Ed OblepiasSpoiler Alert: Power Rangers the Movie 2017
Power Rangers Official Movie Site
The new iteration of the 90’s classic Power Rangers has premiered in cinemas this week. As someone who grew up with the franchise I had my doubts about the movie, but I decided to enter the cinema and watch the premiere with a fresh pair of eyes. Here is the review for Power Rangers (2017). Warning some spoilers included!
The Morphinomical Plot
In this version of the movie the Power Rangers are a group of Aliens that protect the universe. 65 million years ago, Zordon and his team went to the earth to stop a universal threat. Zordon, the leader and original Red Ranger went to protect the earth from his former team mate Rita Repulsa who was the Green Ranger of the team. Zordon fails and hides the power coins from Rita. Before he dies, Alpha 5 locks his essence away into the Morphing Grid.
Now, fast forward to the present a group of five teenagers find the Power Coins and begin their journey to protect Angel Grove and the earth from Rita Repulsa and her golden monster Goldar.
A Whole New Paradigm
Power Rangers Official Movie Site
The main team of rangers are not the ones kids grew up with in the 90’s. The original rangers were all the “popular kids” at Angel Grove. This version gives us a team of outcasts and that’s not exactly a bad thing. The movie gives more backbone to the characters in this re-imagining of the franchise and gives us more than the stereotypical “jock”, “cheerleader” and “nerd”.
Power Rangers Official Movie Site
Zordon himself has gone through major changes. Previously, Zordon was a fatherly figure which gave a guiding voice to the rangers in their time of need. Now, Zordon is stricter and very critical of the rangers because of the urgency of the situation. He also rushes the rangers to morph, but not because of his belief in the new team and it’s leader. He needs them to morph so that he can come back to life and fight Rita himself.
Power Rangers Official Movie Site
Let’s talk about Rita. I personally loved the angle that Rita was the former Green Ranger. In the original the Green Ranger was one of Rita’s henchmen, but her being a ranger just added more power to her. It kind of saddens me though that Goldar was reduced to one of Rita’s brainless monsters. Goldar was actually one of Rita’s strongest henchmen and a good source of laughter in the previous version.
