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| Courtesy of Lionsgate |
Imagine my surprise when I learned some of my millennial colleagues were far more passionate about the new movie. When I dismissively called the show – about a group of teenage superheroes who fight aliens and ride around in tank-like machines that can transform into a giant mega-robot – a rip-off of the old ‘80s cartoon Voltron, I was quickly corrected and lectured about the story’s deep mythology.
Turns out the show (which ran 156 episodes!) had several spinoffs, cinematic adaptations, comic books, video games, etc. A quick glance at the franchise’s gibberish-filled Wikipedia page was enough to boggle the mind and cross the eyes. I still didn’t care, but now I felt like an old man yelling at those dang kids to stay off my lawn. Awesome.
Nevertheless, my daughter recently asked if I could take her and my nephew to see the movie, so I jumped at the chance to earn some cool dad points. I bought our tickets, loaded the kids up with popcorn and slushies, and sat down to see how this updated version compared to the one from nearly 25 years ago. Almost two and a half hours later (seriously, this thing is way too long), my initial shrug summed it up.
The good news is that Power Rangers (good call on shortening the nonsensical title – it’s less clunky) isn’t terrible. Honestly, the charismatic cast makes it far more entertaining than I was expecting. But the creative team doesn’t know what tone to strive for, resulting in a bloated, uneven hybrid of darkness and cheese.
The movie follows in the footsteps of other recent reboots by adopting a grim, edgy sensibility rather than the original show’s unintentional corniness. It’s just as ill-advised as you’d imagine. Director Dean Israelite and his team of six(!) screenwriters blatantly steal from Chronicle and The Breakfast Club to fashion an overlong origin story that doesn’t even show the heroes in costume until the last half hour. Needless to say, my six-year-old companions and I had grown impatient by that point.
After an unintentionally hilarious prologue set in the Cenozoic era, Power Rangers takes its time introducing the teen protagonists. Jason (Dacre Montgomery), Billy (RJ Cyler), Kimberly (Naomi Scott), Zack (Ludi Lin) and Trini (Becky G) are all outcasts in some way. When the five of them coincidentally run into one another at an old rock quarry, they stumble upon powerful coins that give them astonishing powers and lead them to a spaceship buried in the earth for millions of years.
That’s where they meet a solemn hologram named Zordon (Bryan Cranston) and an enthusiastic robot named Alpha 5 (Bill Hader). They explain that the teens have been chosen as the newest incarnation of the Power Rangers, a group tasked with protecting the universe. Now they have only a few days to learn about their powers and train for combat in order to stop the evil Rita Repulsa (Elizabeth Banks), who wants to destroy their city to find a powerful crystal.
The film’s modest budget (for a blockbuster, at least) means that Israelite and his screenwriters spend a ton of time on the teens’ training regimen and how they adjust to life with their new powers. Fortunately, the characters are compelling enough – and portrayed by surprisingly talented actors – that it’s not a miserable slog.
In fact, I would’ve much rather watched a high school-centric comedic drama featuring the same cast. Montgomery is earnest, if a little bland, while Scott and Becky G embody their surprisingly multifaceted characters in compelling fashion. But the breakout star is Cyler, who serves as the emotional center and comic relief.
Say what you will about the movie’s cliched elements (of which there are many), but its main characters are surprisingly progressive. I could be wrong, but I think Power Rangers has given us our first big-screen autistic and LGBT superheroes (in Billy and Trini, respectively). Best of all, it’s not done for shock value or to stir up controversy. It’s just who these kids are and it’s treated matter-of-factly.
While the young actors are solid, the best performances come from the supporting cast. Cranston – an Oscar nominee and multiple Emmy winner – fully commits to the ridiculous story and lends it more gravitas than it deserves. Hader is saddled with all the boring exposition, but he makes it funny and entertaining. Banks is clearly having the time of her life, chewing scenery with abandon.
That’s why I’m so confused at the abrupt tonal shift in the last half hour, when the battle finally commences. The cheesy aesthetic is fun (although I could’ve done without the ridiculously annoying Krispy Kreme product placement) but it doesn’t match the previous 90 minutes. Again, not terrible, but it does make the movie end on a jarring note.
Hopefully, now that all the endless setup out of the way, the inevitable Power Rangers 2 can jump right into the story and give viewers more of what they want: heroes in costume, driving big, dumb tanks and combining them into a giant ninja robot.
Power Rangers is rated PG-13 for sequences of sci-fi violence, action and destruction, language, and for some crude humor.
Grade: C+
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