Director: Dean Israelite
Distributor: Belga Home Video
Duration: 119 minutes
Power Rangers (DVD) – Movie Review
The Mighty Morhpin Power Rangers saw the light in 1993, even though the Japanese version of the series had been running for many years before that. Nonetheless, the Western adaptation hit the world by storm, as young and old loved the series, and this opened the market for many toys and collectible items that many fans still hold dearly. Sadly, for the last few years the series has been shoved to the background of the television industry, safe for a few reruns on some children’s channels. When the remake of the series was announced, be it in the form of a movie, many fans held high hopes for this reboot, and we were wondering to see if these high expectations were met. While we can easily imagine many viewers don’t immediately felt the same buzz they did as a child, we still enjoyed this modern iteration of the heroes we’ve come to know and love.
Just like the original Power Rangers series we’re taken to Angel Grove, a small city in America, where life is rather peaceful. Nonetheless, we first get to see Jason Scott (Dacro Montgomery), trying to pull a prank with a school’s mascot, but the police gets informed, he crashes his car, and he decides to take the blame, thus not ratting out his friends. This forces him to give up his football career, which was peaking as scouts were coming to see his school matches, and he is also placed under house arrest. From now on he’ll have to go to school on Saturday as well, if he ever hopes to pass this year. In here he meets Kimberly Hart (Naomi Scott), who knocked out a boy’s tooth, but also Billy (RJ Cyler) a strange young boy, who attracts bullies like flies. Jason immediately defends Billy from such a bully, and thanks to this Billy invites him to do something after school, promising Jason he can bypass the GPS tracker on his electronic monitoring device. After some hard thought Jason takes up Billy on his offer, and they head towards the local quarry, where Billy wants to explore and find ‘special items’. Not only is Kimberly nearby as well, another two peculiar kids wander the premise as well, namely Zack (Ludi Lin) and Trini (Becky G.). After Billy blows something up, they find five colored coins in a glass-like material, but again the cops show up at the scene, forcing them to flee. When they seem to be in the clear, the car gets hit by a train, throwing the car down a mountainside, which normally would have easily killed the five misfits. Nonetheless, all of them awake in their own bed, feeling invigorated and in the possession of super-strength. They decide to go back to the place where it all happened, hoping to find answers.
As expected, the movie will revolve around the Power Rangers, who ultimately have to defend the planet from ‘alien’ invaders. In this scenario, the creators brought back Rita Repulsa (Elizabeth Banks), but they made her a lot more gruesome than in the series. Expect more violence, grittier action and even death in this more adult interpretation of the Power Rangers’ story. Overall the pacing feels quite about right, even with the very long buildup that revolves around the unlikely bunch of heroes becoming the Power Rangers, who still have to learn how to control their newfound powers.
Even with the main cast members being this young, you’ll be treated to a rather Power Rangers-worthy experience, where the cast behaves more like a Hollywood production compared to the original series, which had a significantly lower budget. That being said, the moment the group is able to use their powers, the silly one-liners like we know them from the series start flying around, offering some form of authenticity. Bryan Cranston and Bill Hader offer great supporting roles as Zordon and Alpha 5. Elizabeth Banks does a superb job in playing the deranged Rita, who is clearly a lot more gruesome than the version of the nineties series.
Sadly the DVD editions comes with only a few meager extras, which is a shame, as there could have been a lot more, especially revolving around remaking the series, how the effects were done, why certain choices, be it design or plot, were made and so on. Nonetheless, you’ll have to make do with commentaries from the director and writer, experience a few deleted/alternate scenes, have a giggle with a few outtakes and last but not least, see the original trailer for the movie. All in all, it’s slim pickings, but the movie stands well on its own.
Conclusion
Power Rangers should be watched without comparing with the original series too much, and if you can do that, you’ll certainly enjoy this modern take on the series. With unlikely heroes, a story about friendship, decent visual effects and an overall okay storyline, the movie does a commendable job in bombarding the Power Rangers into this day and age. If you’d rather keep the memories of your childhood intact and are prone to be annoyed when a series diverges a lot from the source material, then you might want to sit this one out. Those seeking a revamped Power Rangers flick, or those who just like to enjoy a good action sci-fi movie will certainly enjoy this one.
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