Review of Power Rangers (2017) by Thequietgamer — 29 Jun 2017

The big-screen superhero craze has brought us a new take on the Power Rangers. One that is modernized to allow today's youth to connect with these characters in ways they just can't with old team. The results are pretty fun and funny, it's not hard to notice how uneven the movie can be at times.

The movie is essentially a story about friendship. I liked how each character comes from a different background and all feel out of place in their own ways. It makes it mean something when they finally come together and find friendship and power in one another. It's actually pretty touching. The further diversification of the team by including a homosexual member and one who is on the spectrum fit in well with these more modern times and are much appreciated, even if the latter is a questionably handled at times. Red Ranger gets most of the spotlight, but I felt the other team members were given adequate attention. I want to see more given to them in the sequel(s) though. Particularly Yellow Ranger, who gets less screen time than the rest of the crew, despite being arguably the most interesting.

The movie's sense of humor is a big treat. The jokes are pretty scattershot and cover a wide range of topics, but they almost always hit their mark. Serving to ease the mood. The movie can get surprisingly serious and maybe even a little dark here and there. These characters are meant to be portrayed as real kids with real problems. The trials and tribulations they go through in their personal lives serve to make the character's deeper, even if Red Ranger's is just "my dad doesn't understand me or my angst." A pretty stereotypical problem for teens in movies. The other characters get more serious problems though. Things like loss of family and hurtful things people have done to friends add more depth to the experience. There's some stuff here that will really hit home with today's youth.

While the characters are pretty excellent, the same can't be said for the plot. For starters, it drags on for too long as the characters try to discover their powers. They spend too long being led around by Zordon, which delays the conflict with boring training montages and ultimately hurts the movie. Rita Repulsa is also never given enough characterization to be anything more than a bland face for the Rangers to punch so that there's actual action in the movie. It's a common complaint nowadays how lame and ultimately nonthreatening superhero movie villains have become. They all tend to follow he same plan and pose no real threat to the heroes or their world. Rita Repulsa is treated no differently in terms to goals and threat levels, but ends up being so much weaker than any villain Marvel, FOX, or DC has put on the big-screen lately. The character just isn't given much of a presence despite a suitable campy performance from Elizabeth Banks.

The action and editing don't fare much better either I'm afraid. The movie has a kind of choppy way of transition scenes. One that makes it clear where excess footage was cut. The big battle in the film falls flat thanks to subpar CGI and an over-reliance on Transformers-esque explosions and giant robots. There's just no flash or excitement to watching the Rangers fight. A big shame given that this the freaking Power Rangers. We should be here to watch them kick butt. Strangely I was more entertained by their personal troubles and budding group friendship.

As a superhero movie it falls flat. Luckily, there's a solid teen-drama going in here with good characters and modern heartbreaks for them to overcome. The movie has a surprising ability to tug on the old heartstrings. I mean who doesn't root for the outcasts at the movies? I really think this movie has the ability to touch some of these kids out here. You might even have some fun seeing them become Power Rangers along the way.