Sabans Power Rangers finally hit theaters, after a lengthy wait filled with dour trailers

and false rumors. Remember when we thought they were going to tie the whole thing into
the TV series? Or how someone said the whole thing was being produced on a budget so
tiny, the Rangers suits would be made of tinfoil and the Zords inserted via 2D animation?

Well, never mind all of that: weve got the movie, and its actually pretty good, all things
considered. Those expecting a really expensive episode of the original Mighty Morphin series
need not apply, since this more recent movie had chosen to slow things down and focus on
characters, but its at least worth a watch for anyone feeling the nostalgia vibes.

Not that Power Rangers is perfect; far from it, in fact. While it didnt entirely capture the
spirit of the beloved TV series, it still had its moments. Here are 7 Things That Sabans
Power Rangers Got Right, And 7 Things It Got Wrong.

14. Teenagers with Actual Attitude

Dont get us wrong; the original team of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers were great if you
were six years old, and thus had a six-year-olds understanding of how to write good
characters. You may think fondly back to Billys technobabble, or Kimberlys handsprings?
Trinis hairstyle?

Fact is, those kids didnt have a whole lot going for them apart from nice, and this new
movie really turned that on its head. Original Zack Walking Stereotype Taylor has morphed
into whats basically ADD Adam, and it makes for a far more entertaining character.
Meanwhile, original Trini was a smiling husk with less personality than a Putty Patroller. She
was there to fill a set of yellow pajamas, so were totally okay with her being rebranded as a
snarky outcast with family issues.

Rounding off the rest of the cast, we have Mean-Girl-in-rehab Kimberly, a version of Jason
with actual crippling flaws, and Billy, whos gone from ambiguously autistic to actually
autistic . Perhaps the glue holding the team together, RJ Cyler gave Billy depth outside of
just being the team nerd who fixes stuff, with his disbelief and gratitude at finally having
true friends shining through in his every scene and making him impossible not to love.
Put simply, these are real people, albeit as real as you can get when said people are also
recruited to suit up in technicolor plate armor and fight in an ancient alien war.

13. A More Fleshed Out Origin Story

Recruit a team of teenagers with attitude! Zordon commands during the opening theme,
words you could recite in your sleep (alongside AAAAH, AFTER TEN THOUSAND YEARS IM
FREE!!)

Except thats not quite how it goes down, right? Zordon actually orders his robot flunkie to
kidnap five teens, lays the weight of the universe on their shoulders and just expects them
to be okay with this. And they are, at least after they ditch the Command Center and realize
their only options are walking home through the desert or selling their bodies and souls to a
space wizard. No training, no detailed explanation of what theyre getting themselves into
and no hesitation on Zordons part that he might have picked the wrong people.

That can slide in a kids TV pilot, but you know they had to do things differently for the big-
budget adaptation, and thats exactly what we got. Here we have the teens finding the
Power Coins for themselves, after which theyre forced to investigate due to their new
abilities of breaking sinks and making things explode. Even after Zordon has given them the
low-down, the entire team almost quits there and then due to how weird the whole thing is,
only being brought back after theyre shown the consequences of failing to take up the call.

And even after that, they have severe morphing incontinence issues and have to train
without their armor. Its all a whirlwind sequence of events, and theres not much realism
going on when were talking about Power Rangers. Still, as an origin story, its a heck of a
lot more fleshed out than the one we got in the show.

12. Zordon and Alpha Are Actual Characters

This aint your grandmas Zordon. In fact, this isnt even close to the version we got in the
show, but considering that one is a head in a tube who mostly exists to give exposition,
thats a step up.

Movie Zordon is far from the eons-old mentor, instead being an ancient warrior (and former
Red Ranger) who became trapped inside the Morphing Grid upon his meteor-induced death.
This is even new to him, as we see from when Alpha wakes him up and hes none too
pleased about being stuck in a wall. Zordon is clearly carrying a load of baggage from the
death of his previous team, as well as the prospect of training a bunch of angst-ridden
teenagers to save the universe.

To make matters worse, his motivations seem mostly to get his old body back, though we
finally see a spark of the old Zordon as he sacrifices his chance at revival to resurrect Billy.
Character development in my Power Rangers mentor? Its more likely than you think.

Meanwhile, Alpha 5 is more of a mentor this time around, mostly playing peacemaker
between the Rangers and Zordon and doing most of the actual training, which is more than
his original role of pressing buttons and getting stressed. A comic-relief Alpha and paragon-
of-goodness Zordon worked in their own way for the show, but here, their characters had to
take a step up; and they did, in grand fashion.

11. Rita Gets Her Hands Dirty

This definitely aint your grandmas Rita, either.

We get that the original Rita wasnt really a front line fighter, instead attacking with magic
spells and flunkies from afar. Part of this was due to Rita just being her delegating self, and
part was the footage issue; until season 2 they just (badly) dubbed over the Japanese
actress, so it kept her from getting any more hands on.

And then we have Elizabeth Banks mortifyingly-creepy Rita, clearly inhuman and not quite
into the idea of outsourcing when getting her own hands dirty works just as well. It makes
sense, since as the former Green Ranger she wouldve been no stranger to active combat.
Jurys out on where she got the magic, though if that was even magic.

Not content to sit in a moon palace screeching and complaining about her headaches, this
Rita takes on the Rangers in person and solidly stomps the lot of them despite their greatly
enhanced strength. They may not have been morphed at the time, but as a former Ranger
who murdered the previous team, were left believing that Rita couldve repeated the feat.
Heck, she even takes a swing at the Megazord, at least before getting pimp-slapped right
back into space. Its not the most dignified end to her threat, but since theyre clearly
steering the series towards the Green with Evil saga and weve seen Rita survive getting hit
by a meteor, you know shell be back .

10. A Genuine Team of Misfits

One aspect of Power Rangers that may surprise a lot of people is not just how focused the
movie is on teamwork, but how well it actually pulls it off. The franchise has zig-zagged on
the issue, often paying lip service to how the Rangers have to work as a team and how
theyre family, but then turning around a slapping us with scene after scene of the more
important Rangers handling most of the threat by themselves.

Even the original Mighty Morphin bunch, despite clearly being friends, arent given much
justification for it. They go from acquaintances to fire-forged companions before the first roll
of the credits, and no one ever questions this. Meanwhile, the movie goes to great lengths
to convince us that this is a team of misfits and screw-ups who are brought closer by their
experiences, forming an unlikely team who end up willing to die for each other.

Call it the charm of the individual actors, or the bursts of strong writing that probably
shouldve been more equally distributed to the fights (more on that later), but the
friendship of the five seems to happen as organically as it couldve in such bizarre
circumstances. The movie doesnt just toss out the tagline of Together We Are More and
leave it at that. It hammers the message right in, and the actors carry it through, whether
its the secret-sharing campfire scene or the training montage of them growing closer in a
load of small scenes.

We actually get payoff to all of this as well: the Rangers can only morph when their bond is
strong, with it being properly forged by Billys sacrifice. After that, their individual efforts are
combined into the Megazord. Together they actually are more.

9. No More Tired Formula

With how many sequels Saban has planned , this movie might as well be one long pilot for
the series, and it does most of the things a pilot is supposed to do: it sets up the characters,
establishes the universe and their powers, presents them with a neat and tidy conflict and
sets everything up for continued adventures in the land of dinosaur mecha.

Theres no tired formula, at least not yet, as Ritas first attack is essentially her only attack.
No need to camp on the moon and throw wave after identical wave of threats at the
Rangers while they go about their lives with no thought to mounting any kind of pre-
emptive strike. The movie undercuts all of the formula, which aside from being tired and
predictable actually made no sense. Instead, were given a self-contained origin tale where
the Rangers have to learn to use their powers, become a team and face a massive threat in
a huge climactic battle.

With all that said, we also know that this isnt over. Rita makes it pretty clear that more
threats are on their way, and we all know that she herself isnt done, what with that green
Power Coin still wedged firmly in her staff. There have even been whispers behind the
scenes that shes working for Lord Zedd, theres the Zeo Crystal still sitting in the ground
and on a more minor note, we dont even get to see any weapons aside from Jasons sword.
The movie may have told its own story, but it also set up the universe for more. If it makes
enough money, anyway.

8. Grit (in a good way)

As it turns out, saving the universe is serious business. Make up your own minds on
whether they took this too far, but a big-budget Power Rangers reboot had to tone down the
silliness to be taken seriously, and thats exactly what they did.

The same thing happened in the original Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie, which
also had a much larger budget than the show and realized that it needed to up the stakes.
Meanwhile, stakes in this big-budget reboot were raised until they were orbiting the moon,
with Rita awakening and immediately enacting a plan to rip out the heart of the planet and
kill everyone.

The word kill is tossed around casually, were shown a glimpse of what the loss of the Zeo
Crystal would do to the planet, and in case anyone didnt get the picture that Rita was evil
and gross, she eats people. As in you see her eating people. Its a far cry from the mewling
hag whose most evil acts involve chanting gibberish spells over dime-store Halloween props.

You just cant throw a load of money at a project and have the Rangers suited up in lycra,
sparks flying out of their bodies whenever theyre struck by a man in a bulky bee costume.
This movie needed to takes things more seriously, and thats exactly what it did. People are
injured or straight up murdered, which is exactly what youd expect when a cannibalistic,
pure-evil witch is stalking around with plans to conquer the universe.

Now thats over withlets talk about what this movie did wrong.

7. Grit (in a bad way)

Okay, sure, death is fine. People die, fights result in injuries, thats all totally
understandable.

But there is such thing as too much grit. Each of the five future Rangers have stock issues
plucked right out of a teen drama, so heavy-handed that youd think the Power Coins were
specifically aiming to bond with the worst screw-ups they could find. Virtuous leader Jason
Scott starts the movie by getting a police tracker strapped to his leg, while Billy is being
menaced by a bully sadistic enough to try to break his fingers while theyre standing in a
crowded hallway.

Hollywood, thats not how bullies work. They were clearly going for this incarnation of the
Rangers being a ragtag bunch of misfits and outsiders, but in whats ostensibly a fun
superhero flick based on a colorful kids show, there are better ways to go about this than
giving Zack a terminally ill mother. Even sweet Kimberly has a deeply-chequered past,
punching out teeth and broadcasting explicit pictures in a move stolen straight from Gossip
Girl.

Then theres the issue of Rita eating people, which is shoved right in our faces and then
never referenced again, making us wonder if they just really wanted to establish her as an
extra-creepy incarnation. Seriously, have they met Elizabeth Banks? A few scowls wouldve
had us totally convinced; they didnt need to fill the screen with discarded entrails in an
attempt to convince us that this movie is totally dark, you guys.

6. Severe Lack of WHAM Moments

Power Rangers as a franchise is all about the gigantic wham moments; those first morphs,
the flashy Megazord finishers, all the way to the grand finales where the Rangers pick
themselves up out of the dirt and vanquish the bad guy with one final explosive attack (if
were lucky).

The Power Rangers movie? Not much of that. Its great that they established the
relationships between the cast, but the movie seems to lose sight of the fact that its based
on the Power Rangers, substituting heartfelt chats for spectacle. We dont even see the
Rangers morph properly, with half of it happening off screen. What we do see kind of
underwhelming after a films worth of build-up.

Then theres the Megazord, which is assembled in a haze of smoke and spends most of its
time throwing really slow punches. Remember the classic finishers from the show? It might
have been a load of stock footage, but they were also iconic and irreplaceable. Here, we get
the Rangers pulling out a couple of swords, stabbing for a bit and thats the fight finished.

Contrast the original Mighty Morphin Power Rangers movie, which for all its flaws still
recognize that big wham moments are the building blocks of the franchise. The first morph
in that movie is epic . The summoning of the Ninjetti, the Great Power, the Rangers calling
their terrible new CGI Zords, Zordons revival, all done with masses of fanfare.

The big-budget reboot is too gritty and serious to even include a proper morphing call.

5. Needless Changes to Canon

Most of the movies changes to the canon were for the best, as weve mentioned: a more
solid origin story, believable characters and a far more menacing villain.

Thats villain in the singular, however, since not every change was for the better, and some
were sheer nonsense. For example, was Goldar in this movie for any other reason than
giving the Zords something to fight? Hes been downgraded from semi-competent
henchman to oozing monstrosity, devoid of personality, explanation as to what he
even is and anything else that mightve made him interesting.

While Rita as a former Ranger was an interesting twist, she still spends the whole film
stomping around alone without her entourage of cackling henchmen. Goldar might as well
be her personal Zord for all the character hes given, and the rest of her flunkies are
nowhere to be seen.

Alright, so we can easily do without Squatt and Baboo, and no one will be missing Pudgy
Pig. Youre not going to find anyone starting a GoFundMe campaign to have Grumble Bee
added to the next movie. Still, its a complete 180-turn from the Power Rangers staple of
the main villain on their throne, sending monsters to do their bidding. Hands-on though she
may be, it was done at the cost of turning Rita from the shrill witch we all know and love
into a more generic doomsday villain, propped up by the charisma and certified crazy eyes
of Elizabeth Banks.

If only Goldar couldve been so fortunate.

4. That Tortoise-Slow Megazord Battle

Make up your own mind on the Megazords new look, but were sad to say it doesnt make
all that much of an impressive showing here. What we shouldve gotten was the centerpiece
of the final battle; after all, the Megazord fight is as much a Power Ranger staple as
morphing, mentors and just generally being really bad at keeping their secret identities.

What we got instead was a Megazord seemingly formed by accident. Didnt think to mention
that one, Zordon? We know youve got issues here, but either you or Alpha might have
dropped a hint somewhere, maybe stuck a post-it note in one of the cockpits: THESE
THINGS COMBINE. After that, were treated to a few unimpressive minutes of two very
slow titans punching each other a few times, before Goldar is finally downed and the
Rangers seem to realize they have swords, which they use to finish the fight.

Thats it. The climactic final battle is finished in a few punches thrown at tortoise speed. The
essential PR trope of the Megazord finisher is completely ignored, even though it wouldve
topped off the fight perfectly. The filmmakers had a blueprint repeated almost 800 times on
television, but they apparently all decided that it would be more exciting and dynamic if
Goldar politely agreed to let the Megazord smack him around and shank him while he was
down.

For reference, heres a compilation of slightly more impressive Megazord finishers.

3. The Suits Dont DO All That Much

The hype surrounding the suits in the movie is immense, as evidenced by Zordon banging
on and on about how useless the teens are for not being able to morph. Its great that their
morphing ability is tied to their teamwork and all, but then the movie has go and tumble
headfirst into that tired old origin tale trap: too much setup, not enough payoff.

We dont want to spend two thirds of a movie watching Bruce Wayne fumble around some
mountains as an angsty rich kid; if we paid to see a movie with Batman in the title, then
thats what we need to see. The same goes for the Power Rangers, and as charming as the
actors are in their roles, it was still just one long countdown until they finally morphed and
we got to see the Power Rangers in action.

For all of about two minutes. Two unimpressive minutes of kicking some rock men.

In fact, its left ambiguous as to whether they needed to morph in the first place. Sure,
armor is real nice when youre getting punched in the head, but the Ranger teens are
already insanely strong, durable and have Matrix-esque leaping abilities, so what was the
big deal over morphing? Mostly, it seems, just piloting the Zords. All in all, the actual time
spent watching the Power Rangers in action on the ground was critically brief, and aside
from Jasons sword the suits didnt even seem to do all that much.

But hey, pretty colors.

2. Lore Everywhere, No Explanation

Power Rangers moved pretty slowly, especially considering the flashy source material. That
worked in its favor when establishing the origin story and the characters, but we sure did
get introduced to a boatload of concepts which are apparently being left for one of the many
sequels.

A whole load of them are just tossed out there into dialogue or flashbacks without any real
explanation. Long-time series fans will be familiar with the Morphing Grid, but this is a
whole new universe with its own rules, and when you present us with a concept that can
apparently raise the dead, were going to have questions.
Nope? The Morphing Grid just gives you armor, and the occasional resurrection? Sorry we
asked.

The Zeo Crystal mostly just acts as the resident MacGuffin with untold power and not much
else, there to give Rita something to do. So does every habitable planet in the universe just
have one sitting a few meters underground? How does it give life, exactly? Who
even put them there??

Hush now, dont question the MacGuffin! And if anyone else is curious about the Power
Rangers of eons past, how the organisation got started, why their suit colors are so glitzy,
why theyre even called that in the first place, how they reached Earth, why there are only
six, where the Power Coins came from, how Rita went from Green Ranger to evil witch,
ANYTHING elseyoure out of luck. Better stick around for ten years of sequels, because a
good 70% of this movie had to be given over to teen angst, and there wasnt much room
left for question time at the end.

1. A Crucial Shortage of Martial Arts

The five newcomers taking up the roles of Jason, Kimberly, Billy, Zack and Trini were hired
for their acting skills, and thats fine. Theres a critical shortage of actors with both acting
talent and mad martial arts mastery- just ask whoever did the casting for Iron Fist so if
Dacre Montgomery has to rely on a stunt guy to pull off a triple corkscrew kick, were not
holding that against him.

Except apparently theres a critical shortage of stunt people as well, because for a series
based on Power Rangers, theres shockingly little martial arts involved. Just go back and
watch one of the original episodes of MMPR; mega-budget entertainment they were not, but
they still went out of their way to hire actors who could do their own stunts, and you can
tell. Thats actually Jason David-Frank running up a tree and performing an aerial spin kick;
Amy Jo-Johnson really does know how to perform multiple handsprings and finish with a no-
handed cartwheel; Johnny Yong Bosch could wreck you in a fight twenty years ago and still
could today. They even got much better as the show went on.

Power Rangers had always relied on its stunts and and hand-to-hand combat, even if its not
exactly a paragon of proper fight techniques, so its a shame that the big-budget movie did
away with all of it. Not counting Ritas curb-stomp battle, all we get are a few training
scenes and one unimpressive ground battle against putties, where the Rangers are morphed
and trying to hide the CG with a load of rubbery kicking.

Its kinda disappointing that a shoestring-budget kids show from the nineties has far more
dynamic, fast-paced and better-choreographed fight sceneseven when said scenes are
about 40% unnecessary backflips.

Bonus: Bulk and Skull

You might have noticed the conspicuous absence of everyones favorite/least favorite bully
duo, Bulk and Skull. Make up your own mind on the directorial decision to shaft the two in
favor of the more generic and sadistic bully whose efforts to torment Billy are continually
thwarted, but not having Bulk and Skull present in the movie at all was an odd choice.
Theyre practically Power Ranger staples, appearing in every episode and inspiring legions of
comic-relief pretenders in every other series.

Perhaps it was decided that their particular brand of comedy wouldnt mesh well with the
movies tone, and yeah, it probably wouldnt. Its not like they ever had anything meaningful
to contribute to the plot until their final appearance as a duo in Countdown to Destruction,
and the movie didnt need to be padded out by Bulk taking a swing at Billy and falling into a
cake.

Bonus: The Massive Budget

A big budget is usually a good thing. Compare the Megazord in THIS movie to, for a random
examplethe one from the 1995 MMPR movie. Take your time, drink in the differences.

Yeah, so its clear that a budget increase of some $100 million has done some good things
for the franchise, and not all of that went on plastering ads all over every bus in the world.
The Zords look great, the Ranger suits look more like they mean serious business and we
were spared a few of the more cartoonishly-awful moments from the original.

And yet, look at the difference between the genuinely scary raptors in Jurassic Park and the
piles of pixels in Jurassic World. All the swish visuals in the world mean nothing if theres no
impact, and theres certainly a lot less of that when the CGI Rangers are kicking CGI putties.
In short, practical effects have their place, and more of a balance might do some good next
time around.

Source : Screenrant