The Power Rangers movie is currently out in theaters.
Before I begin, I will let you know that if you are a fan of the Power Rangers, you are going to enjoy this movie. No matter what anyone says, this movie, for better or for worse, is a fitting tribute to the series from which it spawned. Had you missed the boat on the Power Ranger craze, this movie is going to be a much harder sell. The show it came from, Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers, despite being ridiculous at times, has its fans in its lore and stories in the same vein professional wrestling does. If you’re willing to give this movie the benefit of the doubt, then hopefully this review will sway you to the theater to watch it.This movie, to a newcomer, requires a certain level of disbelief in order to enjoy it. Just a quick plot synopsis would reveal that much. Millions of years ago, Rita Repulsa (Elizabeth Banks) betrayed the rest of her Power Ranger team, killing all but Zordon (Bryan Cranston), and was on the cusp of taking control of the Zeo Crystal, which would give her the power to destroy life wherever she so desired. Through a last ditch effort by both Zordon and his servant Alpha 5 (Bill Hader), Rita was stopped and put into a stasis-lock, while the former two hid the Power Coins – the source of the Power Rangers’ titular power – and settled into a similar stasis-lock until such a time that new Rangers would need them. Fast forward to the present day where five teenagers with attitude named Jason, Kimberly, Billy, Zack, and Trini (Dacre Montgomery, Naomi Scott, RJ Cyler, Ludi Lin, and Becky G. respectfully) find the Power Coins and are chosen to be the new Power Rangers. As Rita has also awoken at the same time, the five must learn to trust each other so that they can morph into their armor and use their DinoZords to fight Rita’s monster called Goldar in order to keep it from digging up the Zeo Crystal and destroying the world.
This movie, to a newcomer, requires a certain level of disbelief in order to enjoy it. Just a quick plot synopsis would reveal that much. Millions of years ago, Rita Repulsa (Elizabeth Banks) betrayed the rest of her Power Ranger team, killing all but Zordon (Bryan Cranston), and was on the cusp of taking control of the Zeo Crystal, which would give her the power to destroy life wherever she so desired. Through a last ditch effort by both Zordon and his servant Alpha 5 (Bill Hader), Rita was stopped and put into a stasis-lock, while the former two hid the Power Coins – the source of the Power Rangers’ titular power – and settled into a similar stasis-lock until such a time that new Rangers would need them. Fast forward to the present day where five teenagers with attitude named Jason, Kimberly, Billy, Zack, and Trini (Dacre Montgomery, Naomi Scott, RJ Cyler, Ludi Lin, and Becky G. respectfully) find the Power Coins and are chosen to be the new Power Rangers. As Rita has also awoken at the same time, the five must learn to trust each other so that they can morph into their armor and use their DinoZords to fight Rita’s monster called Goldar in order to keep it from digging up the Zeo Crystal and destroying the world.
If you find yourself a little lost after that, all you have to do is pop in any episode of any Power Rangers series and you’ll find that this movie is just one long episode of the show, in much the same vein that Star Trek: Beyond and Rebuild of Evangelion 1.0 are.
With all that said, being one long episode of the show means that the movie would be able to bring more focus to the world that the movie is trying to build. Since this movie, like most any other reboot these days, is going along a more grounded reality, many of the changes in the film follow suit. Thematically, the series had a penchant for being almost an afterschool special, ending with morals like “Don’t do drugs” and “Be honorable” to more obscure platitudes like “Treat your robot owl well” and “Don’t get baked into a giant pizza”. This movie does this to an extent, but isn’t nearly as cheesy and is done endearingly in some of the best scenes. In other obvious instances, the characters and setting are grounded as well. Instead of being a grandfatherly figure, Zordon is much rougher at the edges. The town of Angel Grove isn’t a metropolis filled with warehouse districts but is a sleepy port town where any type of destruction would be felt in the community. The teenagers, instead of being upstanding members of their communities, actually do have some serious attitudes, and this is where the movie truly shines.
This movie was marketed as The Breakfast Club meets Chronicle, and that’s an apt description of what happens, but it’s that Breakfast Club focus on the characters that help the audience care about the film. Each of the kids has their own personality, problems, and means of expression that helps the audience connect with them on an individual level. The core five actors do very well at keeping their characters feeling like teenagers and will have great futures ahead of them.
Director Dean Israelite was able to put more effort into a movie that quite a few people would have considered a soulless cash-in. This movie could have just gone completely off the rails wacky or been a joyless, dingy, experience. Instead, the movie, for the most part, is able to toe that line from taking the source seriously but not too seriously.
Of course, this is by no means a perfect movie. While everyone else was in step about how serious they were taking the script, Elizabeth Banks just went for being the cheesiest character she could be. Given the source, I can see why she would go this route, but it was honestly jarring to see her be the hammiest character when anyone she’s talking to is putting on the most grounded performance that they can. While she is by far cheesiest character, there are also some by-the-numbers occurrences and cheesy lines that also pop up here and there. Again, given the source, these moments should be taken in stride. There also wasn’t too much action in the movie, either. While this might not be considered a strong negative, as the movie takes the time to flesh out the characters over flashy action, the movie does ask for you to wait until the finale to see the kids suit up and fight. It begs you to come back for the sequel in the hopes that at least there we’ll have more time with the Rangers fighting than brooding.
So there you have it, the Power Rangers movie is an earnest one if a little flawed at the details. If you’re looking for high cinema, this might not be for you. But if you’re willing to invest in five kids conquering evil through the power of friendship, then you’re going to have fun watching this on a big screen and cheering along with the audience.
