And the number of my tears shall be ten thousand and one, and ten thousand and one shall be the number of my tears. And my tears shall water the earth wherein lies the mountain of my not caring. And the height of this mountain shall be twelve thousand cubits, and the width thereof shall be four thousand cubits, and the weight thereof shall be immeasurable, for that is the magnitude of my not caring. And the strong men of the earth shall come to the mountain, to try to lift it. And they shall fail. And all men shall see this mountain and shall say, this is the great Mountain of Not-Care, girded by the River of Ten Thousand and One Tears, which Mindfire erected through his sheer boredom and apathy when he tried to cross the plotless waste, vainly searching for some deed to care about.
tl;dr
But as to your other point, yes the character needs to do something. I never said they didn't. Plot is more than a swift beginning, though. It could be an uninspiring plot, a cliche plot, a predictable plot, but if it has a strong character I believe it will be better than the most original plot ever with a character who is boring, annoying or offensive.
The way I see it is like this:
A plot focus is like a Michael Bay film: lots of cool visuals, not much substance.
A character focus is like The King's Speech: compelling, with emotional depth, capable of winning Oscars but not necessarily much to look at.
I really enjoyed the King's Speech. Others did not, and would prefer to watch Transformers: Pink Floyd album title slightly changed with all its explosions and, um. Transformers. I honestly can't remember what actually happened in that movie. Something about the moon (but only because of the title). Explosions. Transformers. Possibly wotsisface, Shia leBeouf. I dunno. King's Speech I do remember. I remember the stuttering, the anger over failures, that awkwardness when Bertie was trying so hard to get the words out in front of huge crowds, the bit where he can't hear his own voice as he speaks, then listens to it being played back to him.
I saw each film once only. I remember the King's Speech with far greater clarity, and had a much stronger emotional reaction to it. The Transformers one did not leave an impression.
I know which I'd have rather directed.