As an aside, although I've not watched the whole thing I thought Plinkett's criticisms were a bit harsh. I don't really mind a "glut" of Star Wars films if they are good quality movies. You can pick and choose after all, and not every SW movie will be a blockbuster. For example, I'm not interested in the Han Solo origins film because I don't feel it's a story that needs to be told, but if Ewan McGregor reprised Obi-Wan to show us a little of what he did between Eps 3 and 4 then I would like to see that. (I don't think he spent almost 20 years on Tatooine essentially doing the square root of FA - at the time Episode 3 ends the extinction of the Jedi isn't a foregone conclusion.)
Yes, Force Awakens didn't try anything new, but that was the whole point, going old school. It was a simple story but it was well written; the film was directed well and the acting was top notch; the visual effects were stunning, as were the action set pieces. Plus it's only the first episode in a new trilogy - it's hard to judge it on its own.
If the next film is just a remake of Empire then perhaps some of Plinkett's criticisms would be better justified, but JJA himself has said Episode 8 will be a very different animal. Rogue One already looks a far superior film to TFA and I think will prove a better indicator of which direction the franchise is going in - not in terms of tone but rather in terms of storytelling.