"It's morphin time."
Hello everyone!
I sincerely hope you're all enjoying the summer weather, wherever you are. I know, I know, it's hot, but then again this is what summer is supposed to be all about, right?
Besides, sooner than we know it, we'll be right back to dismal, rainy muck.
And then of course everyone's going to complain about no more summer!
But anyway, I digress.
My movie choice for tonight was one of those gambles I took, and a good friend of mine could confirm it since I spoke to her about it all right before I sat down to watch said movie. I mean, I HAVE learned by now that trusting IMDB ratings as opposed to my own opinion isn't necessarily the best thing I could possibly do (because usually, if a movie has a low rating it doesn't mean I won't like it), but with all the OTHER reviews floating about, I was hesitant. Then I was relieved I watched.
I'm talking, naturally, about the new Power Rangers movie.
First off, allow me to say that Power Rangers (as in, the original television show) was one of my all-time favourites as I was growing up. I remember sitting there every morning and watching the next episode, then discussing it ad nauseam with my cousin. It was one of those things we used to have in common, and I look back on those days with so much fondness.
But, as a fan, I was also slightly hesitant when all the bad news started dropping about this newest movie in the franchise.
Normally, I'm not against remakes. Heck, I'm all for them, if they're made well and they don't make a mocking out of the original (I'm looking at you, Hairspray! Live). However, people seemed to really NOT like this remake, so I gnawed and hemmed and hawed and eventually just decided, what the heck, I'll see it anyway.
It's SO good that I did.
The movie begins with prehistoric Earth and the original Rangers (an unknown alien race) crash-landing on the planet while trying to protect the Earth's crystal (which gives it life, etc) from Rita, their nemesis. Unfortunately, the Rangers all perish in the process, and the Red Ranger (Bryan Cranston) hides their tokens until such a time as someone worthy can be found to carry them once more.
Then he orders an aerial attack on his location, also known as the meteor that hit Earth, killing all the dinosaurs.
In the present day, star quarterback, Jason, plays a prank on the school (I'm not entirely sure where he even got the bull to stuff into the locker room, but hey ...) and runs from the police once they get wind of it. Unfortunately, he crashes the getaway car, ruins his knee and his chances of football scholarships to university. Not only that, but he's stuck with that little transponder box they would normally put on repeat offenders which alerts the police department when they leave certain premises.
Oh, and detention. Did I mention that?
In detention, he meets another boy, Billy, who is already at a disadvantage because of his dark skin, but he's also constantly bullied because of his Autism, and Jason, being the hero in disguise, steps in and calmly settles the situation without breaking into a sweat.
As thank you, Billy says he can work around the transponder on Jason's leg, and together they're off on their adventure! Well, Jason doesn't see it that way at first, but them, and three other kids also in detention (but we don't really figure this out until the end of the movie), Trini, Kim and Zack, find themselves at the old stone quarry, where Billy's father used to work.
Billy, being smart, exposes the part where the Ranger tokens are hidden, and each of the kids takes one as they run off from yet another police chase, ending up getting hit by a train ...
... and waking up in their beds, perfectly okay. But not, necessarily, normal.
All of them seem to now have super strength, fast reflexes, they can melt metal with their tokens, and they feel weird in general.
So they return to the quarry, where they find the original Ranger ship (which to me at first, quick glance, looks a whole lot like Megazord 1.0) and Alpha (a rather obnoxious, hilarious little robot) and Zordon (the original Red Ranger, now alive in the ship's system). Zordon tells them Rita is also on Earth (at that moment she's eating her way through random homeless people and collecting gold) and will continue to hunt the crystal. With it, she can destroy Earth and rule the galaxy, which is what the Power Rangers must prevent. The catch is that Rita is also a former Ranger, so she knows everything the Rangers know.
So, it's training time.
Only, the kids can't initially morph. This means they get their butts handed to them, but at least they're persistent and don't give up! They also slowly start bonding into true friends, sharing stories about their home lives (one has a sick mother, one is experimenting with her sexuality, one's life has always been in the spotlight, one's an autist, and one was a part of cyberbullying).
This doesn't stop Rita, however, who pays Trini a visit and throws her around a little. Trini doesn't take this well and tells the other Rangers, who decide to go after Rita even without armour.
Unfortunately, this ends badly as they get caught, and Billy explains he's figured out the location of the crystal. For his effort, Rita drowns him in the quay while the others are helpless and can't do anything but watch in horror.
They bring him back to Zordon and beg the original Ranger to do something, but sadly he can't; the remaining four all admit they would have rather died for their friends than see them die, which powers up the morphing grid. This could be Zordon's chance for rebirth, something he and Jason had argued about earlier in the movie, when Zordon accused Jason of not even knowing what he's doing (which, duh, is true - who knows what to do with superpowers all of a sudden?!) and that ZORDON will take the lead in the group once he's reborn.
But instead of Zordon, the Rangers get Billy returned to them, as only one could go through the grid.
Now reunited, the new Rangers are fired up and finally morph into their armour for the first time (not counting the one point previously when Billy, trying to stop an argument, did so by accident) and head for the Zords to get to their hometown, Angel Grove. As Alpha explained, the Zords take on the shape of the most powerful creature in vicinity, and at the time they landed on Earth, these were the dinosaurs, which is why we get the pleasure to see the Mastodont, Pterodactyl, Saber Tooth Tiger, Triceratops, and Tiranosaurus launch into action (and anyone who wasn't doing the old Ranger calls when they popped up on screen SO needs to watch those!).
Rita and her monster Goldar (made of solid gold but also looking suspiciously like a fallen angel of some sort with his wings) are digging for the crystal and destroying the town just for kicks and giggles when the Rangers make their appearance. Several battle scenes follow during which our heroes save lives and prevent Rita from total destruction (Jason also takes time to rescue his father while he's at it, not that his father knows who it is), but Goldar has opened the crystal pit.
Having no alternative, our heroes form a line in front of it and are determined to hold it, but unfortunately aren't strong enough and are pushed over the edge.
Rita celebrates too soon, however, as in their desperation, the Ranger Zords morph into Megazord, who makes mincemeat of both Goldar and Rita. However, Rita warns them she isn't the only one who wants the crystal, and that others will come for it. The Ranger aren't worried, though, and have a little celebratory dance with the Megazord (something I did NOT need to see) while we get cameo appearances of the original Pink and Green Ranger, respectively.
Angel Grove considers the Power Rangers heroes, but the kids still have their own lives to lead, and return to detention where at least they now know they have friends to lean on.
In a mid-credit scene, the teacher also tells them they'll be getting a new student, Tommy, but the desk where said Tommy is supposed to sit we only get to see a green hoodie, which is EXCELLENT because this means the Green Ranger is also making an appearance!
Or will, if the movie gets a sequel.
For some reason unknown to me, people disliked this movie. Maybe because they expected too much, or because they wouldn't let themselves watch it as a fresh start? I don't know, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. Yes, there were some kinks that could be ironed out, and some scenes where even I went 'wait, what now?' but OVERALL this was a funny, enjoyable, and entertaining movie, which is probably what the endgame was. The dialogue was witty enough, the actors did the best they could do and it was pretty amazing, and all the little things reminding me of the original were also pretty great (but please ignore that moment when I'm screaming MEGAZORD ALREADY at the screen ... ahem).
All in all, I'm really happy I decided to watch this, considering all the bad reviews it got, and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that there might be a sequel. I'd DEARLY love to see a follow-up!
Go, go, Power Rangers!
xx
*screencaps belong to me, poster image & video not mine
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