identifying that ‘Shutter Island’ is a new venture for him also: “he has made only two movies with supernatural themes…yet there are few film-makers who have expressed the nightmarish so well.” The direct comment from the review that has been chosen to be highlighted in the blue box implying that the author of the review is regarding the director to be the most important and interesting aspect to mention.
After being mentioned under the ‘Cast’ list, DiCaprio and Ruffalo are connected with their characters by being weaved into the further in-depth plot summary of the review: “through the US Marshals played by…” The reviewer comments on a successful working partnership between DiCaprio and Scorsese in order to promote their positive reaction to the film. 
Despite this overall good reaction, most of the praise appears to lie with the director; the reviewer criticises the plot by claiming that there is “depth, but not quite enough” and “you’ll need a pen and paper to work it all out.” These negative comments however are not a reflection of the director who is described into the review as “officially the best filmmaker in the world” nor of DiCaprio’s acting capabilities who is promoted and advertised in the large still. The genre of the film is explicitly stated in the blue box containing the endorsement in order to explain to readers that it is of a differing genre than they may expect from the director, an assumption again of foreknowledge would be required in order to appreciate the statement. The reviewer uses an inter-textual reference, “Agatha Christie-style locked room” to reinforce the genre. 
The target audience inferred by the review is those who have had an interest in the director's previous works due to the number of references towards him and those who are interested in horror films as the genre is explicitly stated in the blue box.
Another convention of 'Empire' is to provide a summary of the reviewers opinion at the end in a 'verdict box' and through giving a star rating. It has allowed the author to summarise their main arguments regarding the film and explain succinctly why they have given the rating they did. It has been written using humorous phrases such as "if a pot is being boiled, at least its an intricately decorated pot on a spectacular fire."