Spoiler-Free Movie Review: Power Rangers

Go Go Power Rangers or Hell No Power Rangers? This review will be a bit different from my other ones so far as I have not prior knowledge to any Power Rangers material as opposed to my deep knowledge of the Batman and X-men properties. Growing up they never really seemed that interesting to me as it just seemed way too cheesy and over the top. So, with that said, what did I think of the new movie Power Rangers? It was really cheesy and over the top in the best ways possible.

I had no expectations going into this movie and I had a really fun time. I was very surprised at how well done just about all of the characters were and how good the cinematography was as well. One thing I will say without giving anything away is to not expect a ton of action as the movie spends a good majority of the runtime developing its main cast with the additions of minor characters Zordon (Bryan Cranston) and Alpha-5 (Bill Hader). This movie really wants the viewers to earn seeing the Rangers suit up, and in the process, allows us to really care about what is happening and what the characters’ motivations are. They are all extremely relatable to younger, especially teen, audiences and thus we care about what happens to all of them and want to see them all succeed individually and as a team.

Despite that, this is not anywhere near a perfect movie and no one should expect it to be. The villain, played by Elizabeth Banks, is incredibly over the top and almost takes the viewer out of the movie while watching. She was also probably the weakest character in the film at least compared to the main five Rangers. The other areas this film falls short includes the soundtrack and way too much product placement. The musical score as very unmemorable and there was so many pop songs that it felt like they were just skimming through radio stations. I also don’t really mind a little product placement, but this movie takes it to the next level by having a major plot point revolve around a specific product placement. It was funny at first but it kept going lost any humor it initially conveyed. All in all, a very fun movie that is a great start to a new movie franchise and hopefully they improve on what worked and cut back on what didn’t. Also, I have to mention that there is a reason to stay through most of the credits (but not all).

Final Score: 7/10

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