When it was announced that a big-budget
movie based on Mighty Morphin Power
Rangers is in production, I was excited.
I like both Super Sentai and Power Rangers franchises; I like their
iconic take on the tokusatsu genre,
and I was much interested of seeing how such formula would look like in a
big-budget film. Most importantly,
everyone of my generation grew up with Mighty
Morphin Power Rangers, and we adored it immensely. It was our thing during our 90’s childhood. Even those who outgrew their Power Rangers fandom have a soft spot in
their heart for Mighty Morphin. Hence, my initial excitement. I personally preferred a canon reunion movie of
sorts – with the original Rangers as adults – but I was also fine with a
remake.
Then the promo images and
trailers were released. The reinvented
character designs looked awful. And the
movie felt like it was devoid of flavor and vibrancy. I was greatly turned off. Hence, I couldn’t help but pre-loath the
movie. I was still going to see it, but
with the intention of hate-watching it.
Of course, a part of me hoped to be wrong, that it would actually turn
out good. But the trailers and promo
images just weren’t pointing out to that likelihood.
Power Rangers – also titled as Saban’s
Power Rangers – is basically a reimagining of Mighty Morphin. It borrows
elements and names from the show, so it’s somewhat similar to its source material,
but also uses these in a way that makes itself different. Much, much different. But not at all for the better.
It’s one of the core problems of
the movie. It makes changes that fail to
improve the source material – or, at least, be an interesting “alternative
version.” For example, the backstory
for Zordon and Rita Repulsa in which they were former Rangers. It doesn’t enhance the lore and it’s utterly
dumb.
But that’s just the thing: the
movie is utterly dumb. A lot of things
don’t make sense. That’s not necessarily
a huge problem since the Power Rangers
TV series has always been dumb. But that
means movie could only have worked if it had been dumb and fun. That way, the fun
distracts the audience from the dumb and ridiculous. But this movie doesn’t want to commit to
being completely dumb-and-fun. It also wants
to be gritty and deep. This leads to a
clash of tones. Now, though it’s
possible to blend these tones, this movie unfortunately doesn’t have the vision
to pull it off. Hence, through this fun-deficient
mess of tones, its plot holes and pretentious BS are very noticeable.
A significant reason why Mighty Morphin Power Rangers worked is
because it was self-aware of its ludicrous nature, committed to it, and made an
effort to thrive in it – resulting to episode after episode of delightful campy
entertainment.
This movie should have recognized
that it’s incapable of living up to the complex task of being both campy and
gritty. It should have stuck with one or
the other, but not both. I personally
prefer its original campy tone. But a
gritty movie in the vein of the “bootlegged” Power/Rangers short film could have also worked.
However, all throughout, it’s as
if it’s awkwardly undecided what it wants its direction to be – struggling
between referencing its inherently ludicrous source material and being a more “realistic”
version of it. It’s as if whenever it
starts to go towards one direction, it abruptly changes its mind, halts, and move
towards the other direction – and vice verse.
A scene that embodies this perfectly is when the Zords roll out after
Rita and Goldar, and the original Mighty Morphin
theme begins to play. “Go Go Power
Rangers…” Then, instead of building that
up into a gratifying moment, the music immediately stops. It was as if it was afraid of becoming stirring.
Another problem I have with it is
that it’s aesthetically bland. Again,
this is an issue that I had been aware coming into this movie, and the main
reason I was prepared to hate it. Rita’s
“Putty” minions and Goldar are ugly. The
Rangers’ costume and Zords also look ugly, though I got used to them
eventually. Still, even then, they looked
plain to my eyes. But ugly or plain the
Zords may be, they are a hundred times more badass and attractive when compared
to how trashy and pathetic the Megazord look.
In addition to this, the actions
scenes suck. An integral part of the Power Rangers shows – by using footage
from Super Sentai shows – is their
entertaining, albeit sometimes absurd, martial arts fight scenes. The movie totally neglected this aspect, as
the Rangers’ fight scenes are minimal and unexciting. And the “Zords/Megazord vs. Goldar” set
piece, which is supposed to be the climax, is lackluster and subpar to the
standards and flair of modern superhero movies.
How did a 21st century
big-studio film – that has the advantage of the technology and budget of being
such – manage to be visually inferior to a kid’s TV show that recycled footage
from a Japanese TV show more than 20
years ago? That has to require a
special level of filmmaking incompetence.
The movie also makes an attempt
at drama. I admit that it does add a bit
to the quality of the narrative, especially in making the characters more
likable. But amidst all the mess, it
just comes off as cheesy and hackneyed.
Thankfully, the characters and
the actors are the saving grace of this movie.
The Rangers are well-cast and enjoyably characterized. They also have great chemistry with each
other. Hence, it was so easy to get
invested on them, and since I hated the costumes in the first place, I actually
liked them more when they weren’t in costume.
The two standouts, for me, are Billy and Kimberly. Billy is this adorable dork who often does a
weird clap and is oddly obsessed with explosives (I read that he’s supposed to
be autistic, so maybe that’s the reason for these eccentric habits?). Meanwhile, the actress for Kimberly is no Amy
Jo Johnson, but she’s definitely chosen for the role to serve the character’s
biggest draw – to be every boy’s ultimate crush.
Every single one of the new actors
for Jason, Kimberly, Billy, Trini, and Zack, all relatively unknowns, are
surprisingly good – not exactly in a “breakout” sort of way, but they definitely
delivered solid performances. So, at
least, this movie didn’t disgrace the best quintet in fiction with its own spin
on them.
Bryan Cranston as Zordon is a joy
to watch – as you would expect from a floating, talking head of Walter White. I appreciate that he got a role for this
film, considering that he used to do voice work on Mighty Morphin Power Rangers and that Billy’s surname is based on his
name. However, for someone that is
supposed to be the Rangers’ mentor, he does little mentoring. Alpha 5 is actually the one who does most of
it.
Speaking of Alpha 5, Bill Hader’s
Alpha 5 s a bit annoying. But since the
character has always been so in the first place, it just means he was perfectly
fine.
Meanwhile, I like Elizabeth Bank’s
Rita Repulsa (though she was extremely hammy and I hated her ultimate costume). I like how she starts out like a horror
monster. It’s also uncanny how the
intonation of her screams is perfectly similar to the original Rita Repulsa’s
voice.
Jason David Frank and Amy Jo
Johnson, the respective original actors for Tommy Oliver and Kimberly Hart,
have a brief cameo. It was probably my
most favorite moment of the movie (just showing how little I think of this
movie), and it reminded me that I prefer a “reunion” movie. (Side note: speaking of a “reunion” movie, I’m
looking forward to watch The Order, an
action movie that stars the original Mighty
Morphin Power Rangers actors for
Jason, Billy, Zack, Rocky, Adam, Aisha, and Kat. Coincidentally, they didn’t have a cameo for
the Power Rangers movie, while those
who did – Tommy and Kim – aren’t in The
Order. Hmmmm.)
To sum it up, Power Rangers is dumb, cheesy, and just moderately
entertaining. Objectively though, it isn’t
as bad as 1995’s Mighty Morphin Power
Rangers: The Movie or 1997’s Turbo: A
Power Rangers Movie. It’s also not a
trainwreck of a film-adaptation-of-a-pop-culture-intellectual-property like 1993’s
Super Mario Bros., 1997’s Mortal Kombat: Annihilation, and last year’s Max Steel, nor is it a complete bastardization of its source material like 2009’s Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen and 2015’s Attack on Titan, but it’s nonetheless a failure of a
reimagining of an iconic kid’s TV show that I apparently still feel strongly
about. At best, taking into consideration its few redeeming qualities, it merely succeeds in being mediocre.
I understand that the intention of
all the changes made to the original formula was to be “different.” But the problem isn’t necessarily the
attempt to be “different”, but the movie botching it up. I know for a fact that it’s possible to be “different”
but still retain the spirit of Mighty
Morphin. I’ve seen plenty of splendid
fan art that reference the original aesthetics of the show but has a distinctively
gritty twist. And I read the details of Max
Landis’ script, which the studio turned down, that is absolutely superior to the
movie’s eventual script, as it would have been “realistic” while still
capturing the goofy and fun essence of the show.
But if the blatant,
eyeroll-inducing Krispy Kreme product
placement in this movie is any indication, it’s clear that the concern of the
studio isn’t to make the best cinematic reimaging of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers possible, but – as usual – how much
money they can get. With such philosophy,
the lack of effort and creativity comes as no surprise.
Which is a shame, since at least six
(!) more movies are planned to be made – with the next one, as hinted by the
mid-credit scene, introducing Tommy Oliver a.k.a. the Green Ranger – and it’s
unlikely that they will be radically better.
It’s unfortunate that the studio is totally fine with making the next Transformers
franchise instead of the next Marvel Cinematic Universe.
No comments:
Post a Comment