SABAN'S POWER RANGERS Now In Theatres

I've been a POWER RANGERS fan since the very beginning. The last thing I really wanted was a big theatrical "reboot" of the original series, I'd have much rather seen something in the existing canon, preferably tied into SUPER MEGAFORCE, which had so much potential, but failed to deliver. But here we are. Saban and Lionsgate has chosen to reboot the original MIGHTY MORPHIN POWER RANGERS as the first in what they're hoping will be a series of films. Hopefully so, because there's missing backstory and other details that need explaining.

I saw the movie tonight at the local AMC Theatre at 7pm. There was pretty good-sized crowd; Some adults with Power Rangers shirts, and a little kid dressed as the Red Dino Charge Ranger. I wore my newest Power Morphicon shirt.

It's best going into the movie dropping what you already know about all of the characters from the series. They're vaguely similar, but their personalities, backstories, and such are quite different. You will spend a decent amount of time learning about them and their problems. My "review" here will mostly go over what I liked and didn't like as a Power Rangers fan, I'm certainly no film critic. Spoilers ahead.

The movie begins with an ancient battle on Earth, with a dying Zordon (Bryan Cranston, as the original Red Power Ranger) battling Rita Repulsa (Elizabeth Banks). There seems to be an awful lot going on, such as attacking spaceships, but no real explanation is given, so hopefully that will be expanded upon in prospective sequels. The Zeo Crystal is quick to be mentioned, and becomes an important element of the plot, but from the sound of it, it's role, power, and design are much different than that of the series.

The title screen is a simple plain text in the lower right hand corner. Personally, I like flashy title logos. Gone is the Command Center as a building; it's replaced with a spaceship of some type (like the one at the beginning?) buried underground. Alpha 5 has a new, unique design, I would compare it slightly to the Millennian from GODZILLA 2000. Voiced by Bill Hader, he provides some dry humor; Personally I was surprised, as I thought they'd be pushing him as some sort of goofy, idiot comic relief character to get a few laughs from the kids. At one point we get his classic "Aye yai yai" line.

That said, while this IS a film kids can watch, it is rated PG-13, and definitely goes far beyond anything the show has ever done. Numerous references to killing, actual deaths, several uses of "ass" and "shit", and an almost-use of the f-bomb. Sexting and drug use are also alluded to, as well as the (off-screen) unintentional pleasuring of a bull (seriously).

 

Zordon is presented in a way quite different from the series; While he was a "floating head" trapped in a time warp before, here his spirit is part of the wall of the ship, reawakened only when the five new Rangers arrive with the Power Coins. The Coins appear to be some sort of rock, with a circular center piece bearing each ranger's color (the toys show dino emblems, but I don't recall if they were apparently in the movie). They grant them superhuman strength and abilities when not morphed, unlike the series (although some later seasons had Rangers who could access special abilities unmorphed). No actual Morphers are used, though they were made by Bandai into toys (but don't worry, we do get the obligatory "It's morphin' time").

The suits look a bit better in action than the initial images that were released. I think they could have done a better job with making the helmets each look a bit more unique. The only weapon shown is the Red Ranger's sword, no other weapons, even the Blade Blasters, seem to be present.



As a huge fan of Power Rangers villains, I was reasonably disappointed in the villain designs. Rita bears little resemblance to her original counterpart, sporting a largely green-armored design, and with good reason, she's the original Green Ranger (though appears only briefly with the helmet early in the film). Her staff, bearing only the vaguest of similarities to the original, is made of the gold she collects, with the Green Power Coin held within the crescent portion. Rita is portrayed effectively scary, many of her scenes have a good horror vibe to them, and she kills and/or seriously wounds several people. There's one scene that was extremely similar to one from LEPRECHAUN 2 where she does a little gold digging from a homeless guy.

Her quest for gold is to create the giant Goldar, who is said to have the power to retrieve the hidden Zeo Crystal, which in effect would destroy the Earth. In the original series, Goldar gained his name and popularity as the gold-armored, snarky, ape/griffin-like top warrior to Rita and Lord Zedd. Here, he's a giant, faceless, ever-melting humanoid mass of literal gold with no personality whatsoever. He bears the vaguest of similarity to the original, with slight horns on his head, functionless wings, and later on he gains a sword. When Rita first creates Goldar, we get the classic "Make my monster grow!" as he forms. No "headache" comments, interestingly. Rita operates entirely on Earth, no Moon Palace to be seen. Rounding out the villains are the Putties, which are much more beastly and rocky golem-types than the original footsoldiers. They're not as much humanoid anymore, but with extra appendages here and there, and some appear to have items built into them from the surroundings of the rock they're formed from. Half the time they appear are actually as battle simulations on Zordon's ship. Again, something that could have made the Putty battles more interesting are a variety of weapons, which the Rangers did not have.

The Dinozords have a decent overhaul of their designs from the series. They don't look that bad in action, but in my opinion, the Megazord is pretty poor. It hardly resembles the original Dino Megazord at all, very humanoid in bodily design. One key difference is, instead of serving as the chest armor, the Pterodactyl appears as a set of wings, and then can become the Megazord's swords. The Mastodon, which appears to have some spider traits, never gets that aspect explained. For that matter, I don't recall any of the zords, or the Rangers' respective dinosaur spirits, referenced by name as all. And if you enjoy a good mecha combining sequence, you'd be disappointed, as it happens largely off-screen (it's basically used as a surprise moment).

In the film itself, the "Go Go Power Rangers" theme is briefly used when the zords go on the march. The version used is the one from the original movie, interestingly (they also appear to drown out the "Mighty Morphin" part). A new, instrumental version is included as part of the credits. There's also a godawful new cover of Snap!'s song "The Power" at the first of the credits.

The movie ends with Rita being defeated in a fashion where they could either decare her dead, or easily bring her back. Interesting the whole space dumpster aspect is never used, she simply spent millions of years in dormancy under the sea (and conveniently recovered by fishermen at the same time the Rangers find the Coins...).

With all of the redesigns and personality changes, there ARE a couple references for the longtime fans. Jason David Frank and Amy Jo Johnson get cameos at the end of the movie, in the crowd celebrating the Megazord's victory, everyone taking selfies. If one wanted to assume they're a couple, this is good vindication for fans who were pro Tommy x Kimberly, that's at least in some alternate continuity they ended up together. And when Jason's dad is driving around looking for his son, he mentions the locations of Mariner Bay and Reefside. This will go unnoticed to the casual viewer, but these were also names of the cities in POWER RANGERS LIGHTSPEED RESCUE and DINOTHUNDER, respectively.

I went into the movie expecting to be disappointed, but I can't say I was. They took many liberties with the source material, but in a way made it something new entirely. The mid-credits scene gives a set-up for a possible (and intended) sequel, but I won't ruin it (and sadly, it doesn't involve Lord Zedd). I guess we'll just see how well it does, though there have been plenty of sequels to films that were essentially flops.

It will never beat the original, but I think it was fair.

Power Rangers official website

KONG: SKULL ISLAND Now In Theatres

The newest King Kong movie, the second in Legendary Pictures' so-called Monsterverse has finally been released, and I went to see it last night at the 7pm premiere at our local AMC Theatre. I have to say, I was not disappointed, it lived up my expectations, unlike their previous GODZILLA (2014). The movie was a new Kong story, not yet another retelling of the original movie, yet still contained a number of nods to them. There was lots of action, and it was also quite intense, with very good fights; Actually some of the violence was a bit more than I'd anticipated. The monsters, for the most part, had interesting designs. The cast was great as well, with many likeable characters, in particular I enjoyed John C. Reilly's performance (as a fan of his Adult Swim show CHECK IT OUT WITH DR. STEVE BRULE). All the humor in the film was used in the right places.

A surprisingly small amount the audience I was with stuck around for the post-credits scene, which does indeed confirm Rodan, Mothra, and King Ghidorah's existence in the Monsterverse (as well as a reference to Godzilla himself, of course). Speaking of the audience, I'm not sure why you'd bring your toddler to this movie, especially when he can't sit down most of the time. Not that he was much of a bother... the people checking their phones were, though.

I wish I were a better movie reviewer, but all I can say is, definitely go see it. It's a lot of fun. And it definitely makes more more optimistic for the upcoming GODZILLA: KING OF THE MONSTERS and GODZILLA VS. KONG. The latter should be a hell of a fight.