Original Power Rangers feature film

For those unaware that Spider-Man is in the timeline on the origin of the Power Rangers franchise.

TIL that the first-ever Power Rangers website, dating from 1994... was a hate site.

20+ years of hindsight hadn't set in.

So, hey, funny question, how do you think a mugging would go if they try it on a Ranger?

In Lightspeed Rescue a thug tried to hijack a bus the Pink Ranger was on. He had a gun. She was in civilian form. She stomped him anyway.

Didn't Choujin Sentai Jetman end with its Black Ranger getting killed in a mugging on the way to a friend's wedding?

Yup.

Technically he was stopping muggers from mugging an old lady and got shiv'd by the cliche.

He also decided to go to the wedding rather than a hospital, which as far as life choices go, is one of the worst ones.

edited 22nd Mar '17 10:44:21 PM by Ghilz

More reviews. it's not looking too good.

https://www.themarysue.com/power-rangers-review/

http://www.avclub.com/review/amusing-teen-fantasy-slowly-morphs-clunky-reboot-p-252576

The RT consensus is "meh" as well.

Pro reviews be darned. I had a good time with this one. Most of the YT critics I watch thought it was good too like Jahns, Stuckman, Reel Rejects, and Grace from Beyond The Trailer

Billy seemed to get the most lines, was the comic relief more than he was the brains, I liked how he represented the heart and compassion of the team, and was the crux of what brought them all together. I did'nt think Goldar had been destroyed before Rita was swatted away, I was going 'that's it?' when he was defeated. I did like pushing the Zords into the pit, thought that was a nod to Green With Evil/Mutiny. Did'nt much care for the Megazord just randomly coming together, which took even the Rangers by surprise. Probably had something to do with the Zeo Crystal. They also cut out Kimberly's romance with Jason. Maybe test audiences were Tommy/Kim 'shippers and called bullsh*t on it?

edited 24th Mar '17 10:31:10 AM by Zarius

I'm gonna be honest here.

I walked out of the theatre with the biggest smile on my face, and walked straight to the ticket counter for a ticket to the next showing.

This movie stands tall alongside In Space, Time Force and RPM as one of the best iterations of the franchise.

Linkara did a Midnight Review with Brad Jones and they both liked it. Brad even recommended it (for a matinee) even though he's not a devoted fan of the franchise like Linkara is.

edited 24th Mar '17 6:52:07 PM by Karxrida

So this is like, one of those things that fans like but critics don't?

The critics are split...but for now, yeah.

Iron Fist all over again.

@1409: Clearly they're going for the Trini/Kimberly ship.

Why not Billy/Kimberly?

Before learning she was gay, I'd have gone with Trini/Jason.

Trini/Zach would be Team Crazy.

Just finished it. Yes, this is everything I wanted from a Power Rangers movie.

I'm solidly in the middle with this one. There were things I liked and things I really didn't like, but overall I didn't hate anything and I did enjoy it. Given that I went in expecting to absolutely loathe the movie, that's pretty good.

There were bits that seemed a touch off. Like the Power Ranger theme only playing for about ten seconds or the pit not having lava the first time we see it, but being full of lava the next time we see it when the zords are pushed in and the megazord not getting a real transformation sequence.

Some other stuff was really good, though. The characters were more or less solid. Zack and Trini were overshadowed by the focus on Jason, Billy and Kimberly, but what there was from all of them was pretty good. Rita was solid gold, if you don't mind the wordplay. The only character I didn't really feel good about was Alpha 5. He was just kinda off. I can get past the weird design, but everything he says is quippy or out of focus.

Overall good. I don't regret seeing it. It won't wound me when they make another.

I liked it. I get some of the criticism, it is a bit uneven, and I probably would have spaced the action out more, but the film actually does make you want to care about its character past its stereotypes, warts and all. In that way, I do think I was right calling it the fusion of a John Hughes movie like Breakfast Club and a superhero film.

This pays off in the biggest way when the film gets to the Zords, and freaking Go Go Power Rangers (the same version from the 95 film!) starts blaring. You have understood these characters as three-dimensional people, and now it's time to kick the crap out of Putties.

edited 25th Mar '17 10:07:37 PM by Beatman1

Saw it. Movie has a number of choices that don't work but in terms of being a Power Rangers entry it satisfies that extremely well. I feel it is exactly what the fans wanted, a PG-13 Power Rangers movie. Violent and mature enough to appeal to the adult fans but still silly enough to give you fond memories of the show. The audience seemed pretty invested as well, with applause when the Rangers finally morph and plenty of laughter at the jokes. "Did you just slap him?" was epic. The performances are quite good, by the end you definitely had an affinity for these characters. All of them ended up well drawn, the relationship between Jason and Billy was especially good. Zack was the primary outlier because his "I'm crazy" moments didn't really work, but even then I got the impression that if Jason wasn't the leader he would have been.

There is a certain uneven tone throughout the film. It doesn't quite find a balance between the teen angst until the training portion of the film when the Rangers acknowledge they aren't being honest with each other. And the climax has plenty of action and explosions but as often happens there is a disconnect between the destruction and the human element. I think the climax would have worked a little better if there was more intermingling of zord fighting and jumping to the ground for personal rescues, especially since there was relatively little costume action. Rita definitely went with an exaggerated horror motif, which was cool in isolation but didn't blend with the rest of the film. It's primarily the fast cuts and her chewing on... something. When she raids a jewelry store and the cop opens fire THAT was when she started to work within the movie.

Alpha I thought worked well. A few awkward lines, sure, but that's most of the characters. His nature as the caretaker of the command center and assistant to the Rangers was well played. Especially in the beginning where he is surprisingly skilled and casually dismisses the Rangers being able to fight him. The trailers made him seem silly and incompetent, but he was actually very intelligent and observant.

The explanation for the design of the zords was actually pretty cool. Zords take on similarities to the most powerful organisms of the planet when they first arrive. It works with the idea that the Rangers, of which they are just part of a much larger group, are defenders of the planet. The broadest mythology aspects I liked, it makes the Rangers feel more like the Green Lantern Corps, but the details of Rita and Zordon's history was glossed over as well as the nature of the morphing grid handwaved. Zordon and Alpha says that when they morph that will give him a window to move from the "matrix" of the ship back into the physical world. He instead uses that opportunity to resurrect Billy, the opportunity happens when they hadn't morphed yet and resurrecting Billy seems to be a different thing altogether.

edited 25th Mar '17 11:57:06 PM by KJMackley

As someone who remembers MMPR with great fondness but never got seriously into it, the new Goldar hasn't really affected me, but I get the impression some people are less than happy with it. Can I get thoughts on movie Goldar?

He's basically a giant gold digger.

Better than being a broke...erm...broke.

To be fair, Griffozer was mute in the Sentai till Lamy showed up.

Just got back from this. Have to say I liked it a LOT more than I thought I would. Is it a masterpiece? No, but it doesn't deserve a 46 on RT either. I'd say it's more of a 75. I'll eat an entire Zord if Breakfast Club wasn't a big influence, the characters correspond to the Brain (Billy), Jock (Jason), Princess (Kim), Criminal (Zack), Basket Case (Trini) dynamic almost exactly. They were all sympathetic, though Jason came off as the flattest of the bunch - due in a large part, I think, to it never being specified exactly what caused his social status to plummet. We know he flubbed a big game and that's it, which is less than we get from the others. I think Kim and Billy were my faves.

I was relieved Zordon wasn't the secret villain, but making him more selfish was interesting, and his big redemption moment was handled well. Alpha was a treasure, he really was. Things that weren't all that great... I thought the final dispatch of the villains was anticlimactic, and speaking of the villains, I'm not sure them retaining their goofy kids'-show names like Rita Repulsa was the right call in a more serious film.