Power Rangers

it's morphin' time!

Go go Power what!? It seems that the latest trend in the movie industry is making a live action movie out of sacred items from the 90's. Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers were huge TV stars between 1993-1996. Every kid around the globe wanted a morpher & a zord and to this very day there's a varied line of toys and gadgets based upon the original Power Rangers. 

25 years later comes the unthinkable: a 21st century re imagined live action movie. Directed by Dean Israelite, written by John Gatins & Matt Sazama, and starred by Dacre Montgomery (Jason), Naomi Scott (Kimberly), RJ Cyler (Billy), Ludi Lin (Zack), Becky G. (Trini), Bryan Cranston (Zordon), and Elizabeth Banks (Rita Repulsa) Power Rangers is the updated version of a beloved 90's nostalgia act that will bring curious old school fans & newcomers (kids of course) together in an interesting mix of new & old. 

Zordon.

Five teenagers with attitude.

Now, how does this Power Rangers movie separate itself from the original Saban series? Considering, the source material was targeted at impressible 90's kids & teens there's a whole world of differences, and I personally thank the film producers for that because we're seeing the same superhero film being redone over and over every year, so thanks Mr. Israelite for your clever direction. However, there's still a fair amount of nods to the past. Obviously, the bigger the audience, the bigger the money, so instead of coming up with something entirely new, Power Rangers feels like the right amount of nostalgia & novelty.

What makes this new approach interesting, is the fact that this time we're shown the process you need to undergo in order to become a Power Ranger. The "fetch me five teenagers with attitude" 90's request remains the same, only this time things don't look so bright for our new set of heroes. The film opens with a superb origin storytelling about how the Power Rangers came to be the universe's only hope. Zordon (played by Bryan Cranston from Malcolm & Breaking Bad) is the original Red Ranger, and in what seems to be a treacherous act, we find out Rita Repulsa (masterfully played by Elizabeth Banks) was the original Green Ranger, thus her mostly green colored armor suit. Before things, go to hell, Zordon orders Alpha 5 to search for the new Power Rangers across the universe. 

Rita Repulsa.

Evil beauty.

In the original series the Power Rangers were 5 perfectly healthy and very succesful students from Angel Grove high school. They didn't need to train for anything, they were already very skilled in martial arts, gimnastics, science & team work. Also, they were good friends from day one. On the other hand, the film presents us a very different selection of troubled teenagers which are somehow more real than the earlier incarnation. Teens suffer, teens struggle, and to become a hero, there's a path of hit and miss that makes you grow, so I like that approach.

The Rangers are majorly based on their versions in Mighty Morphin Power Rangers (1993) (Jason, Kimberly, Billy, Zack, Trini), but also draw inspiration from various characters over the "Power Rangers" saga:

• Red Ranger - Jason Lee Scott is an athlete who suffered a career-ending injury (like the second MMPR Ranger Rocky DeSantos) and has a difficult relationship with his father (like Wesley Collins in Time Force)

• Pink Ranger - Kimberly Hart is a former diva who did something wrong and wants to make up for it (similar to Summer Landsdown in RPM)

• Blue Ranger - Billy Cranston is a geeky black kid ( like Ethan James in Dino Thunder and Noah Carver in Power Rangers Megaforce) he's also autistic, hence the color.

• Black Ranger - Zack Taylor is based on Adam Park

• Yellow Ranger - Trini Kwan is pretty much an original character but her lesbian condition may somewhat have been inspired by David Yost (the original blue ranger in MMPR) who happened to be gay and had trouble during the series production until he called it quits.

Hi, I'm Alpha 5.

Dude, this new drug is rad!

These new rangers add a more meaningful touch to what it means to be a self awared person. Subjects like bullying, autism, LGBT rights and second chances are a constant in their lives and allow the characters to be more relatable, unlike what happened in the original series with the rangers' perfect lives. What the hell! Even Rita Repulsa's vendetta has meaning behind all the predictable one liners. 

Now, Power Rangers the movie, not only updates character development, the Ranger suits have also been upgraded from bulletproof spandex, to crystal armor, and so are Zords updated to look far more Transformer like (that is Michael Bay Transformers) While I originally hated the new suits/zords I think they're OK for the message the film conveys and after watching it, I changed my mind and totally understood the science behind the new suits. 

Fuck you all!

Superhero pose!

Now as for homage nods, dude, there are a lot of easter eggs throughout the film, here's a list of the few I noticed:

• The Angel Grove High logo in the film is the same one used in Mighty Morphin Power Rangers (1993).

• Bryan Cranston, who plays Zordon in the film, previously voiced the monsters Twin Man and Snizzard in Mighty Morphin Power Rangers (1993). Additionally, the first Blue Ranger in this film, Billy Cranston, was named after Cranston himself.

• In Trini's bedroom, there is a window that features a circle with a tiger's head; this was the Yellow Ranger's original Power Coin design in Mighty Morphin Power Rangers (1993).

• At one point the Yellow Ranger Trini wears a shirt that reads 1973. This was the year that the original Trini Thuy Trang was born.

• When Colt Wallace tries to hurt Billy in the school hallway and fails after a unsuccessful headbutt, Billy calls him by the name Skullovich. In Mighty Morphin Power Rangers (1993), one of the bullies the Rangers dealt with in school was named Skull, short for Skullovich.

• The Rangers having their visors removed was taken from Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie (1995) (scenes deleted), Power Rangers Lightspeed Rescue (2000) and Power Rangers Ninja Storm (2003).

• When Goldar is being constructed from the gold, Rita Repulsa ( Elisabeth Banks ) say the infamous line: Make my monster grow.

• When the Zords charge into battle, the theme song (Go Go Power Rangers written & sung by Ron Wasserman) from Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie (1995) is heard, and this is clearly the "shut up and take my money" moment of the film. Man! that theme song is rad! I still play it whenever I can!

Goldar is actually made of gold now.

Are you talking to us?

• The watch that Billy wears is the watch from Mighty Morphin Power Rangers (1993), which Billy made in that show so that the Rangers can communicate with each other/teleport to Zordon.

• When Trini's brothers question the identity of the Yellow Ranger, they refer to the Yellow Ranger as a "he," to which Trini replies by asking how they know if the Yellow Ranger is a "he." This is likely a reference to the fact that the Yellow Ranger in Zyuranger, the "Super Sentai" series that the original "Power Rangers" show was based on, was actually a male.

• Throughout the movie, all the Power Rangers wear something (clothes/jewelry) that is their Ranger color.

• Amy Jo Johnson and Jason David Frank, who were Kimberly and Tommy in Mighty Morphin Power Rangers (1993), have cameo roles in this film as Angel Grove citizens. They are seen wearing their Ranger colors (pink and green) from that show.

• A mid credits scene depicts a missing Tommy in detention and shows a green jacket, only furthering the nod to having the green ranger in the sequel.

• When Rita is defeated by the Megazord, she is last seen hurling to the moon and she starts to smile. In Mighty Morphin Power Rangers (1993), Rita has her lair on the moon.

• When Rita attacks the Rangers in their normal form you can see sparks appear at the spots where they are hit. In Mighty Morphin Power Rangers (1993) any hit, whether it was against the Rangers or the villains, resulted in sparks shooting out.

Overall, Power Rangers is a very entertaining Sci-Fi movie that doesn't take itself too seriously. Despite the original show being campy, this film introduces a new darker world that will clearly be expanded in several sequels. Recommended to old school MMPR fans and to any sci-fi enthusiast. A good film for everyone.

Here's the movie trailer: