There is a bunch of reviews out there right now, I would understand if not a lot of people would read mine. After watching the movie, I read the IGN review which I agree with only a little bit. I was planning to see the movie Thursday but I was sick. In fact I was invited to the opening premiere in LA but I live in Miami and had to work Wednesday and given that I got sick, I'm glad I didn't shell the money for the airplane tickets and hotel. By luck would have it, I missed the beginning of the movie. It was for 11am, I got to the theater with my niece and her kids at 10:45, went for popcorn and the movie had already started as we got in at 11. Someone on Twitter told me I should have complained but I didn't think about it. Now I have an excuse to see it again. I normally don't see movies twice in the theater, only one I ever did was Roger Rabbit but I was a kid.
Spoilers ahead:
I thought of doing a spoiler-free review but a spoiler-free review would basically be this: five teenagers find a ship underneath a cave and are chosen to fight the evil Rita, her putty army and giant Goldar. That's it. Because even though director Dean Isrealite said the Rangers Jason, Billy, Kimberly, Trini and Zack would be the same basic characters we knew from the show, he was slightly right. There was not much to Trini in the original show save for her understanding Billy's tech talk, being Chinese, and knowing martial arts. None of the Rangers know martial arts and I'm not complaining. I kind of like the new backstories. Wish there was more detail to Zack and Trini. This is what the IGN review said. The young cast has chemistry. Bill Hader does a good job as Alpha, not annoying by any means. Bryan Cranston's concern and mentor advise pulls through and does a great scene with Dacre Montgomery (Jason).
The Rangers are now REALLY teenagers with attitude. In the original MMPR, they were goody-goodies and squeaky clean. Billy is now autistic which makes sense and he is the most charming of the Rangers. I do like the friendship between Jason and Billy, it seems authentic. Jason is a football player who gets in a car accident and is put under house arrest (is never found out by police that Billy disarms the brace). Kimberly is a cheerleader who does a 'mean' thing to a girl via cyberbullying. Zack is a loner taking care of his sick mom in a trailer park. Trini is questioning her sexuality and as a gay man, I find refreshing and everyone is making a big to-do but in reality it is just in one scene and wish they elaborated it on more. Maybe have a couple of scenes with a potential girlfriend or a crush even. I mean, she doesn't have to be in a relationship to be gay but in movies, you have to be visual. But the fact that they tried is great. I seriously never expected a gay Power Ranger, probably not one on the show because it airs on a children's network (even though Loud House has gay parents in it). There is a campfire scene where the team open us and it almost makes me tear up as I am gay and also had to take care of an ill mother.
I enjoyed the movie, it had great writing, good acting, immersive action scenes and funny scenes. IGN still called it campy and some reviews said the movie might not appeal to non fans. The movie is what I expected, it would appeal to fans but probably wouldn't be a general audience hit. It so far is exceeding expectations. A disclaimer for parents who take kids under 13 to a PG-13 movie, my 7 year-old grandnephew was creeped out by the soul-sucking Rita and a doomsday prediction scene. I liked Elizabeth Bank's portrayal, she hammed it up and was creepy, but wish she was a bit more menacing and a scene where she was more disarmed. In this version as fans deduced, Zordon was the Red Ranger and Rita was the Green Ranger. She has the dragon coin. There is a mid-credits scene and it hints at Tommy Oliver but we don't see him, hinting to a sequel. Lionsgate originally said they planned 7 movies, Haim Saban says now 6. If the movie does well which I am now thinking of it might. Like Rita says in the movie: "There will be more." In the zord scene that they start playing the 1995 movie theme, I was so pumped up.
Kind of glad they didn't update it what with so many updates with Samurai and Megaforce and whatnot. My niece is a non-fan and she liked it. My 3 year old grandniece liked it and stayed in her seat throughout save for a bathroom break. I think general audiences new to the franchise that are younger than 30 might like it but adults that didn't like it when it first came out might still be jaded. Like I said before Power Rangers is a hard nugget to crack. It's a hard mix of drama, comedy, camp and action to balance. Past seasons have proven this (Operation Overdrive, Samurai, etc.) I think this movie balances it nicely but IGN doesn't think so. The camp does get a bit too campy but not as much tongue and cheek like Batman and Robin thankfully. Krispy Kreme does have a heavy promotion in this movie which a scene of Rita enjoying a donut makes up for.
