More so in recent years, Hollywood has been known to dip back into the well of things that worked well before in the hopes of adapting the properties for an already built in audience. Think Disney’s live-action adaptations. The Transformers movies. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. The Oceans Trilogy. And now the Power Rangers.
Considering how poorly many (but not all) of the previous properties had been received, it’d be easy to roll our eyes at the thought of another studio trying to take on an aspect so fundamentally rooted in many of our childhoods, but it’s also just as easy to still feel a little nostalgic at the idea of getting to enjoy something from your childhood in the present.
Beyond that, it’s even easier to have a little part of you hoping that the reboot will end up being successful without completely disregarding previous history at the risk of irritating fans who are invested in the canon of the property.
Doing so, while trying to introduce the characters in a new way, however, can create issues. After all, it’s easy enough to just go back and retell a story verbatim and still hit an audience, but, at the same time, irritate people who weren’t interested in seeing a retelling of something they’ve already seen and heard.
So, it’s a fine line to walk, and one that Power Rangers manages to do successfully despite the updates made to make it relevant and cool in the present, like giving the Rangers Iron Man like suits as opposed to the spandex like suits of the original show. Or Rita Repulsa and Goldar actually being threatening as opposed to a bumbling bunch of fools.
To make up for this, we get throw back to the “Go Go Power Rangers” song or all Rangers landing on screen at the same time as if they were just landing from wherever they came from as well as the Zords, and for true fans, Bryan Cranston.
Pictured: Elizabeth Banks as Rita Repulsa Threatening Becky G. as Trini in Power Rangers
While it likely won’t necessarily win over any voters for the major movie awards or critics, it doesn’t necessarily set itself out to. Instead, it spends the majority of it’s time reintroducing many of the names that we grew up with while also introducing us to the new characters that those names embody while also indulging more in humorous aspects than fans of the original TV show will be used to.
Unfortunately, this does take away from much of the action moments in the movie, but it still doesn’t necessarily hurt the overall film as a two hour plus movie feels like almost half the duration.
And with the Universe established, fans will be happy to know that it’s entirely likely that those moments will be coming more frequently in future installments, something which was hinted at both in the press rounds as well as the film.
Power Rangers will be in theaters nationally March 24, 2017.
Main Photo Pictured: (L to R) Becky G as Trini, RJ Cyler as Billy, Dacre Montgomery as Jason, Naomi Scott as Kimberly, and Ludi Lin as Zack in Power Rangers (2017)
