Power Rangers, An Injustice Movie to Relive 90’s Childhood Nostalgia

Power Rangers, An Injustice Movie to Relive 90’s Childhood Nostalgia

Power Rangers are the superheroes of 90’s generation. Before Marvel or DC pampered us with high quality movie adaptation of their heroes, Power Rangers were there to entertain us and save the day. The TV series was a hit among the children back then, and the colorful rangers were the role models. When Lionsgate announced that the tv series will have its own movie remake, we were waiting with great anticipation to see how it will turn out. It’s been a week since the movie hits theaters, and we had a chance to watch the premiere screening a week ago. Power Rangers is set in 2017 with five young teenagers suddenly find a new superhero ability after they accidentally discovered Power Coins underground. The adaptation is based on the original Power Rangers TV series when the original heroes originated from the pre historic time of the earth. The coins that they discovered was the source of the strength of Power Rangers which Zordon, the original red ranger has buried to eliminate the evil plan of the green ranger, Rita Repulsa, who betrayed the team to make herself stronger. The ultimate goal is to keep Zeo Crystal safe, and not to fall under Rita’s possession.

Five young actors were cast to play the modern day Power Rangers and they are Dacre Montgomery, Naomi Scott, RJ Cyler, Becky G, and Ludi Lin. While Elizabeth Banks portrays Rita Repulsa whose body was found simultaneously with the discovery of Power Coins and comes back to life. The five youngsters have to find a way to stop her plan to destroy planet earth with her alien troops using the power of Zeo Crystal. Being confused, the five newborn rangers enter a starship in which, there is Alpha 5, Zordon’s assistant who teaches them about the history of Power Rangers and the incoming threat they have to face. The team have to face the struggles for not being able to morph to their Power Rangers forms, internal conflicts between themselves and Zordon, as well as Rita Repulsa among many other things. In an attempt to allow diversity in this movie, Power Rangers 2017 also features an autistic ranger and a gay ranger. All in all, the movie aims to bring back nostalgia of the old fans and at the same time tries to relate with the new generation of fans. How the movie fares?

The movie is directed by Dean Israelite and written by John Gatins, with Haim Saban, a political broker and billionaire who produces and controls the characters in this movie (hence, some people call it Saban’s Power Rangers). The movie’s opening was able to grab our attention and as the stories unfolded, the magnet that attracted us at the first place seemed to be missing. The cliché American high school setting and dynamic was there and we like that we saw some diversity and differences in the cast. The more we observed, the more we acknowledged that they did a bad job in editing this movie. Back then as a kid, we might let the mishaps slip by but this is a real deal movie with 5 more installments films are planned, so this kind of horrendous edit is unforgivable. The costume for the modern Power Rangers are thankfully not latex or plastic helmets anymore, so it’s a good thing to see. The product placement with the built-in scene was very apparent in this movie, so some of you might have found it uncomfortable to watch since it is not that smooth. This movie is entertaining enough, but not that kind of superhero flick which you would watch for the second time. Furthermore, “Go Go Power Rangers”, the soundtrack of this movie as well as the original TV series still hits us close to heart. Sadly, this movie does not deliver it well.

Writer: Intan Maharani & Novita Widia