Cool Videos: The Plinkett Awakens

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

I remember the first time seeing the full-length Plinkett take down of THE PHANTOM MENACE in 2009. While brutal and honest, it also made strides to talk about it as a film, and not pointing out things we'd already seen countless times by that point. They didn't focus on Jar Jar, or Anakin's wooden acting, or anything like that. They instead focused on structure, or the fact that the film had no protagonists, etc. It elevated internet film criticism, and led many other YouTube vloggers to take up the mantle (honestly, for better and for worse). Also creating the persona of crazed lunatic Plinkett (played by Mike Stoklasa) to narrate the review was a hilarious stroke of genius.

Plinkett went on to produce other popular videos, like the take down of the ATTACK OF THE CLONES and REVENGE OF THE SITH (as well as COP DOG). After a long hiatus, however, Plinkett has come back to skewer the newest STAR WARS film, THE FORCE AWAKENS. 

I'm not going to lie, I'm a bit disappointed in this one. While still funny, having Plinkett focus on the prequels once again (coming across as an old man railing against millinials), as well as attacking something called The Ring Theory (is it really that popular?), and a weird digression about diversity, it definitely makes this a lesser entry. 

However, his take down of the corporate structure of Disney and how it manipulated fans is pure gold. Also, his criticisms of THE FORCE AWAKENS (when he gets to them) are solid (if not harsh enough, as I was not a fan of the film outside of the characters Rey, Poe, and Finn). Even his weird diversity trangression had a spark of a good point (that, while an inherently good thing, was still only made for corporate reasons, and also became squeamish about depicting an actual interracial romance – even if he spent way too long on it). 

Either way, I think it's at least worth watching to spark discussion, and if nothing else it's worth to check back on the older reviews, even if some of the humor is a bit dated now.