I saw Power Rangers and thought it was almost not bad. I expected to hate all of the characters but I didn't. Given that the movie is 90% character driven that was important. There were almost no scenes of Power Rangers punching things. Other than the training montage there actually isn't any action until the end.
e: spoilers ahead
I actually thought the setup story about Zordon coming to Earth in the time of the dinosaurs and getting betrayed by one of the rangers on his team sounded like a much more interesting story than 5 teen outcasts learning to be friends.
There are a lot of weird things about the movie. They keep telling us that they can't morph without completely explaining why. I didn't feel satisfied when they finally did. Giving Zordon an ulterior motive to train them had a hamfisted conclusion, and the scene where Blue morphed to break up a fight was never explored or explained. You know what would have been a great way to show us that they couldn't work as a team? Have a fight scene where they lose. Then build up to a fight scene that they win. If you're writing a garbage movie with gratuitous Krispy Kreme product placements don't try to reinvent the wheel, just hit those solid ABCs.
When the fucking finally morph the first thing they do is fight underwater. Who decided that was a good idea? I was ready for some rangers to punch some fools but instead they do some synchronized swimming?
And I didn't rate the treatment of Goldar. I really like the original design of Goldar (or his Japanese equivalent). He has that monster face, big shoulders, the wings. He's bulky and imposing. In the new movie he's lanky as fuck and doesn't have a face. And then the megazord is also lanky as fuck. So the ultimate robot battle at the conclusion is 5 seconds of awkward lanky fuckery then they just stab him.
All I really wanted from this movie was a dude in a monster costume fighting a dude in a cardboard box robot suit in a miniature city. Thankfully the Power Rangers series still exists, and is still an awkward combination of dubbed Japanese footage and shitty English speaking actors with boxy robots and fun choreography.
I don't know what I think of this movie. I guess I just wanted them to go in a totally different direction. Right now this movie felt bland, despite doing the characters much better than I expected. I would have loved for them to take a risk and make the movie colourful and fun. I think people could really get behind a camp, slightly self-aware Power Rangers movie with a dude in a boxy robot suit and swoop sound effects when the rangers move their arms. They could have made a really fun movie but still targeted it at people like me who grew up watching the show.
Either way I did enjoy it, and of all the trashy reboots lately I think this movie will be remembered for being fun to make fun of, and for not feeling lazy like certain other films.
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