POWER RANGERS movie review - Photo credit: imdb, edition by Amber255 via bitLanders
Almost every month a new remake appears in cinemas. Studios play on nostalgia, collecting huge sums. Usually, the classic is remade, which still looks great, but there are rare exceptions. POWER RANGERS are such an exception.
No matter how much you love the series Power Rangers in childhood, it’s hard to call it even good. Puppet heroes and ridiculous dialogues are the backbones of the franchise. There is no share of seriousness or trying to do something of high quality. But we loved this colorful parade, despite the many flaws. And the studio bosses understood this perfectly well, so they cooked up a full-length feature film with a budget of $ 105 million. And, you know, they did it.
Twenty-five years after the launch of the series of the same name, the very first POWER RANGERS return to the screens, but in the format of a full-length film. Now, these are not five adults who pretend to be teenagers and fight with huge toy monsters on toy Zords with plastic pistols.
Even if you have mixed feelings about the new suits and other shortcomings, Power Rangers will leave fans feeling sentimental.
Credit: timeout
New POWER RANGERS use all the wealth of computer technology, visual special effects and shamelessly refer to a variety of superhero stories.
The script was handled by Shuki Levy and Haim Saban, the producers and authors of the original Power Rangers, who got a second chance to review their creation, to take into account past mistakes and demands of the new time.
POWER RANGERS - the first independent adaptation of the story about the top five superheroes and the third full-length screen adaptation of this universe.
POWER RANGERS movie trailer - Video credit: youtube
The Plot
The plot of POWER RANGERS is dedicated to five teenagers who accidentally find alien artifacts and become superheroes.
It all started back in the Cenozoic era. The confrontation between the two strengths. And a few strange, unusual, multi-colored medallions. Good and evil. Battle again. We all know this story. But do we know what happened next?
After 65 million years, in a small gold mine, which should be blown up in a week, in a small town of Angel Grove, five teenagers familiar with each other only a little or not at all, accidentally found those five medallions. That evening they got into a wild car accident, and all died.
But the next morning, as if nothing had happened, they wake up in their beds, completely unaware of how they got home last night. But this is not the most unusual thing: something happened to the guys, and now their strength has increased many times.
So began the history of the new rangers. Teenage Rangers, who this time have to save their town from the powerful witch Rita, thirsting for power and destruction. But first, they will have to believe that they are a team - and can resist that force.
Science fiction film POWER RANGERS - Photo credit: wallpapersite
Robot Alfa 5
It's a legendary robot assistant, who knew Zordon and many Rangers of previous years, and now it is again helping them.
Robot Alfa 5, together with Zordon, is found by the teenagers in an old starship. We could consider Alfa 5 as a human-like robot if not the head. Robot's head reminds flying saucer. Instead of the face, it has a red touch screen that serves as eyes and mouth at the same time. Alfa 5 is 1.2 m tall.
By the character, the robot is a little fussy and nervous. We also get to know him being very kind and even having sentiments.
Once Alpha-5 was given to Zordan as a gift by the king, who created a robot at the distant planet. Alfa 5 helped Zordon to create the forces that opposed evil.
Alpha 5 here is a bit like an alien; unlike the original from the series, the robot can stand up for itself - this is no longer a cute toy robot.
Alfa 5 is embodied by Bill Hader, but he gave only his voice to the robot.
The movie about robots POWER RANGERS - Photo credit: lareviewscom.wordpress
Zordon
Zordon is different in the film compared with the series.
65 mill years ago, Zordon was red Ranger of the team of aliens. Rita Repulsa, the protagonist of the film, was a green ranger. She wanted to get Zeo crystal and also she wanted more power so betrayed rangers. Crystal Zeo could destroy and create new planets. Rita killed all the rangers.
Then Alpha 5, by his order, sent an asteroid to Earth that killed Rita (or rather, should have killed), but at the same time, killed Zordon himself. Fortunately, Alpha managed to load the Zordon consciousness into the computer of their ship.
Then Alpha 5, by his order, sent an asteroid to Earth that killed Rita (or rather, should have killed), but at the same time, killed Zordon himself. Fortunately, Alpha managed to load the Zordon consciousness into the computer of their ship.
Science fiction film POWER RANGERS - Photo credit: twitter
Now, after many years, power rangers found an old starship on the mine. In the ship, there were robot ALFA 5 and Zordon - the first red ranger. His soul has moved into the holographic wall.
Robot and Zordon explained to five teenagers that now they are rangers and their goal is to protect mysterious Zeo crystal from the evil Rita, who once was a green ranger. They warned teenagers that Rita already wanders in the city acquiring the power.
And so, in the film, Zordon serves as some kind of Rangers' mentor. I must mention that scriptwriters added much more emotion to Zordan than in the 1992 work.
Zordon was played by Bryan Cranston. The main star and hope of the film, Brian Cranston, is hiding here behind a thick layer of special effects; he literally plays the talking head on the wall. He gives instructions in the form of a talking wall, computer technology's program. Zordon begs Jason to convince the team to get together and start training. Indeed, the fate of the planet now depends on them.
bitLanders AI-Themed blogging: POWER RANGERS - Photo credit: ivi
Zords
In the Power Rangers franchise, a Zord is a type of mecha that is often piloted by a Power Ranger. Most Zords can combine to form a humanoid robot known as a MegaZords. But there are some Zords that can form a Megazord independently. The Zords used by the team at any time will have a theme, such as dinosaurs, mythical creatures, or animals associated with fighting-styles.
Credit: en.wikipedia
In short, they looked extremely unrealistic - as if animators were saying among themselves “They are only in the last quarter of the film, why should they be drawn normally?”
In fact, we were given toy robots, only of course, from improved and more colorful plastics and more detailed, but still, toy ones - just compare with the same Transformers or Pacific Rim to understand my claim.
And by the way about the Pacific Rim - Megazord is very much like the famous Huntsmen, although it looks much more realistic than the Zords, although we didn’t really show how it was formed from them.
Movie review: POWER RANGERS - Photo credit: movieweb
Other Characters
Jason (Red Ranger) - the disappointment of parents and the entire city. The promising athlete, because of injury, flies off the sport and becomes almost the main hooligan. He will become a red ranger and leader of the group.
Billy (Blue Ranger) is an autistic and a geek who finds so hard to get close to people. Longing for the father all the time, he ironically becomes the blue Ranger. He was also a Negro in the film, in contrast to the series where he was white.
Kimberly (Pink Ranger) - the former glamorous queen. She constantly worries because of erotic photos with her obscene behavior, walking throughout the school, is ready to become a pink Ranger.
Superheroes film POWER RANGERS review - Photo credit: twitter
Zack (Black Ranger) - five minutes to a homeless person who lives in a shack near the mine, along with a sick mother. In the film, they made him Asian, unlike the TV series where he was a Negro.
Trini (Yellow Ranger) is just a crazy rebel and the first LGBT superhero in the history of Hollywood. She constantly moves from school to school, and parents strongly put pressure on her.
Most of the film shows us the suffering and nagging of the characters. Yes, I understand that it is necessary to reveal the characters, but not to the detriment of the battles and the action in general. This is not a drama about unhappy teenagers, after all. Who knows - maybe if the film had more battles and less nagging, the film would earn more money, and there would be hope for a sequel. Information about the possible sequel was supposed to appear in the summer, but since then everything has stalled. Most likely, we have to be content with a comic sequel.
The movie about robots: POWER RANGERS - Photo credit: imdb
Overall Impression
The main problem of the POWER RANGERS is the stereotypes of everything. And it seems that the writers do not even try to make something more out of the standard history. But it would be possible, because the movie, judging by the humor and scenes, is not intended for children who may not catch some kind of plot twist. In addition, there are logical holes.
Unlike the screenwriters, it seems like everyone else is trying, but they also cannot pull out the overall situation. The tape is well taken - the operator takes interesting perspectives, and the nice picture is accompanied by the correct music for this genre (even the classic theme was inserted). The actors are not bad, and they are trying to convey the characters of their heroes, although I am not talking about a brilliant performance.
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All five are losers. Each teenager has some personal problems: someone has ruined his reputation for himself and the entire town. The other is dragging the sick mother on himself. As in standard teen films, the characters talk about their troubles with a two-minute monologue so that the viewer empathizes with them. Surprisingly, the authors manage to properly disclose each of this diverse team.
At the end of the film, when they saved the planet, their costume of five animals of the prehistoric period was combined and turned out to be a huge robot. It was here that they had to act together because only one ranger was responsible for each limb of the robot.
It’s impossible to say that you fall in love with heroes or are related to them, but they are quite alive.
The film smells naivety, but it was shot for teenagers; therefore, it is his target audience who can be completely satisfied with the film.
bitLanders AI-Themed blogging: POWER RANGERS - credit: medium
Who in our time can be surprised by giant robots and armor a la Iron Man? After Transformers and the Pacific Rim, the battle of Zords with a huge monster is like a fuss of plastic toys in a sandbox. The filmmakers have updated the design of costumes, robots, Alpha, and even Zordon himself. But, unfortunately, they forgot to refresh a little the concept of almost 25 years ago.
The key problem of POWER RANGERS is realized only towards the end. Even if you had no chance to watch the original series, there is still nothing to catch in the session - everything is so secondary there. Big robots? They were shown. Super Costumes? Also. Team heroes? Every year three films come out. Scriptwriters did not have enough for one more or less interesting twist.
Zordon in POWER RANGERS - Video credit: youtube
On A Final Note
Who likes the movie POWER RANGERS? Perhaps those who are really hungry for the series, although you should not expect a direct repetition of all the series of all the show. Of course, this is a new story, a new vision of the story, new actors, a new team, but the idea remains the same, the old one.
A film about teamwork in the name of the people - without self-interest - in a touching youth setting; very bright, brilliant, glossy; interesting and, in fact, thoughtful.
It hardly will like fans of serious fiction and those who hate the remakes of old motifs. If you are open to new versions of old stories - watch the new movie. Remember, It was shot not for thirty-five film critics but for viewers a little more young, who for the most part (most likely) will appreciate the film and will worry with all their souls for young heroes.
In the end, I want to say that POWER RANGERS is an unbalanced, yet light, an unobtrusive film that our world does not need, but it is and we have to accept it. Having failed to place the right accents in time, the director made a couple of serious mistakes that reduce the overall impression of the film. However, the presence of pleasant craziness, as if returning to us from the temporary funnel of the 90s, allows you to close your eyes to multiple shortcomings and re-engage in battle with powerful rangers.
POWER RANGERS review - Photo credit: exorcine.wordpress
I recommend this film with some excuses because you can’t call it a must-see film. But if you are not against to pouring a portion of harmless thrash into yourself, then there is no reason to refuse yourself pleasure.
My rating: 6.0/10
Rotten Tomatoes: 49/100
Metacritic: 44/100
Critics average: 65/100
IMDb: 6.0/10
HAVE FUN!
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