Power Rangers (2017)
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 It's anything but Morphin' Time!
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Power Rangers (2017) is a 2017 superhero film based on the popular Power Rangers franchise, it serves as a reboot to the Power Rangers franchise and is the third Power Ranger film to be created.
Originally, the 2017 Power Rangers film was planned to be the first installment of an all new Power Rangers reboot franchise, and also was planned to be a film series with five, six and/or seven more sequels, but due to this film's poor reviews, it was scrapped.
Plot
Five ordinary teens must become something extraordinary when they learn that their small town of Angel Grove - and the world - is on the verge of being obliterated by an alien threat. Chosen by destiny, our heroes quickly discover they are the only ones who can save the planet. But to do so, they will have to overcome their real-life issues and before it's too late, band together as the Power Rangers.
Bad Qualities
- The main problem of this movie is that majority of this movie feels more like a teen angst drama than a Power Rangers movie.
- Poor grasp of the source material.
- In the Power Rangers TV show, Angel Grove was presumably based on Los Angeles. But in this movie, it’s changed to a small town that looks more like the state of Washington than California, since it was shot in Vancouver (Canada).
- The Power Rangers don't have the same personalities from the show, despite not being flanderized nor having bad personalities overall.
- The tone of the movie is very inconsistent. The movie itself cannot decide if it wants to be edgy or a standard action movie.
- The pace of the film is very slow and can be boring at times.
- One of the posters that show-cases the 2017 Power Rangers film looks a bit off, and does not even feel like a Power Rangers poster.
- The film barely has any action, with the ending battle scene being the only battle scene in this 2-hour movie, and it's also feels too short.
- This movie sadly didn't try enough to avoid the common problems an origin story would have, which would be focusing too much on the build up for the rangers while not getting into the main action yet. While the character development in the movie is good and the build up is solid, it didn't balance that enough with the main action. A lot of Marvel films (or even other films outside of them) which are about the origin story of the characters did focus a lot on their origins, but also added balanced those subplots with moments of action and other epic moments in between, which you'd expect in any action movie.
- It would have been great if the movie also equally explored the technology of the Power Rangers suits and even zords more. It'd also be nice if we get to see flashbacks of Zordon's team having fight scenes as well (with those kind of scenes timed well and done correctly in the script).
- The Power Rangers don't morph until near the end of the film (with the exception of Billy in the middle of the film for a brief moment), and the script wasn't even balanced enough for it to be tolerable enough, especially given that even in the climax, the rangers don't get a lot of screen time in their suits.
- False Advertising: The Zords we're advertised in posters, but they barely appear in the film.
- This movie sadly didn't try enough to avoid the common problems an origin story would have, which would be focusing too much on the build up for the rangers while not getting into the main action yet. While the character development in the movie is good and the build up is solid, it didn't balance that enough with the main action. A lot of Marvel films (or even other films outside of them) which are about the origin story of the characters did focus a lot on their origins, but also added balanced those subplots with moments of action and other epic moments in between, which you'd expect in any action movie.
- Plot hole: After Billy helps remove Jason’s ankle monitor, the police never reach out to Jason nor do Jason’s parents question him about it.
- Heavy product placement for Krispy Kreme, to the point where the final battle takes place there.
- The overall film feels more like something out of other Live-Action Media like Iron Man (as in the 2008 Marvel film), nothing feels like Power Rangers until the climax.
- The film has even been compared to Chronicle. Even the screenwriter of Chronicle says this movie looks like it[1] (the same writer wrote an early draft for this film, but it was rejected because the studio wanted a grittier film).
- Overused and generic clichés.
- Even though the movie is darker and edgier than any Power Rangers series, it does have some aspects that are cheesier than intended (and not in a good way either), with some tropes and scenes mirroring films like The Breakfast Club.
- The Power Rangers have overused tropes with no nuances: The Nerd (Billy), the Jock (Jason), the Outcast (Trini), the Princess (Kimberly), and the Rebel (Zack).
- The campfire scene where the Power Rangers reveal bits about themselves is incredibly reminiscent of a stereotypical teen drama, making its attempt at character sympathy come off as not serious.
- Even though the movie is darker and edgier than any Power Rangers series, it does have some aspects that are cheesier than intended (and not in a good way either), with some tropes and scenes mirroring films like The Breakfast Club.
- The ending is pure Sequel-Bait that was never resolved due to the sequels being cancelled. We also never got to see Tommy Oliver, who was teased in the movie too.
- Average direction by Dean Israelite.
- The toy line for this movie mostly isn't great, as a lot of the toys are either basic or cheaply made, especially the toys for the zords that can combine into the Megazord, which were very lazy, having little effort in engineering and minimal fun factor. The only toys that were truly great were the Legacy figures.
- The morpher toy is also merely passable at best, with only a few sounds, and the gimmick doesn't even look dazzling enough nor does the activation feel interesting, including the fact that they don't make the power coins (which do look pretty interesting) glow enough. It also has limited features and sounds.
- The large size Goldar figure is also pretty subpar, because it's just a big lump of plastic with gimmicks that get old fast and that the gimmicks give it little to no articulation.
- Aside from its premise, nothing is interesting about the 2017 Power Rangers film, and with these statements, it does not even feel like a Power Ranger film at all; all audiences can hear about the film are five teenagers that team up to stop an evil witch from taking over the world, and they can correctly guess the plot. And with very little resembles to Power Rangers, the plot itself is nothing special. It is just another Action Super Hero plot only adding Power Ranger elements. You could replace Jason Lee Scott, Zack Taylor, Billy Cranston, Trini Kwan and Kimberly Ann Hart with random teenagers, Alpha 5 and Zordon with another group of allies and even replace Rita with another evil Witch-Type Villain and nothing will change.
Good Qualities
- The idea of making a darker and edgier take on Power Rangers while giving a more realistic depiction of teenage lives isn't bad in itself and the movie does have a good build-up for the 5 main characters becoming rangers, making the character development solid; the overall movie just could have done it better and it could have fully taken advantage of that idea.
- Decent casting choices and performances.
- Dacre Montgomery does a solid job as Jason Scott/The Red Ranger. He's especially good during the emotional moments in the film.
- Bryan Cranston is an awesome casting choice for Zordon and he gives a great performance as well.
- Elizabeth Banks gave Rita Repulsa a very dreadful, horror-like feel which is cool, and she really made her character entertaining.
- The cinematography is good, which does go well with the visual effects.
- Speaking of whom, the opening is actually interesting, which shows Zordon as the original Red Ranger from prehistoric times, and it's sad watching his team die while Rita betrays them.
- The modernized Power Rangers suits and the Zords are cool and really interesting as well. They took elements from the classics suits and gave them a more armored look without going too far. Additonally, the glowing accents on their suits do look pretty cool too.
- Jason's Power Sword is a really unique weapon too. If only the other 4 rangers had weapons like that too.
- Despite not being that long, the final battle is decent and entertaining, with a good amount of fun factor and some generally emotional moments (such as Jason saving his dad and the rangers nearly getting killed by Goldar, only for the Zords to combine into the Megazord automatically).
- Also, the morphing sequence is moderately breathtaking and it looks pretty awesome, including the shot where all the rangers are fully transformed and walking in slow motion.
- Some Power Rangers fans may enjoy it, and they may think this movie could have potentially led to bigger, better sequels to come.
- Great soundtrack, with the theme song from the 1995 movie even being played during the part where the rangers use their zords to go to Angel Grove.
- The visuals are pretty good and dazzling enough. Compared to pretty much any Power Rangers series, this movie does have far better special effects and CGI.
- The ending is decent, where Zordon expresses fondness towards Jason, Billy, Zack, Trini, and Kimberly, proud of them for doing something his team weren't able to do long ago.
- Jason David Frank and Amy Jo Johnson, who played Tommy Oliver and Kimberly Hart in the original TV series, make cameo appearances, which is pretty cool.
- Billy's death as well as everyone's reaction to it is geniunely heart-wrenching and well-acted.
- Although it's not great, it's a slight improvement over the first two Power Rangers movies from the 1990s.
- The movie is notable for being the first big budget superhero film to feature an LGBTQIA+ hero (Trini) and another on the autism spectrum (Billy).
Reception
Power Rangers received mixed reviews from critics. Critics praised the visual effects, cinematography, musical score, and performances (particularly Montgomery and Cyler), but criticism for its uneven tone, product placement, divergences from its source material, lack of action, and especially the lack of ambition. The film currently holds a 51% on Rotten Tomatoes. , with a critic consensus that reads "Power Rangers has neither the campy fun of its TV predecessor nor the blockbuster action of its cinematic superhero competitors, and sadly never quite manages to shift into turbo for some good old-fashioned morphin time."
The film was a box-office bomb, grossing $142 million worldwide against a budget of $105 million.
Trivia
- Power Rangers was intended to launch a film series with multiple sequels, but all plans were canceled due to its commercial failure, leading Saban to sell the franchise rights to Hasbro. Another reboot is in development.
- The Japanese premiere was attended by Yūta Mochizuki, who portrayed Yamato Tribe Prince Geki in the original Kyoryu Sentai Zyuranger, and Takumi Kizu, who starred as Lucky in the concurrent Uchu Sentai Kyuranger. Notably, Kizu attended the premiere in-character as Lucky.
Videos
External Links
Power Rangers at the Internet Movie Database
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie on Rotten Tomatoes
References
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