MICHAEL LOMAX: New ‘Power Rangers’ offers a fresh take on popular franchise
FILM REVIEW: ‘Power Rangers’ straddles the line between good and bad well
By Michael Lomax
It’s easy to think there’s no creativity in Hollywood when every new movie is just a remake or sequel to something else. But that is a little unfair to say. It’s all a business after all, and established franchises make money. The movie just has to be decent.
Based on the children’s television show from the early-1990s (which I used to know pretty well), the new cinematic reboot of “Power Rangers” is certainly a fresh take on the original series and straddles the line between good and bad reasonably well.
Dacre Montgomery stars as Jason Scott, the Red Ranger, a misguided youth who befriends a gang of other misguided youths and uncovers a cache of superpowers one day in the small community of Angel Grove. Actors Naomi Scott, RJ Cyler, Becky G, and Ludi Lin round out the cast of Rangers in time to face a reworked Rita Repulsa (Elizabeth Banks).
At some point dinosaurs get involved and Zords make an appearance and a bunch of other wild things happen.
What you have to keep in mind when watching this spectacle of a movie (because it is indeed a spectacle) is that this entire world is based on a kid’s show. Now in 2017, most of the kids who grew up on the Mighty Morphers are adults.
So the film seems to suffer just a little—never really quite figuring out its audience and therefore settling on base entertainment.
Of course that’s not a reason to think a movie was bad, and for the record I don’t think “Power Rangers” was bad at all. It does enough to keep an audience engaged while staying away from being too ridiculous.
Like the show, it’s really a question of whether or not this film is your cup of tea. For kids, at least you might have a winner. Older crowds? Probably not. But as long as you know that going in, how can you be disappointed?
Michael Lomax is a writer-filmmaker currently at work on a film script to be set and shot in Albany.
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