March 27, 2017 · Watch the official trailer
Nostalgia is key in the latest reimagining of “Saban’s Power Rangers,” the latest in an ever-growing onslaught of superhero movie franchises.
Based on the original version of the classic 90s Saturday morning television series, this iteration pretty much insists that audiences not think to hard and just accept the outlandishness of it all. “Power Rangers” is for the 10-year-old kid inside all of us.
The film lifts heavily in tone from John Hughes’ 80s coming-of-age classic “The Breakfast Club” in order to set the stage for “Power Rangers.” Five teens from different walks of life – the jock, the cheerleader, the nerd, the outsider and the loner – are brought together by fate, and for some Saturday detention.
Through an overly convoluted set of circumstances, they stumble upon glowing coins of power buried deep within a mine. The coins grant them the abilities of “Power Rangers,” a galactic team charged with protecting the universe from a villainous ex-Ranger named Rita Repulsa (Elizabeth Banks).
Unlike traditional superhero origin stories, “Power Rangers” insists on maintaining prolonged character development scenes in place of early action sequences, cramming all the excitement of the film into the last 20-25 minutes. This works to the movie’s benefit in that the high of the conclusion is pronounced compared to the rest of the film, though a mismanaged script from John Gatins wanders around a bit too much.
The main cast of Dacre Montgomery, Naomi Scott, RJ Cyler, Ludi Lin and Becky G. are all relative unknowns, which gives the new Power Rangers team a vibrant freshness and allows audiences to authentically experience the actors originate the roles without thinking about other television/film work. Of this group, Cyler is perhaps the best known of the group for his turn as Earl in the 2015 indie darling “Me and Earl and the Dying Girl.” His performance as introvert nerd Billy, who later becomes the Blue Ranger, is the strongest of the five and provides much needed levity and humor throughout.
Banks does a tolerable job as villainess Rita Repulsa, though the character is woefully underwritten for her talents and was never a quality opponent for the superhero team in the original TV series. Her performance succeeds simply in providing a means to an end for a film entirely focused on the new Power Rangers and not on their foe.
“Power Rangers” is better than it probably has any right to be, not that any of the credit should go to director Dean Israelite. Choices Israelite makes at every turn within the film feel as if he’s lifting elements straight off the screen from other directors like the aforementioned Hughes and explosion-happy filmmaker Michael Bay.
The fact that “Power Rangers” is even tolerable for its 124 minute running time and set up for five planned follow-up films is a large testament to the lead cast and their commitment to combining a fresh quality to their characters while maintaining a strong sense of childhood nostalgia. When Israelite gets out of his own way long enough, “Power Rangers” has some genuine quality moments like the campfire scene late in the film.
Given a new director and better script, there is considerable potential moving forward for a “Power Rangers” franchise to become worthy of additional sequels along the same vein as the “Transformers” and “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” series of films.
“Saban’s Power Rangers” will likely appeal best to viewers who grew up on the original television series in the mid-90s wanting to take a trip back to their youth for a couple of hours. Other moviegoers might want to consider other options in theaters and wait to catch up on the reboot until its home release.
Continue the conversation online at cinematicconsiderations.com.
Leave a Reply