REVIEW: It’s a No, No to the Power Rangers Movie
Many moons ago, a young girl could be seen flipping and kicking around her parent’s basement while the newest episode of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers was blaring on the TV. The show featured five “teenagers with attitude”, who worked together to stop Rita Repulsa from destroying their fictional town, Angel Grove by morphing into the Power Rangers. Each show featured a new monster for the teens to fight and a new lesson for the audience to learn. Now, almost 27 years later Lionsgate and Saban have rebooted the series into a movie and instead of saying, “Go, Go Power Rangers”, you’ll leave the theater saying, “No, No Power Rangers”.
Fans of the original series expecting to see a movie that pays homage to its predecessor will be severely disappointed. There are two or three lines in the film that will remind you of the original show, but, sadly, nothing else. The core of the show has been completely revamped to feature an all-new story
How the teens get their powers, how their powers affect their normal bodies and the relationships between the characters is all different. Jason, Billy, Zack, Trini and Kimberly are considered misfits in this movie, each battling their own problems like Zack, who is too busy to go to school because he is taking care of his sick mother, which leads to a lot of teen angst and a semi-boring storyline.
The final 20 minutes of the movie is when the action picks up and the fun begins. The CGI and special effects used in the movie are easily the best parts, as was RJ Cyler’s performance as the Blue Ranger, Billy Cranston. RJ’s portrayal as the pure of heart, super smart Billy was great and his character brought a lot of laughs to the movie. The other four Rangers, Dacre Montgomery, Becky G, Ludi Lin and Naomi Scott, are fine but not memorable.
Elizabeth Banks, Bryan Cranston and Bill Hader’s performances as Rita Repulsa, Zordon and Alpha 5 are forgettable and nothing like the original versions. Each character was recreated for the new story which means some will like the new look and others won’t.
If you go into this movie with no expectations at all or if you have never seen the Power Rangers TV series, you may like the movie. For those hoping to see a movie similar to the TV show, I would wait to see the movie when it airs on TV. However, there is an appearance from two of the original rangers from the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers TV series, so that is a plus.
And note, there is a mid-credit scene that sets the movie up for a sequel, if they decide to go that route.
Grade: C+