Power Rangers

Loud, trashy, sweet and weird, the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers reboot “Power Rangers” is not merely an ideal film for rambunctious and undemanding 12-year olds, it actually sees the world through their eyes. In theory, the heroes are high school students. But they’re actually a Disney Channel-styled fantasy of the splendors that await kids when they finally become full-fledged teenagers and can Do Whatever They Want. These heroes are misfits. They gather in detention in their high school, a scenario that promises to turn into “The Mighty Morphin Breakfast Club Rangers.” Lo and behold, that’s what you get: a mix of shenanigans, heart-to-heart talks and widescreen punch-outs between monster battles. REVIEW FROM ROGER EBERT.

Buying this movie was of course pretty much a request from my kids although I have to confess that I, as a Science Fiction geek, was at least a tiny bit interested in seeing what they had managed to cook together on a big budget. For the record I find the television show absolutely awful. Therefore I am quite surprised that I found the movie to be not exactly good but at least watchable. Make no mistake, it is indeed a silly and simple plot, teenage wet dream, stupid and illogical kind of story that you would expect. However, it was actually mildly fun to watch. Most of my enjoyment came from the special effects and action sequences of course. The dialog and behavior of the teenage heroes were as stereotyped and generally awful as one would expect. This of course means that the first half of the movie is less interesting than the second half when the action picks up. Actually, although there are some fun moments during “training”, I felt this entire idea of them not being able to use their powers before they had gotten into the right “mental state” to prove that they were actually Power Rangers was just a rubbish one. Once things started to pick up speed it became more interesting. The different means of transport of the Power Rangers was absolutely silly but still great fun to watch. Well, I really do not have that much more to say. The last parts of the movie was one big special effects feast with a few comic elements in it, most of them rather … teenage. Fun to watch for a science fiction geek like me. So, the verdict? Was it a fun movie to watch? Yeah, it was pretty okay. Was it a good movie? Well, that is probably stretching it.

I grew up on Power Rangers, I always loved them, even as an adult I re-watch _Mighty Morphin'_ about once a year. But it's never been "good", so for 2017's Hollywood go-over to even come across as well as it did is impressive, but still, in keeping with history, _Power Rangers_ is not "good". And where it fails hardest is in its most _Power_-_Ranger_-iest moments. Before Rita Repulsa, and the Ranger suits and the quote unquote epic showdown at Krispy Kreme (which by the way is probably the most heinous example of product placement I've ever seen), I was actually pretty on board, sure the acting was hit and miss at best, but as characters I was interested to follow their dynamic. Unfortunately, this is at best half the film, and even this half isn't perfect. _Final rating:★★½ - Had a lot that appealed to me, didn’t quite work as a whole._