Four Questions? Four Archetypes?

In order to have a basic understanding of how these reviews work, you need to understand two concepts: the four questions and the four archetypes.

The four questions are the questions that every movie must answer effectively:

1. Who’s your main character?
2. What’s your main character trying to accomplish?
3. Who’s trying to stop your main character?
4. What happens if your main character fails?

The answers must be:

1. A sympathetic character, who is…
2. …trying to accomplish a compelling goal while being opposed by…
3. … a powerful and committed opponent, over…
4. life and death stakes.

The four archetypes are the four classic archetypes that every main character moves through in every great movie:

1. ORPHAN in Act One
2. WANDERER in the first half of Act Two
3. WARRIOR in the second half of Act Two
4. MARTYR in Act Three.