Films > Film Reviews
Power Rangers
02/04/17
Chances are if you grew up in the nineties as I did you've probably encountered the Power Rangers at some point. Chances are if you grew up in the nineties as I did you might have been as obsessed with the Power Rangers as I was. Chances are being an adult who previously grew up in the nineties as I am you might look to the Power Rangers as an exciting prospect to be remade in the booming superhero market as I didn't. Or at least I did until it looked like it was trying to be Josh Trank's Chronicle or dare I say it his Fantastic Four, a film so toxic that anything that remotely resembles it has me coming out in hives. With such stigma attached, even as presumed as this was I was very hesitant to see Power Rangers; however a fragment of hope lingered and so we find ourselves here.
Power Rangers follows five diverse teenagers through a standard and robust origin story, each ranger comes with their own kinks and issues and while they aren't all explored to the greatest of levels each of the young actors brings a reliable and believable performance into what is a staggeringly unwieldy and uneven film. Not terrible, just inconsistent - at one moment it strikes a serious tone and the other it realises it' a film based upon a kids TV show from 20 plus years ago that was made from reassembled pieces of a Japanese show by the name of Super Sentai. Confusion is ingrained in Power Rangers' DNA, and it shows. This isn't to say Power Rangers is terrible - I enjoyed myself and its a darn sight better than any Transformers movie, but that's like saying you're playing a game of limbo but you're actually just walking through an open doorway.
Dacre Montgomery, Naomi Scott, Rj Cycler, Ludi Lin and Becky G fill out the principal cast as the red, pink, blue, black and yellow rangers and provide a reasonably likeable team that any person can easily get behind - as actors in the early phases of their careers they show promise and will hopefully fledge in the coming sequels of which I'm sure there will be many. Bryan Cranston, Bill Hader and Elizabeth Banks fill out the remaining cast. Cranston is enjoying his pay cheque here as the elder statesman of the cast as Zordon the digitised consciousness of a long deceased ranger, as a departure from the show's initial lore Zordon here is a more complex and interesting character possessing more flaws and an antagonistic streak that allows Cranston to be more than a disembodied head in a tube. Bill Hader's Alpha 5 is a fun realisation of an odd character that wouldn't sit well on screen today, his catchphrase of 'Ay Ay Ay Ay Ay' is deployed in a far less clique manner and sits well as both a nod to the old show and a sigh of exasperation. Elizabeth Banks hams up the action as the films villain Rita Repulsa - a key component of the film's uneven nature, she takes the film from its more grounded stance and pulls it into the more corny and silly tone that the show was originally known for.
Despite an uneven tone Power Rangers is a fun watch - if you like giant robots hitting things then you shan't be disappointed. If you're looking for more than just a robot punch up, however, you will find a semi-interesting teen coming of age story, with the bonding of friendship an integral part with a group of young actors that offer a wide spectrum of individuals representing groups that don't necessarily have a voice in the quite often un-diversified world of Hollywood. For a splash of fun and teen angst why not give Power Rangers a go - you never know you might just like it.