A critical essay is your coherent and intelligent analysis of some work of art. Here you will present your opinion on a movie (painting, book) and support it with precise examples, quotations and references from the original. You should overview the strong and the weak points of the work as well as the methods used by the author.
A critical essay preserves the common structure for all other essays (introduction, supporting paragraphs and conclusion). Once you have selected the subject, start collecting pertinent information for the essay. Don’t repeat the common mistake of just reviewing the contents of the work or rewriting it. Your goal is much deeper than that. You are to give a critical analysis of the author’s work, to evaluate his manner of writing (painting, etc).
In the introduction you can overview the main points of the work and express your general opinion on it.
The supporting paragraphs analyze the elements of work in a consistent way. You will concentrate and discuss a specific idea in every new paragraph. Be sure to present sufficient evidence to prove or rebut that idea. A good critical essay is an objective essay. That is why it should be written in the third person. Write in a simple and clear manner; avoid using unnecessary words that will muddle the reader. The aim of the last part of the essay is to sum up the presented arguments and make sure the reader understands and knows them.