Power Rangers (2017) -- a review

I was in my late twenties when The Power Rangers made their debut on TV many moons ago, well over the age range of the primary target audience for the series. But even though I never saw the TV series, I remember the furor that it caused, particularly among toy collectors. Back then, I was collecting action figures from Star Trek, which was enjoying an explosion of popularity alongside the Power Rangers. Despite several TV incarnations, along with a pair of movies released at the peak of the PR zeitgeist, I never felt the need to visit Angel Cove, the home of the Power Rangers. Until now.

I don’t know what possessed me to watch the latest reboot of the PR franchise, other than boredom on an extremely hot (pre)summer day. But what was interesting was how much I enjoyed it, despite not knowing anything about the mythology. Maybe that’s because director Dean Israelite eases the viewer into the PR wackiness by introducing the Rangers as regular teenagers who meet up one day while serving in detention. It’s like having the Power Rangers meet the Breakfast Club (Would the song be called “Don’t you Morph about me?”)!

But it really plays more like PR meets Chronicle, the found footage superhero film that came out a few years ago, in the same understated way that the teens discover their powers and become Rangers. Israelite still moves the story along at a brisk speed, never letting the pacing sag, and while the Rangers are played by unknowns (who handle their acting chores admirably), Breaking Bad’s Bryan Cranston is recruited as the great big giant head who serves as the team’s overall Yoda/guru, while Elizabeth Banks looks like she’s having a grand old time chewing the scenery as the villain (“I’ll show you mine if you show me yours!”).

The main problem is that after a proper build up, when the teens finally become the PR (in the last half hour of a two hour movie), it’s somewhat anticlimactic. After a methodical and well done journey to gaining their powers, as well as the trust of each other as a team, seeing the Rangers in action feels a little underwhelming--almost as if the filmmakers really didn‘t have their hearts sets on making a Power Rangers movie.

Another problem I had was the blatant advertising in the film, particularly for a donut shop franchise--which is pretty outrageous, considering all of the various PR series were basically nothing more than ads for the PR toys. Despite the careful setting up for a sequel at the end, there won’t be one, thanks to the poor performance at the box office. I have no doubt PR will get rebooted again soon, hopefully with no on-screen advertising. --SF

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