Power Rangers

Power Rangers

Starring Dacre Montgomery, Naomi Scott, Bryan Cranston, Elizabeth Banks

Directed by Dean Israelite

The Story:
Back during the age of the dinosaurs, the Power Rangers, under the leadership of Red Ranger Zordon (Bryan Cranston), attempts to stop rogue Green Ranger Rita Repulsa (Elizabeth Banks) from stealing the Zeo Crystal and destroying the world.  Rita gains the upper hand on the Rangers, and before he dies Zordon orders Alpha 5 (Bill Hader) to strike the earth with a meteor, sending Rita to the depths of the ocean.

In modern day Angel Grove, life is as ordinary as it seems for five teenagers.  Quarterback Jason Scott (Dacre Montgomery) throws his football career away after a string of vicious pranks that lands him in detention, cheerleader Kimberly Hart (Naomi Scott) finds herself in the center of some severe cyber bullying and also lands in detention, quiet autistic Billy Cranston (RJ Cyler), who is also dealing with his father's death, also finds himself in detention.  Trini Kwan (Becky G) is the loner new girl who harbors her true feelings from everyone, and Zack Taylor (Ludi Lin) barely goes to school at all and spends most of his time at the quarry to get away from the depression of dealing with an ailing mother.

One night the teens all find themselves at the quarry at the same time and find five glowing gems, giving them super abilities.  They find a spaceship underground where Alpha 5 and Zordon - who is now just a head with a conscience encased in the ship's computer - have been waiting for a new team of Rangers to arrive and defeat Rita Repula before she can reawaken and form her golden warrior Goldar and find the Zeo Crystal.  Needless to say, these aren't the heroes Zordon was expecting, but he goes on to train them and to help them find the love for one another - for only then could they morph into their armored bodies and command the ultra-powerful Zords.

The Synopsis:
I was born in 1980, so I grew up with "G.I. Joe" and "Transformers."  "Power Rangers" came out in the 90s, when I was already a teenager and didn't have any desire for such a campy, over-the-top children's program.  So when I heard they were making a movie, I will readily admit I allowed my prejudice to cloud my desire to see the film.

While the movie wasn't nearly as bad as I had figured it would be, it wasn't anything excellent either.  It seemed to draw its strength from three differing aspects - none of which came to completion - and if it had only focused on one, it could've turned out to be an amazing superhero origin story.  As it is, it's still a very entertaining popcorn movie with a surprisingly decent cast of relative newcomers whose chemistry is the glue to the movie, but it never was able to achieve the greatness it could've been.

One aspect the film tried to rely on is the coming-of-age drama.  There's no doubt the movie's writers held "The Breakfast Club" to a high standard and thus it's through this prism we are introduced to the main characters, much like John Hugh's iconic tale:
The Brain: RJ Cyler's Billy, who is the glue that holds the film together.  His singular performance stands out as the best of the bunch, as he deals with having autism and also grieving in his own private way for his father, and also for not being readily accepted by society. 
The Athlete: Dacre Montgomery's (who is a dead ringer for Zac Efron) Jason, who turns out to be the leader of the Rangers and is also the all-American athlete with a bad-boy side, who performs his role dutifully and diligently, especially with his relationship with Kimberly.
The Basket Case: Becky G's Trini, who is forced to conceal her homosexuality from everyone because of fear of how they would react, so she isolates herself from others and values moving from town to town so she never has to get close to anyone.
The Princess: Naomi Scott's Kimberly, who used to be a cheerleader with everything going for her before she passed on some very inappropriate pictures of fellow cheerleaders and found herself ostracized by them - and ostracized by herself.
The Criminal: Ludi Lin's Zack, who skips school, has loose morals and is seen as the ultimate bad boy, but also with a heart of gold as he only lashes out because he's fearful of his mother's imminent death and how he lovingly cares for her.
As a coming-of-age tale, "Power Rangers" does surprisingly well.  The cast has amazing chemistry, none of them are really annoying or evil, and you really have a deep feeling for all of them.  If the film had focused on this dynamic to the end, it would've been a much better picture.

Yet they move on to another aspect, which is holding to its 90s campy vibe.  Elizabeth Banks nails it as Rita Repulsa, but seeing her all decked out after the teenagers go through some serious real-life issues seems almost laughable.  Her search for gold and the importance of Krispy Kreme (you'll understand when you see the film), along with actually playing the old school "Mighty Morphin Power Rangers" song, takes away from the drama the main characters face and almost makes light of it.  Yet even here they don't hold true to the campiness, as there's several downright frightening scenes that wouldn't be appropriate for younger viewers, as well as the random cursing throughout.

The final aspect is what befalls such superhero origin stories, and that's the story itself.  The majority of the film is spent in long introductions and associations, with the classic fighting montages and true-to-form inner struggles of the team before they bond together at the best possible moment to take on the main villain.  Even Rita isn't immune to the stereotype, as she serves as an easy mix between Loki (brandishing a scepter of power, commanding a powerful being of power) and the Enchantress (both in appearance, both being witches and both also having a powerful sidekick), with Zordon serving as the Yoda of the movie, aka the voice of reason (random fun fact: Bryan Cranston actually voiced several of the bad guys in the original "Power Rangers" series, and the character Billy Cranston is named after him).

Ultimately, if the film had set its entire focus on one of those aspects and not try to cram in all three, it would've been better than the sum of its parts, but since it only managed to touch a little on each aspect, it muddied the story and left you feeling like you were missing something.  Still, it's a wild adventure with great effects and a capable lead cast.

The Summary:
While the film had its flaws - mostly in the writing - "Power Rangers" wasn't as bad as I had expected it to be, thanks mostly to some surprisingly talented up-and-coming actors whose chemistry commanded the screen.

The Score: B+