‘Power Rangers’ is the latest film in the trend of making a movie based on childhood nostalgic properties while aiming at a PG-13 audience. Example include Transformers, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, G.I. Joe, and now Power Rangers. For the record, I did not grow up with Power Rangers, so I went into this film with no real expectations. It also did not help that the trailers look pretty mediocre to me. Having seen the film, I will say that the film is better than I expected. However, that is the best thing I can say about the film.
The film is about 5 average teens named Jason, Kimberly, Billy, Trini, and Ludi who are considered outcasts in the small town of Angel Grove. One day when they come together at a gold mine, they obtain powers after discovering 5 Power Coins. As a result, they are each chosen to be the Power Rangers by Zordon (Brian Cranston). At the same time, the evil Rita Repulsa (Elizabeth Banks) has reemerged and is planning to destroy Angel Grove and eventually the world. So now it is up to our heroes to prepare and learn how to fight as a team.
The biggest surprise is that acting and characters in the film are really good. Each of the actors playing the Power Rangers convincingly plays teenagers who struggle with real life issues like autism and sexual orientation. This helps make each of the main character more likable and relatable. Brian Cranston is also fun as Zordon even though he looks like a speaker in Dr. Dre beats commercial.
Each of the 5 main characters had great chemistry together and as a result, you buy their camaraderie. They even individual go through their own character arcs. Each character has their own personality and issues and by the end of the film, each character discovers something about themselves. My favorite scene is when they are at a campfire and telling each other their deepest secrets. For a moment I had a flashback to the Breakfast Club.
However, the film has quite a few issues. One is that the film can be tonally inconsistent. In one scene the movie will be dark and grim, and then in other, it would be silly like the original TV show. We get a scene of a fisherman’s funeral after being murdered by Rita Repulsa and then we get a scene that has a joke about a cow’s genitalia.
Then there is Elizabeth Banks who seems to have a blast playing the over the top and evil Rita Repulsa. In another movie like Flash Gordon, I could see Rita Repulsa as an effective and fun villain. But in this movie, which does a great job at showing the serious and personal drama that each of the main characters faces, it feels really out of place.
Also, those people who want to see the Power Rangers fight might be a bit disappointed since the Power Rangers costumes do not show up until the end of the film. Most of the movie is spent on developing our main characters to fight as a team. While that is not conceptually a bad idea I do believe the film does drag this part of the film bit too long. The film also repeatedly uses the Zack Snyder slow motion effect which gets really tedious and distracting.
Overall I cannot say that ‘Power Rangers’ is a bad film. It does a good job at developing its characters and has some really solid acting. However, it suffers from tonal inconstancies and the story dragging a bit. I also am a bit confused on who this movie is aimed at. It is definitely not aimed kids who are fans of Power Rangers since it is PG-13 and it does not seem to aim at hardcore adult Power Rangers fans since the Power Rangers barely show up. So I would say if you really want to see this, give it a watch. You could do worse.
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