After a month, my motivation to blog is free! It's time to write a movie review!
Greetings Ladies and Gents! It is I, The Shaman of Animation back once again with a new movie review! As the title tells, we're gonna talk about the Power Rangers movie, my history with the franchise, and my thoughts on the movie. Let's not waste anymore time and dive into this sucker.
So, like I'm sure many reading this post have, I watched Power Rangers back when I was a kid in the old Mighty Morphin' Days, although my memories stemmed more from the original big screen Power Rangers movie than the series itself (You know, the one with Ivan Ooze). But throughout most of my childhood, Power Rangers was a constant. I remember watching a lot of the series up to Mystic Force, which afterwords, I fell off on the franchise, partially because I thought they stopped making Power Rangers series after that Operation Overdrive series (only to be surprised when I found out that they were still making PR series with Samurai) and also because I was in middle and high school, and I was in that phase where Power Rangers was kids' stuff in my eyes, and I had cooler, more mature stuff to watch...like anime...and my continued watching of Pro Wrestling, which if you follow me on social media, I still do...
Pro Wrestling is Real, People are fake.
But when I heard the announcement that the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers were getting a big movie reboot to the big screen, I was on board with it. The series itself is a team of usually five in colorful costumes fighting monsters/aliens, the monsters grow to gigantic proportions and the team form a giant super fighting robot to defeat the giant monster and then proceed to learn some lesson that makes them better people; and in 2017 where we have 5 Transformers movies, a giant mecha movie in Pacific Rim, and Superheroes are the hot meal ticket in Hollywood, there really wasn't a better time for a big budget Power Rangers movie.
And then the trailers and footage came out, and those sent me constant mixed signals. On one hand, there seemed to be a lot of stuff I liked, a lot of high energy, a lot of team building, and silly action, on the other hand, it seemed like Every.Generic.Reboot. in the last 5 years! washed out and dim colors, miserable and brooding main characters, characters figuring out their powers through breaking stuff and hurting their bullies by accident (By the way Hollywood Producers and Marketers, if your "Teaser" Trailer is 2 and a half minutes, there's no teasing, It's a damn trailer!!). So, it goes without saying that I had no idea what to expect going in this movie. But I've gone on long enough, let's actually talk about the film itself.
The movie is about five troubled teens (Zack Taylor, Kimberly Hart, Billy Cranston, Trini Kwan, and Jason Scott) from different walks of life, who discover five power coins and an alien spaceship where they meet Alpha 5 and Zordon, a robot and his alien master whose consciousness was put inside his ship. The two inform these teenagers with attitude that they are the Power Rangers and that they only have a set amount of time to train so they can stop Rita Repulsa from grabbing the Zeo Crystal. While nothing mad me mad, there quite a bit of nitpicks that I do have with the movie.
First of all, the Rangers as a whole, don't morph until the climax of the film; and they only fight in the suits for 5 minutes before they're in the Zords. Some of you may be thinking: "Well, it's not like the rangers spent entire episodes in costume," True. But we're also comparing a 25 minute episode where the big climactic battle happened at the 16 to 17 minute mark, to a 2 hour movie where the big climactic battle happens at the hour and a half mark and the entire movie is building up to them morphing. Lost a few points for me there.
And on the topic of the suits, or armor as the movie calls it, while I feel like I'm in the minority of the people that were okay with the Iron Man like look from the first reveal, I have to admit, I wasn't a fan of how the suits were in motion, maybe it's because of the effects on the suits, maybe it's because of how short the fighting outside of the Zords was, but it left not so great of an impression on me.
Another nitpick involves Rita Repulsa. Now don't get me wrong, I very much enjoyed her performance, which I'll get to very soon. but some of the scenes involving Rita to me felt a little jarring, like they belonged in a different movie, especially considering her performance; and finally, if you're a Power Rangers purist, the hardest of a die hard fan, you won't like what they do with Goldar in the movie. What you saw in the trailer is pretty much what you see in the film.
So, with all of my complaints, some of you may be wondering if there was anything that I did like about the movie: Yes. Practically everything else, but more specifically:
These Guys.
Power Rangers isn't about the morphing so much as it's more about the journey to the kids morphing, meaning for an hour and a half, the people you see in the picture above have to carry the movie with their performances; and yeah, they pull it off and then some. The actors for the rangers, who I'm too lazy to look up and write their names down, are great. They bounce off each other perfectly, they have amazing chemistry and most of all, they feel human and you can connect with them. I was worried about the whole brooding and moping issue, and while there definitely is some of that in the movie, I think it strengthened the movie more than something that I initially thought was going to make my experience at it that much more painful. I mean, there was even a scene in the movie that sort of tugged at my heart strings.
Of the five, Jason's the one to have a whole completed arc when it's said and done. Not saying that the other characters, don't change at all from start to finish, but he's definitely the one with the most focus put upon, and the one that goes through the most growth in the movie. Even so, I enjoyed watching his, along with every all the rangers' grow in the movie. My favorite being Billy played by RJ Cyler. I thought I was going to be annoyed by his character (And also the fact that apparently in 2017, smart people/nerds can only be seen as autistic...spoiler alert?), but he ends up being one of the most endearing and likable characters in the entire movie.
Bryan Cranston as Zordon was also great, which in hindsight, the fact that he signed on to the movie should've been the sign that the film itself was going to be good. Zordon in the original series was the all knowing figure that had the right answer to all of the rangers' problems. but in this movie he comes across as doubtful, even desperate, and while in some cases that doesn't work with some characters, it really does in this case. Bill Hader himself also did a fine and dandy job as Alpha...and that's all I have to say on him. What? He was funny, he was kind of quirky, he wasn't annoying, so that's a plus.
And finally, we have Ms. Elizabeth Banks as Rita Repulsa, simply put: I loved her in the role. Banks totally hams it up as Rita Repulsa, which is kind of jarring is some of her scenes early on, about the half way point in the movie is fantastic, and I couldn't ask for anything more, especially considering how ridiculous Rita sounded in the old show, just listen to the old opening to see for yourself; and in spite of her over-the-top acting, she still manages to come across as threatening in some scenes when the movie calls for it. Overall, she gets a whole hearty thumbs up.
Folks, Power Rangers was a movie that I went in hoping for the best but prepared for the worst, and when I walked out of it, I was pretty happy. The best thing I can say about this movie is that it isn't a total cash grab (I say not a total one because it is Haim Saban, who made sure to slap his name at the top of the title screen) but it's a movie with heart in it, and I think anyone that watches this movie will be able to see that. Not only did I enjoy the movie and not regret spending money to go see it, but I would be more than happy to pay to go see the first of apparently 5 sequels the studio wants to make. I want to see more stories with these new rangers, I want to see what Rita does next, I want to see this Universe's take on Tommy as the Green Ranger. If you've got money and the time, go watch Power Rangers, I think you'll have a good time.
And til next time folks, I'm The Shaman of Animation and I'm off to do what this movie tried to promote: Turn on the T.V. and watch some Power Rangers...
...After I watch The Dave Chapelle Netflix Specials.
Take Care...
No comments:
Post a Comment