Power Rangers (2017) review

While I was only around for half of the decade, I do consider myself to be a ‘90’s kid’. And with that said, many ‘90’s kids’ will agree that one of the definitive shows of their childhoods was Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. Developed by TV theme song composers Haim Saban and Shuki Levy, the series, which utilized stock footage from Toei’s Super Sentai franchise and repurposed it around an American cast, became a worldwide phenomenon when it debuted in 1993. Nearly 25 years later, the series is still going strong today with new themed iterations debuting every year, and while nowadays some feel that the original series has not aged well because of its cheesy nature, it’s still very much a landmark show of its era. I’ll admit, though, that I wasn’t really a Power Rangers fan growing up, mainly just because the original Mighty Morphin series was already over before I was even a year old. However, because it’s so directly tied to my generation, I was at least interested in seeing the new film reboot of this legendary franchise. And thus, here we are with Power Rangers, the third Power Rangers film released to date after 1995’s Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie and 1997’s Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie. As stated earlier, it serves as a reboot of the original Mighty Morphin series, with a new cast taking on the roles of the original Ranger team. It’s also easily the biggest Power Rangers film to date in terms of its budget and scale. But, of course, this now leads to one big question; will this succeed in appealing to fans of the franchise while also serving as an effective introduction for the uninitiated? Well, for the most part, director Dean Israelite (Project Almanac) does succeed in redefining this franchise for a new generation.  

In the town of Angel Grove, suspended high school quarterback Jason Lee Scott (Dacre Montgomery), autistic nerd Billy Cranston (RJ Cyler), and ousted cheerleader Kimberly Hart (Naomi Scott) begin to bond while being forced to spend time in detention for various incidents that they were involved in at school. One night, the three end up at the local mines where they, along with truant Zack Taylor (Ludi Lin) and new student Trini Kwan (Becky G), come across five mysterious coin-like artifacts trapped within the rocks. After taking them, the five begin to find themselves imbued with new powers, namely superhuman strength. When they return to where they found the coins, they end up in an ancient spaceship buried deep underground. There, they come across Zordon (Bryan Cranston), an ancient being whose consciousness was uploaded into the ship’s matrix by his android assistant Alpha 5 (Bill Hader). Zordon tells them that they have been chosen by the Power Coins that they’ve found to become the Power Rangers, a group of warriors who protect the Earth from those who seek the Zeo Crystal, the source of their power. And, sure enough, one of those threats, former Green Ranger Rita Repulsa (Elizabeth Banks), awakens from her long slumber and plans on rebuilding her monster, Goldar, to find the Zeo Crystal, which Zordon (the former Red Ranger) had buried deep underground millions of years ago when she betrayed their team. With little time to spare before she unleashes her army of monsters upon Angel Grove, the five teens find themselves tasked with trying to band together to become the Rangers and use all their abilities to save their home and their world.  

Overall, this new Power Rangers film does away with many of the campier elements of the original series. Now, for the record, there are still some silly moments here and there (e.g. brace yourself for one ludicrous bit of product placement that literally ends up becoming a major part of the plot) but, overall, the plot is taken more seriously than previous iterations of the franchise. And while this may result in some tonal inconsistencies here and there, like whenever Rita attacks someone in a rather intense manner, the film still manages to capture the feel of the franchise without going completely campy. Plus, with the addition of various nods to the series for eagle-eyed fans to point out, some of which I’m sure I didn’t notice the first time being only a casual fan of the franchise, I think longtime fans will enjoy this new film quite fine. Based on what I’ve seen from the original series, it doesn’t seem like it pulls any major deviations from the source material, aside from new characterizations for the protagonists, that would betray what made the franchise popular in the first place. The big question, though, is how it appeals to newcomers of the franchise. It does so by way of an ‘origin story’. And, yes, I know that this phrase has sort of become a ‘bad word’ amongst filmgoers but here, it is done quite well because it’s about the five teens learning to become the Rangers instead of just being instantly able to do so like in the show. Thus, it ends up sharing a similar aspect with 1997’s Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie in that the teens don’t fully morph into the Rangers until the finale. But in this case, it does work because of their journey beforehand to become the Rangers, instead of just sidelining them in their own film like Turbo did. And once they do get into the suits, the action, which, obviously, is primarily CG-based this time around with an undeniably Transformers vibe to it, is solid.  

As fans of the show know, one of its trademark lines was ‘Teenagers with Attitude’, a phrase uttered by Zordon in the opening credits (though not the show itself) to describe the team. However, in the show, the Rangers were always portrayed as good students and, thus, more like role models and not really ‘teenagers with attitude’. Here, though, they very much emphasize the ‘attitude’ part, showcasing a group of misfits who must come together to become the heroes they’re meant to be. And, like I said before, while the show had them capable of morphing into the Rangers right out the gate, I do like how, in this film, they must work to get to that level. Also, to the filmmakers’ credit, they did pick an excellent group of leads to take on these iconic roles. Granted, some get more attention than others (namely Jason, Kimberly, and Billy, who are the first to be introduced in the film; Zack and Trini don’t come in until they get the Power Coins) but they do have fantastic chemistry with each other. Not bad for a group that’s mostly made up of general newcomers; just goes to show that perhaps Dean Israelite’s greatest strength as a director is working with younger actors/actresses. As for their supporting cast, Bryan Cranston (who notably provided villain voices for the original series and was even the inspiration for the Blue Ranger’s name, Billy Cranston) brings the proper dignified nature to the role of Zordon while Bill Hader provides some enjoyable comic relief in the role of Alpha 5 (“Ai yi yi!”). Finally, there’s Elizabeth Banks as main villain Rita Repulsa; she’s quite over-the-top here, keeping very much in line with the Rita of the original series. It’ll either work for you or it won’t. Personally, it didn’t bother me but maybe that’s because she’s not really in the film that much, as the focus is primarily on the Rangers, which is a good thing.

So, as I stated before, I didn’t grow up with Power Rangers. I did watch some episodes of the show before watching this film (as well as the previous films) and, like I said last time, I probably would’ve loved the show had I watched it as a kid. But, overall, going into this I was a newcomer to the franchise that had gradually become a casual fan once I finally watched some episodes of it. And overall, as a ‘casual fan’ of Power Rangers, I rather enjoyed this new film. I wouldn’t go as far as to say that it’s groundbreaking or anything but as a new iteration of a popular franchise, it manages to appeal to both longtime fans and those like me who come into it generally new to the series. In the case of the former, it does this through solid but respectful homages to the franchise while the latter will find a surprisingly engrossing origin story with solid characters portrayed by an excellent group of leads. Now, with that said, admittedly if you weren’t already big on the series to begin with, you probably won’t get much out of this. Despite the change in tone, it’s still the same generally silly premise of teens fighting aliens in giant robots. But, if you are a fan of the show, it is a nice new addition to the franchise. It’s basically the original Mighty Morphin series but with the budget and scale that it just didn’t have back when it was on. Thus, I think longtime fans will enjoy this just fine; I can tell that just from my own theater experience. When the Power Rangers theme came on, there was applause. Thus, I think it’s safe to say that Power Rangers will be a definite crowd-pleaser for fans young and old.

Rating: 4/5

Power Rangers: Film Retrospective

This weekend sees the release of Power Rangers, the new film reboot of the popular TV franchise of the same name. For many kids of the 90’s, Power Rangers was one of the definitive facets of their childhoods. Developed by TV producer Haim Saban, who was initially known for providing soundtracks for shows like He-Man and Inspector Gadget, the franchise first got started in 1993 with Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. A superhero-esque series in which a group of teenagers becomes a team of warriors known as the ‘Power Rangers’ to fight the evil forces of sorceress Rita Repulsa with the help of giant animal ‘robots’ known as ‘Zords’, the show heavily utilized stock footage from Toei’s Super Sentai franchise, repurposing it around an American cast. Since 1993 (And yes, this franchise has been around for almost 2.5 decades now; feel old, yet?), the show has been on for 24 seasons, with a new themed iteration occurring each year. Examples of these later seasons include Power Rangers Zeo, Power Rangers: Dino Thunder, and Power Rangers: Mystic Force. The series originally aired on Fox Kids, where it became one of the programming block’s most popular shows. But, for most of the 2000’s, the franchise was owned by Disney, who aired it on their owned networks like ABC Family and Toon Disney. Saban would later go on to reclaim ownership rights in 2010, and the series now primarily airs on Nickelodeon. But now, let’s go back to the new Power Rangers film for a moment. This is the third Power Rangers film to date, as the previous two films were released in the late 90’s back in the franchise’s heyday. The first was based on the original series, Mighty Morphin, while the second film is based on the franchise’s third TV iteration, Power Rangers Turbo. And today, we’ll be looking at both these films.

But, before we get into the films, I should probably mention something. You see, I didn’t really grow up with Power Rangers as a kid. For one thing, the original Mighty Morphin series, which still stands as the most iconic iteration of the franchise, concluded in November 1995, before I was even a year old. The most that I ever saw of that version of the show was a single episode that I watched at, of all places, the University of Rhode Island during a Special Olympics trip that I was on with my family (who frequently volunteers for the Special Olympics) all the way back in 2002 or so (I’ll admit that I don’t know the exact year), many years before I ended up going there for college. I do remember seeing commercials for the series on TV (this was back during the Disney run when it aired on Toon Disney’s programming block, Jetix) but I never watched it. I guess you could say that it just wasn’t my thing. So, with that said, if I’m not too familiar with the franchise, why then am I looking at these two films? Well, that’s because I’m genuinely interested in the new Power Rangers film. Sure, I may not have grown up with the original show, but as a 90’s kid (and yes, I do consider myself a 90’s kid even though I was only around for half the decade), it is one of the definitive shows of my generation. Regardless of how the new film turns out, I’m genuinely curious as to how it will serve as a new adaptation of the series, specifically as a reboot of its most popular iteration. So, without further ado, it’s time to activate your Ranger powers and get into your giant Zord robots as today, we’ll be looking at the original two Power Rangers films. But first, I should probably get more acquainted with this franchise.

THOUGHTS ON THE SHOW

To prepare for this post, I watched a few episodes of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers before watching the films. I didn’t watch the entire series because, well, there’s no way that I would’ve been able to get through all 145 episodes (!) of the original series in just a week. So, instead, I just watched some of the first few episodes and then the ones that had the biggest arcs (e.g. ‘Green with Evil’, which introduced Tommy Oliver the Green Ranger (later the White Ranger), and ‘The Power Transfer’, which revealed the new Red, Yellow, and Black Rangers who would go on to appear in the first film; Rocky DeSantos, Aisha Campbell, and Adam Park, respectively). And I was surprised to find that, as someone who didn’t grow up with this show and watched it for the first time as an adult… I kind of enjoyed it. Now, for the record, I do concur with the common points that everyone brings up about this show, namely the fact that it is very, very cheesy; goofy one-liners, strange plot-points, wacky sound effects, you name it, this show probably has it. Obviously, this show is for kids but, with that said, adults may not find much for them here unless they were part of the generation that grew up with it. Not surprisingly, in the show’s early years, it was highly scrutinized by parents for being too violent, even though it’s obviously quite tame by today’s standards. It’s also quite repetitive. Almost every episode plays out the exact same way. There’s a minor issue of the week followed by the appearance of one of Rita’s monsters that the Rangers eventually defeat in their giant Zord robots before concluding with closure for that episode’s subplot. I’m kind of amazed that this show managed to last for over 140 episodes despite almost all of them having similar plot structures.   

Still, I have to admit that the kid in me found this show to be quite enjoyable. The use of Super Sentai footage results in some enjoyably cheesy fight scenes that are reminiscent of old Japanese monster films (e.g. Godzilla), and even though the instances in which the show switches between Japanese footage and American footage are obvious, it’s still an interesting hybrid of ideas. And even though the show is undeniably cheesy and often repetitive (e.g. the same stock footage of the Zords going into battle appears in multiple episodes), there’s kind of a charm to it all. As for the main characters, they often tend to be rather generic with simple character development, which is probably due in part to the repetitive nature of the show and its ‘morals’. However, they are still all-around likable and each of the main leads are fine in their respective roles. Plus, I think we can all agree that Tommy Oliver AKA the Green Ranger… is arguably the best character in the entire show, thanks in part to the epic 5-parter that he debuted in, ‘Green with Evil’. Yes, they did a 5-part story arc, something that you clearly don’t see too often on a TV show. And, ultimately, it’s a prime example of how this show sometimes managed to raise the stakes despite being a light-hearted show for kids. So, in conclusion, while I didn’t grow up with this show, I probably would’ve loved it if I did. Would it have led to me sticking with it throughout its numerous iterations? Eh, probably not but, still, it’s clear to see why the original series was such a big hit with its target demographic.

And now, onto the films…

MIGHTY MORPHIN POWER RANGERS: THE MOVIE (1995)

In between Seasons 2 and 3 of the show, the Power Rangers appeared in their first feature film, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie. However, in this instance, the film does not tie into the series’ canon; it’s its own separate entity. The only real effect that it had on the show was that some episodes of the second season ended up getting filmed in Australia, where the film was being made. Still, this film is exactly what’d you expect from Power Rangers. It’s cheesy and has a minimal plot with little to no character development but it’s also light-hearted with some enjoyably over-the-top fight sequences. As such, the main villain Ivan Ooze (played by Paul Freeman AKA Belloq from Raiders of the Lost Ark) is more of a campy villain than a threatening one. Really, the only ‘evil’ thing that he ever did was screw over X-Men: Apocalypse (click here if you don’t know what I’m referring to). One of the film’s primary advantages, though, is that because it has a bigger budget compared to the show, it does feel more high-quality in terms of its production design. Granted, the same can’t be said for a lot of the visual effects. Unlike the show, which utilized practical effects (namely, the Godzilla technique of rubber-suit fight scenes), the film uses CG… and simply put, this CG has aged quite horribly. Still, at the very least, the bigger budget does allow the film to have a grander scale to it compared to the show. Thus, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie proves to be a harmless affair. Fans of the show will probably like this just fine, as it has just enough Ranger action in it to satisfy them. But for the uninitiated, like the show, you won’t get much out of this.

Rating: 3/5

TURBO: A POWER RANGERS MOVIE (1997)

Two years after the first film, we got the second Power Rangers film; Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie. This time, the film WAS directly tied to the series’ canon. Specifically, it serves as a bridge between Power Rangers Zeo, the second iteration of the franchise, and the third ‘series’, Power Rangers Turbo. However, despite this advantage over the first film, and a return to the practical ‘Zord’ effects… that’s all that this film has, really. It’s a slow-moving film with minimal action. In fact, for a film that’s part of the Power Rangers franchise, there isn’t even a lot of ‘Power Ranger’ action in this film. Aside from a brief few seconds in which Pink Ranger Katherine dons her Zeo outfit (and then almost immediately morphs out of it once she falls into water because apparently, those suits aren’t waterproof), the full team doesn’t morph into their new ‘Turbo’ Ranger suits until around more than half an hour in, and they don’t even fight in them until the final third. Thus, most of the fight scenes in this film (which are quite underwhelming, for the record) see them in their civilian attire. Not even the return of original series stars Amy Jo Johnson and Austin St. John (Kimberly and Jason, respectively) can save this film. Thus, Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie, unfortunately, ends up being a very mediocre affair. It kind of reminds me of the 2008 Star Wars: The Clone Wars animated film that was released in theaters in that it feels more like a made-for-TV film. It just doesn’t have the same ‘filmic’ quality of the first film. And despite what I said before about fans of the show enjoying the first film despite its faults, I can’t say the same for this because of its severe lack of ‘Power Ranger’ action. Maybe this goes to show why, based on what I’ve gathered from the review of the subsequent Turbo season by online comic book reviewer (and Power Rangers fan) Linkara, it seems like Power Rangers Turbo wasn’t very popular amongst fans of the franchise. And this film probably had something to do with it.

Rating: 1/5

And those are my thoughts on the Power Rangers films, as well as my first real reaction to the original Mighty Morphin Power Rangers series. Like I said, I didn’t grow up with this show but looking at it now, I bet I would’ve if I was around when it was on. Obviously, I know that some of you did grow up with it so if you did, be sure to sound off in the comments below with your favorite memories of Power Rangers. You can also expect a review of the new Power Rangers film sometime this weekend. Until then, it’s morphin’ time!