This does NOT make a good impression right out of the gate. The brief prologue accentuates that this new vision of the franchise aims to be dark and gritty in the same way as too many modern superhero movies are; early exposition greets us with boorish "humor," and overemphasis of shadows and dark hues in the color palette to further cement the grit. 'Power Rangers' concretely informs in early scenes - through direction, cinematography, action, stunts, effects, music, and more - that it's slick, modern, cool, and flashy. All it actually needed to be was fun, with cartoonish violence commensurate to what we saw in the TV show of the 90s. Instead we're greeted with grim violence that tries to be as realistic as possible, and cartoonish introduction of the characters' powers that's frankly a little cringe-worthy. (Remember Edward's demonstrations of his powers in the first 'Twilight' movie?) It tries so hard to update the concept with modern sensibilities of the MCU or DCEU, and with a mind for what teen and young adult viewers are accustomed to in recent years, that it becomes common and unexceptional, loses sight of what made 'Mighty Morphin Power Rangers' such a hit in the first place, and to be blunt, just becomes tired and obnoxious.
It all looks great. A lot of hard work went into the production that I deeply appreciate. The diversity of the primary cast and characters is most welcome (though of course the chief protagonist has to be a white dude), and I think the cast performs well (even those in small supporting parts; hi, Erica Cerra!). Elizabeth Banks has minimal time on-screen as villain Rita Repulsa, but she's clearly loving it. The effects look good, both the practical creations and the regrettable overabundance of CGI (that is at least on par with anything in modern action flicks); the sets, costume design, and hair and makeup work are terrific. The crew put in good work all around. I don't agree with all the choices made behind the scenes, mind you, including instances of direction or cinematography. The new design of Zordon's lair, and how he presents, are plainly over the top, as is the new appearance of the power suits. The design of the Zords here frankly reminds too much of how the Transformers look in Michael Bay's "live-action" films - nondescript chunks of metal with no substantial identity, little more than junkyard kluges with slightly different color schemes and configurations.
And that might be the real takeaway here, that 'Power Rangers' has no meaningful identity of its own. It's clearly a reimagination of an established franchise, yes, but it specifically takes all its cues from Marvel, and DC, and other blockbuster action flicks of the last 15 years or so (not least 'Pacific Rim') that after a point all tend to start blending together. This also applies, emphatically, to the writing. Characters and their development, dialogue, scene writing, narrative, plot development, humor, the forging of the team, and anything else one might name all work overtime to emulate comparable titles, becoming kind of indistinguishable in the process. The writing informs the execution in turn, so it and the direction, action sequences (that effectively wait until the last quarter to show up), music, and to some degree as well the acting, all share the same traits in some capacity: heavy-handed, overwrought, ham-handed, lacking tact or nuance, if not simply imitative and unremarkable - and at the same time, often coming across as weirdly oversimplified. The location of the MacGuffin leads to cheeky jokes that I suppose someone thought was unique and clever; the last moment in which we see the Megazord is both copied and pasted from other such fare, and altogether aggravating in its kitsch. Scenes of team building come off as the perfunctory, obligatory connecting of dots rather than earnest plot. And so on.
I admire the effort. I distinctly disagree with too many decisions that were made in how to proceed with this feature, but everyone involved put their best foot forward and gave it their all, the cast and crew especially. I would, genuinely, like to see stars Naomi Scott, RJ Cyler, Becky G, and Ludi Lin in other pictures, and see more of what they're capable of. Yet whether the blame lies with director Dean Israelite, the team of writers, the producers, or someone else or some combination thereof, 2017's 'Power Rangers' is bereft of what made its predecessors so enjoyable in the first place (even at their worst), and just disappears into a very crowded sea of modern action films. There were, I think, some very good ideas here, but they rather get lost in the mix, and at best the title is basically just average. Factor in particular faults that grate on one's patience, and my favor takes another step down. Why, though in different ways, I think this is sadly on par with ill-considered franchise antecedent 'Turbo: A Power Rangers movie,' wherein the crew did good work, and the cast tried, but the writers and directors were just phoning it in. Well, no one is phoning in their contributions here, but the result is unfortunately just as uninspiring when all is said and done. I wish all participants nothing but the best, but whether you're an action buff or a devotee of all things Power Rangers, I just don't think this rendition makes the grade.
It all looks great. A lot of hard work went into the production that I deeply appreciate. The diversity of the primary cast and characters is most welcome (though of course the chief protagonist has to be a white dude), and I think the cast performs well (even those in small supporting parts; hi, Erica Cerra!). Elizabeth Banks has minimal time on-screen as villain Rita Repulsa, but she's clearly loving it. The effects look good, both the practical creations and the regrettable overabundance of CGI (that is at least on par with anything in modern action flicks); the sets, costume design, and hair and makeup work are terrific. The crew put in good work all around. I don't agree with all the choices made behind the scenes, mind you, including instances of direction or cinematography. The new design of Zordon's lair, and how he presents, are plainly over the top, as is the new appearance of the power suits. The design of the Zords here frankly reminds too much of how the Transformers look in Michael Bay's "live-action" films - nondescript chunks of metal with no substantial identity, little more than junkyard kluges with slightly different color schemes and configurations.
And that might be the real takeaway here, that 'Power Rangers' has no meaningful identity of its own. It's clearly a reimagination of an established franchise, yes, but it specifically takes all its cues from Marvel, and DC, and other blockbuster action flicks of the last 15 years or so (not least 'Pacific Rim') that after a point all tend to start blending together. This also applies, emphatically, to the writing. Characters and their development, dialogue, scene writing, narrative, plot development, humor, the forging of the team, and anything else one might name all work overtime to emulate comparable titles, becoming kind of indistinguishable in the process. The writing informs the execution in turn, so it and the direction, action sequences (that effectively wait until the last quarter to show up), music, and to some degree as well the acting, all share the same traits in some capacity: heavy-handed, overwrought, ham-handed, lacking tact or nuance, if not simply imitative and unremarkable - and at the same time, often coming across as weirdly oversimplified. The location of the MacGuffin leads to cheeky jokes that I suppose someone thought was unique and clever; the last moment in which we see the Megazord is both copied and pasted from other such fare, and altogether aggravating in its kitsch. Scenes of team building come off as the perfunctory, obligatory connecting of dots rather than earnest plot. And so on.
I admire the effort. I distinctly disagree with too many decisions that were made in how to proceed with this feature, but everyone involved put their best foot forward and gave it their all, the cast and crew especially. I would, genuinely, like to see stars Naomi Scott, RJ Cyler, Becky G, and Ludi Lin in other pictures, and see more of what they're capable of. Yet whether the blame lies with director Dean Israelite, the team of writers, the producers, or someone else or some combination thereof, 2017's 'Power Rangers' is bereft of what made its predecessors so enjoyable in the first place (even at their worst), and just disappears into a very crowded sea of modern action films. There were, I think, some very good ideas here, but they rather get lost in the mix, and at best the title is basically just average. Factor in particular faults that grate on one's patience, and my favor takes another step down. Why, though in different ways, I think this is sadly on par with ill-considered franchise antecedent 'Turbo: A Power Rangers movie,' wherein the crew did good work, and the cast tried, but the writers and directors were just phoning it in. Well, no one is phoning in their contributions here, but the result is unfortunately just as uninspiring when all is said and done. I wish all participants nothing but the best, but whether you're an action buff or a devotee of all things Power Rangers, I just don't think this rendition makes the grade.