First thing's first. If you have no idea about the origins of Power Rangers and you did not watch nor like the original Mighty morphin series, you probably won't like this film. In fact, I know you won't.
Despite Power Rangers claiming to be a reboot, it essentially does much of what the original series had done. In fact, the film is a recreation of the first episode of Mighty moprhin Power Rangers with a bigger budget and an extended running time. The premise, what happens, even dialogue is pulled from the very first episode. The Power Rangers film is very aware of it's source in some aspects, but seems unaware in others.
The new rangers look and sound the part...mostly. But the problem here is the premise of how they become friends. In the original series, the rangers are already friends when we first meet them. So them becoming rangers together and placing their trust in one another feels natural. It makes sense. In the film, the Power rangers come together by circumstance. This isn't a huge issue, given that circumstance plays into many films. But to build the premise of a film on trust and friendship between strangers who have known each other for 10 minutes feels odd and it feels forced. But mostly, it feels unbelievable and serves no purpose than to propagate a particular twist in regards to how they actually become Power rangers.
If Power rangers has a fault, it's that it doesn't seem sure of what it ultimately wants to be. Of course, there will be sequels where this can be better defined. But off the starting blocks, Power rangers feels shaky. It doesn't know whether it wants to be a teen angst story of rebellion or a slapstick film about fun, and Power rangers falters big time when it focuses on the former. When the film captures the fun spirit of the original TV series and film, it rocks. But when it gets all serious, it just bogs things down.
The same goes for the rangers themselves. Jason's whole 'Sorry I'm such a disappointment and brooding' doesn't compel. Him bitch slapping a bully and acting like a brain-dead mess in front of Kimberley does. Trini playing the recluse isn't compelling. Her opening up and allow herself to be free, is. Billy is the only character who is handled well all round. Because he is the heart of the movie, but he also is the embodiment of everything that made the original Power Rangers series so fun. He himself is having fun. He's enjoying having friends. He's enjoying the fact that he is a superhero. He's enjoying the fact that the experience of being a Power Ranger is opening his eyes to a world he never thought he would be a part of. It's just a shame that same energy and feeling wasn't written into the other characters in some form. It could have been Zack and it also could have been Trini, but both characters seem very under developed in comparison to Jason and Billy.
Part of the issue with the rangers is that their stories unravel in the strangest of ways. They also seem undecided on how big to make some of the Rangers' issues - as their backgrounds and struggles parlay into their paths to becoming Power Rangers.
Jason was once a model student, but ended up incarcerated over a school prank gone wrong. In a split second moment, you see his leg in a brace. Which could mean that he is also living with a disability. But nothing is really made of this. Trini is trying to come to terms with her sexuality, but this is something which could easily be missed. Billy is living with autism, but his autistic tendencies serve nothing than to provide comic relief - making autism seem a bit one sided. Zack barely attends school, because he is working to support his mother who appears to be terminally ill. But instead he comes across as an adrenaline junkie, which is at odds with the fact that he is his mother's support and she's pretty much fucked if he winds up dead because of his tomfoolery. Kimberly is the weakest of all of the characters. Her best moments are with Trini, because she seems to bring Trini out of herself selflessly. But her supposed dark past and why she's a social outcast despite being the physical definition of Miss popularity doesn't really make sense. Something about her sending a photo of a friend or something. She plays out badly, because the film builds up her dark secret to be something big, when in fact, out of all of the rangers, she has the smallest demon to fight. All of the rangers are a great reflection of teenagers today. It's just a shame that the way the rangers came together and the way their lives unfold is so all over the place and disproportionate.
Despite all of the promotional material showing the rangers in their new outfits and on megazords, you don't actually see the Power Rangers in their suits and zords until the final act of the movie. The rangers fight hand to hand in their suits for all of 30 seconds, in a scene which looks as though it was shot from a GoPro which was strapped to the limb of one of the actors - 'cos that shit was moving all over the place. You don't get a good look at the suits in action, which is annoying because they actually look a lot cooler in motion than they do in the still promo shots.
The fighting is also incredibly generic, with no display of true athleticism or martial arts. The original Power rangers series had these characters doing flips and all sorts. The movie had the rangers doing all manner of ridiculous shit that looked like something straight out of a video game. From Kimberley's lightning kick, to Tommy's bicycle kicks and Billy's head stomp. Each ranger had a scene and a defining move. In this film, I can't remember what I saw. I don't think I saw anything, because of the damn camera work being so messy.
The zords themselves are a problem, because it's not clear what the hell they're supposed to be. In the original series and the first Power Rangers movie, the rangers would call out the name of the creature whose power they harness. So even if upon the reveal of the zord you don't think it looks like what it should do, you know what it is because you heard a ranger shout the name of it 5 minutes prior. In the movie, the rangers do not use power morphers. There is also no explicit mention of where their powers are from or what creatures their zords represent. You never get a good look at the zords to even see what they are. You can just about tell that Jason's zord is some kind of T-Rex, but you won't be able to distinguish that the other four rangers are piloting a Mastodon, a Sabre-toothed tiger, a Triceratops and a Pterodactyl. So instead the zords just look like your run-of-the mill mech. They could be any miscellaneous thing from any of the Transformers films. It's a real shame, because the zords were such a key part of the original series and were a major part of the pay off in the original movie when they used their zords for the first time.
It's bizarre that the pay off of the rangers as Power rangers and them in their zords is so badly shot when it's the moment that the whole film was built towards and what all of the marketing collateral focused on.
Main villian Rita Repulsa is handled well in this film. Her look is drastically different from the original, looking like a cross between a RuPaul's drag race contestant serving Green with envy realness and Katy Perry in full appropriation mode. But the spirit of the character is exactly the same. She has the same shrill slapstick vibe that she had in the original series and of course, she has her staff. But Rita is actually dangerous in this film. She breaks into Trini's home and throws that bitch around that a rag doll. The rangers attempt to fight her and she fucks them all up. Rita is powerful and she is dangerous in a way she never really was in the original series. Elizabeth Banks plays her well. She goes way over the top and you can tell she's having fun in the role, given that she often gets such normal girl roles where she's essentially playing herself. Rita is also given a really cool backstory and a history with Zordon which added a nice angle to a character who we thought we already knew.
Power rangers is an enjoyable film. But the enjoyment that you will get out of it will depend on how much you loved the original series and how aware you were of what exactly it was. It's a strange film, because it really only services fans of the series. There isn't enough action in this film to service somebody who would casually see Transformers or The fast and the furious. There isn't enough teen drama for somebody who just like teenage shenanigans. There aren't enough bright colours and action to warrant it a solid pick for kids.
Verdict:
If you were a fan of the original Mighty morphing Power Rangers, you will really enjoy this film, flaws and all. If you were not a fan, then don't bother.
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