Red Letter Media issues its Force Awakens review, only 10 months after everybody else

Nearly 10 months after the film’s box office record-breaking release, the independent-filmmakers-turned-film-reviewers over at Red Letter Media have finally shared Mr. Plinkett’s review of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, and it’s nearly as long as the movie itself. If you’re thinking there’s no way a review— even one clocking in at an hour and 45 minutes —can tell you something you haven’t already read about the newest Star Wars installment, you’re mostly right. Still, it has its moments.

For those not in the know, Harry S. Plinkett is a movie-reviewing character created by RLM’s Mike Stoklasa. The character is often described as ”psychotic” and simultaneously embodies the best and worst qualities of online film reviewers. He’s able to offer thoughtful insights into the inherent flaws of mass-marketed genre pictures, while still maintaining his image as a hateful pizza-roll eating slob— albeit a self-aware one. Plinkett’s reviews of the Star Wars prequels became wildly popular a few years back, so people have eagerly awaited his take on Force Awakens.

Unfortunately, 10 months is a long time in the world of online media consumption and most of Plinkett’s gripes with the movie are well-trod territory. The first 45 minutes is spent on the Disney buyout and the farfetched “Ring Theory,” all so he can ultimately say Force Awakens is too similar to the A New Hope. He then spends the remainder of the review claiming that diverse representation on film doesn’t matter to kids and people in Star Wars should have sex more, which certainly represents one school of thought.

The criticisms of the producer’s allegiance to the fandom and the Disney-fication of Star Wars are valid, but if Plinkett wants these reviews to have the same bite as the old ones, maybe he should get them out a little sooner. Especially with a whole new Star Wars film waiting around every corner.