a review by Liam Merrick
Creator: Red Letter Media
Released: Online Now
Now, I’m not going to rock any boats by saying that the three newest Star Wars films aren’t as good as the originals. Many will argue that this is an understatement. But just how bad is the ‘second’ trilogy? Well, one man, Mr. Plinkett has gone ahead and made some video reviews for us. These aren’t your normal David & Margaret reviews (nothing against At the Movies, it’s great) but nor are they youtube fanboy rants. These are detailed analyses of all three films, including footage from the films that breaks down the films, element by element and explains why they aren’t very good. In fact, they are often compared to the originals, which was interesting and highlighted the very different style of film. These reviews will test many people, mainly due to the length. The Phantom Menace review is 70 minutes and that’s the shortest! The Revenge of the Sith review clocks in at over a whopping 100 minutes (more than many feature films).
So I bet that many of you are maybe thinking ‘I don’t really care enough to spend that much time watching someone rip apart the new Star Wars films’. Well, fair enough. But I think that you are missing out. While anyone interested in Star Wars, Sci Fi, film making or storytelling in general will get a lot out of it (and maybe learn a few things), there’s one thing I’ve left out about the reviews. They are damn funny. If this was just some nerd talking in a monotone for over an hour, I’d hardly be writing this. I was watching one of the reviews later in the night, and my laughter managed to wake up the rest of the household. As I said, pretty funny.
In the first two reviews (Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones), Mr. Plinkett intercuts his review with a bit of a side narrative. It’s kind of a horror movie that gives us some of his ‘backstory’. It seems that Mr. Plinkett is something of a psychopath who kidnaps people and than rants about the poor quality of the new Star Wars to them. The story is told via tape ‘glitches’ where we see what he is taping over. While I did find this part of the video humorous (to an extent), it also broke up the review, giving the viewer a break from Star Wars. A number of people that I have spoken to, have told me that they find these sections rather disturbing (and I can see where they are coming from). Luckily, in the Revenge of the Sith review, these side stories are gone (and the review doesn’t suffer for it).
If Star Wars isn’t your thing, Mr. Plinkett has also reviewed a number of Star Trek films, Avatar and many more to come. For an entertaining, informative and most of all funny look at Sci Fi movies, check out the Mr. Plinkett reviews. I mean, in the Revenge of the Sith review, he compares the film to Citizen Kane. I for one think that this alone should be enough for you to have a look. Oh, and enjoy your pizza rolls.
http://redlettermedia.com/plinkett/
This article was previously published in Dark Matter issue 3, April 2011, and predated on this website to reflect the original publication date.
