How is it possible that 119 year old serial killer who doesn't hold back on his criticism manages to have several entries on a page like this? Because he can be surprisingly fair in his criticism, and won't hesitate to criticize other people for misidentifying what went wrong with a given movie.
- His review of Revenge of the Sith shows a humanistic side in his desire for a film that isn't a cold, sterile, cynical money-grab, but rather one that embraces the characters, emotions, and story — like the original trilogy.Plinkett: So, I don't know if there's anything to say about Revenge of the Sith or the other Star Wars prequels. Sure, you can pick them apart on the technical failures, the plot inconsistencies, and the lousy dialogue. But generally speaking, they failed to connect with people, and that was the main problem. It felt like someone came along and sucked all the excitement and emotion out of Star Wars, and then left it in this vacuum of dull, sterile boringness. The original films had a richness to them. They felt more real. There are just so many moments and images that resonate in all our collective memories. There's just too many to list. Moments we remember because we're emotionally invested in what's happening.
- He makes it a point to say that Hayden Christensen is not to blame for how his character turned out and did the best he could with what he was given.Plinkett: He's not a bad actor, kids; leave him alone. Even Sir Laurence Olivier couldn't read these shitty lines!
- He was one of the few critics who liked Shia LaBeouf's turn as Mutt Williams in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, praising him as a natural actor and his character as providing an interesting dimension to the film.
- He made it a point to defend the cast of Ghostbusters (2016) — in the face of the greater Internet putting the blame squarely on their shoulders. He says they're all genuine comedic talents who just had nothing to work with and couldn't have saved the movie no matter what they did. He singled out Leslie Jones as playing her role the closest to the spirit of the original movie, saying she had the most believable reactions to what was going on around her and didn't wear a smirk during the entire film.
- He's pretty uncompromising in his criticism of Ghostbusters director Paul Feig, but he does defend him in two key respects; first, that while he was the wrong fit for the movie it was Sony's fault for choosing him; and second, that Feig was no Prima Donna Director but rather an Extreme Doormat — he loved his cast and crew so much that he wouldn't tell them no to anything. It's surprisingly sweet hearing Plinkett say that he's "probably a really nice guy — too nice, in fact."
- He does the same for Rian Johnson, director of The Last Jedi, taking a couple of moments to acknowledge his genuine passion and excitement for the film, his respect for the cast and crew, and his earnest desire and hard work in giving a fresh new spin on Star Wars. Regardless of the outcome, which Plinkett didn't like at all, Plinkett goes out of his way to give respect to Johnson as an artist just for his drive.
- In spite of his curmudgeonly demeanor, he betrays a deep-seated love and respect for Star Trek (the same as his portrayer Mike Stoklasa). When criticizing Star Trek: Picard for being tonally inconsistent with the rest of the franchise, he does it from a position of knowing what Star Trek is supposed to be. He spends a lot of time in his review rattling off potential episodic plots for the series with a lot of detail, lovingly crafted storyboards depicting them, and a relative dearth of his usual off-color humor, displaying a genuine desire to improve the final product. And he gives a final speech about the optimism of old Star Trek, accompanied by a montage of the captains of all the prior series (except Discovery) being role models and leading their crews. And he admits to the audience that he doesn't want to be a gatekeeper and invites them to watch older Star Trek shows (again, except Discovery) to see what Star Trek was meant to be. It expresses a sincerity that's very uncommon in a series that positively runs on caustic postmodernism and irony, and makes it clear that he genuinely loves the franchise.
