Power Rangers - Go Go Get a Donut!

[hentropy]

As I've said elsewhere, Power Rangers has always been at its best when it's allowed to take itself seriously, so in theory, the film seems to be checking off that mark on the list, but not forgetting that it's still Power Rangers.

The Green Ranger arc was the best arc in the original series (even I remember that), the idea of redemption was a somewhat heavy one. MMPR took itself plenty seriously even if you didn't, that was part of what made it charming. They were all best buds who knew karatee and beat up bad guys with just enough time to teach you a lesson about bullying. Making all the best buds a bunch of insufferable kids who are all cynical and don't like each other at first might work as "Something Something Rangers" but not as the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers I remember, which is supposed to be the nostalgia spot they're trying to rub.

I guess "my version" would have been the origin which was done quickly like in the show and beating up the gold monster within the first hour, then bringing in the green ranger arc (having him make appearances in the act) and his redemption as a finale. The whole point of spandex uniforms was that they were martial artists and could use the mobility, they never needed armor to protect them from shrapnel and explosions. There's ways you can "modernize" that without making it look like shit.

And as someone above me said, this movie was supposed to be for those like me who loved the MMPR for the few years they were on the top of the world (Pokemon kinda overtook them if I remember correctly) and then stopped caring about the 20 series they did after that.

 

[RJ 17]

Awww, I would have hoped that having Poison Ivy on lone from DC would have been able to make this movie watchable!

Guess not...

 

[Hawki]

This Movie is clearly going for Nostalgia whilst utterly failing to accomplish that.

And as someone above me said, this movie was supposed to be for those like me who loved the MMPR for the few years they were on the top of the world (Pokemon kinda overtook them if I remember correctly) and then stopped caring about the 20 series they did after that.

I keep seeing this nostalgia claim come up, and while the film is undoubtedly banking partly on nostalgia, I'm skeptical of that being the be all and end all. I say these things based on the following aspects:

1) The TV series has banked on nostalgia multiple times, and if anything, it's shown that nostalgia isn't a shield against critique. I can think of at least three series that bank on nostalgia, namely Dino Thunder, Samurai, and Megaforce. Lets just say that reaction to Megaforce...wasn't positive, to put it mildly, and while a lot of that can be put on other elements, it's telling that of the three series I mentioned, Megaforce tries to emulate MMPR the most, and fails the hardest. It's likewise telling that as far as I can tell, future seasons have abandoned the old continuity entirely. That's right, the nostalgia trip failed so hard, it literally killed the series's original canon.

2) Power Rangers does have a cultural presence among Gen Z, least as far as I can tell. As someone who has to work with children's material in a library, I can say that, assuming volume of material = preference of material (which is basically how a CDP is meant to work), Power Rangers, while not as prevalent as it once was, still has an audience as of the Neo-Saban era. Likewise, I've seen the movie advertised in children's magazines; children who wouldn't have been alive for MMPR, or likely any of the Zordon Era/Saban Era. So, the film is obviously trying to appeal to a new audience as well. There'd be some from Gen Y who'd want to see it, sure, but no film is going to succeed by relying on nostalgia alone.

3) The film is obviously based on MMPR, but there's easter eggs to the other shows as well. Reportedly, Time Force, Lightspeed Rescue, Jungle Fury, Dino Thunder, and possibly Zeo (this is only based on what I've read). That's not only references to multiple shows, but multiple eras as well.

So, no, not only can I say that (based on perception, haven't seen the film) the film is banking entirely on nostalgia. If anything, I feel it's nostalgia done right, referencing the original material, but updating it. It's more Dino Thunder, less Megaforce. My approach to nostalgia is like tickling - do it a little, so that I barely notice it, and I enjoy it. Tickle me too much, and it becomes painful.

And who knows, maybe the movie really is a piece of crap. Still, that hasn't been the focus of the conversation, as so far it's been based more on conception rather than execution.

 

[Remus]

The movie was actually pretty good. It went through your basic Spiderman-style origin tale, told through multiple characters and yea, it cribbed a bit from the Breakfast Club but only a bit, unless for Part 2 Tommy turns out to be the jerk whose dad put out cigarettes on his arm. The sexuality of the weird girl is only hinted at, partially as a joke by another character so it never really comes up. There's a joke about slapping that pays off later. As a standalone flick, I'd give it a 3.5 / 5, definitely worth watching. Rita's a bit over the top but other than that, good attempt at modernizing a stale franchise.

 

[saltyanon]

So still better than the TV show then?

I'm probably a bit alone in this, but I prefer the bonding and early character exploration of superhero origin stories more than their action. Like with X-men: Apocalypse, it was most interesting as it was setting up characters until the CGI shit hit the fan and everything got a bit dull. There never seems to be any stake in the action, the CGI will always see to it our heroes will not face harm unless a less important, disposable hero needs to be killed or thought to be killed to enforce more emotion onto the main heroes quest for success.

The show may not be good at all, but it had more heart and charm than this sterilized corporate product that was shat out.

The shows ARE sterilized corporate products based on Japanese sterilized corporate products designed to sell toys. It wasn't as egregious in, say, the 80s, but it got progressively worse. Heck even Kamen Riders are all about toys now.

 

[Orga777]

The shows ARE sterilized corporate products based on Japanese sterilized corporate products designed to sell toys. It wasn't as egregious in, say, the 80s, but it got progressively worse. Heck even Kamen Riders are all about toys now.

The newer shows? Yes. You are 100% correct (especially with Kamen Rider... that stuff has been horrible since Double ended, minus maybe Gaim, which at least tried with all the horrible toy constraints it had to deal with.) However it did not really start out that way. Power Rangers was an accident that can never be replicated again. While Super Sentai is meant to sell toys and Power Rangers by default, that is not really the reason it got popular. The show is so weird and zany that it just hit at the right time. You could tell that they at least TRIED, despite the stupidity of the entire premise. Heck, I find that the show tried more than even the mostly bad Super Sentai it was taking stock footage from. But this movie? Nah. There is nothing here. It is just another bland story that doesn't even know what tone it is going for or even what audience it is going for. It is just a bunch of crappy teenage angst that we ALWAYS get in movies these days. This movie is really just pure emptiness. The show had charm and heart, even at its absolute worst. This movie does not.

 

[saltyanon]

The shows ARE sterilized corporate products based on Japanese sterilized corporate products designed to sell toys. It wasn't as egregious in, say, the 80s, but it got progressively worse. Heck even Kamen Riders are all about toys now.

The newer shows? Yes. You are 100% correct (especially with Kamen Rider... that stuff has been horrible since Double ended, minus maybe Gaim, which at least tried with all the horrible toy constraints it had to deal with.) However it did not really start out that way. Power Rangers was an accident that can never be replicated again. While Super Sentai is meant to sell toys and Power Rangers by default, that is not really the reason it got popular. The show is so weird and zany that it just hit at the right time. You could tell that they at least TRIED, despite the stupidity of the entire premise. Heck, I find that the show tried more than even the mostly bad Super Sentai it was taking stock footage from. But this movie? Nah. There is nothing here. It is just another bland story that doesn't even know what tone it is going for or even what audience it is going for. It is just a bunch of crappy teenage angst that we ALWAYS get in movies these days. This movie is really just pure emptiness. The show had charm and heart, even at its absolute worst. This movie does not.

I never claimed the shows being vehicles to sell toys are the reason why they got popular.

I know it really didn't start this way, at least in Nipponland, where it really started with Godzilla/Kaiju films that birthed the Ultra series etc., but Hollywood execs that brought Japanese stuff westwards were (and are) almost exclusively looking for something "fresh" or the next hit for more bucks. Cough, cough, Saban.

I still remember the toy commercials that started airing with the show the moment Haim Saban saw the numbers and how popular Power Rangers got. It was a time when toys were still the norm. Every subsequent Power Rangers since then has been cash-ins. The nicest way I can describe them is "very good business decisions".

 

[Kahani]

But the old continuity is still active.

Others have noted that there are plenty of other franchises that have done reboots despite having their previous continuity still active, but more importantly, what continuity? Power Rangers doesn't have an active continuity, it has about 20 or pretty much unrelated continuities, and it reboots everything just about every time it starts a new series, does a new film (this is actually the third one), or decides to sell some slightly different looking toys. This isn't taking some long-running continuity and throwing it all out to start; throwing everything out to start over is the only aspect of the franchise that has any continuity in the first place.

 

[happyninja42]

So, no, not only can I say that (based on perception, haven't seen the film) the film is banking entirely on nostalgia. If anything, I feel it's nostalgia done right, referencing the original material, but updating it. It's more Dino Thunder, less Megaforce. My approach to nostalgia is like tickling - do it a little, so that I barely notice it, and I enjoy it. Tickle me too much, and it becomes painful.

And who knows, maybe the movie really is a piece of crap. Still, that hasn't been the focus of the conversation, as so far it's been based more on conception rather than execution.

Well, having seen the movie, and not being a fan of the series, I can say it doesn't bank on nostalgia like I think most people think. It's not quipping old references left and right. There ARE homages, and call backs to the original show, and references to other shows, but they are very subtle. It's not like they make a joke that makes no sense in context of the movie, and then you have to have your friend who is a fan explain it. They do things like name some streets in the town after other towns that other PR shows took place in. The girl who plays Trinny, or Trini, is wearing a shirt that says 1973, which some speculate is homage to the actress who played Trini, who has since died, as that is apparently her birth year. Other kids might wear a shirt here and there with a subtle reference to the show, some side characters might make a comment or two, that has a double meaning if you are a fan, but is also perfectly normal without the reference. A few times, a character would do/say something that seemed perfectly normal/funny in itself, based on the context of the scene, but then my friend would make a comment that that was a slight nod to some aspect of MMPR or whatever. It wasn't that I didn't get what they were going for with it, they just added an extra layer to it for fans. I never felt "left out" of the joke or anything while watching it.

As to whether it's a piece of crap or not, well, that's purely opinion, so I can't really speak for you or anyone else. But as someone who isn't a fan of the show, it was simply after my time watching that kind of stuff, I enjoyed it a lot. It was funny, it was engaging, it even got me choked up in a scene or two. I thought the actors who played the 5 were surprisingly good, given they are all fairly new to acting. The actor who played Billy stole the movie, he was consistently fun to watch, and the other actors played off each other very well. They had, I thought, very good chemistry with each other, their comraderie felt genuine, their delivery of lines felt real, and they sold the "you must become a team to defeat Rita" plot angle of their powers.

Everyone in my theater was enjoying it, and were vocally cheering at parts, or simply just laughing at the funny parts. My friend who is a fan enjoyed it a lot, more than I think he was willing to let on. Overall, I thought it was a fun movie. It wasn't perfect, but it didn't drag. Not once did I think "ok come on, let's get on with it. Move on to the good stuff." It was serious when it needed to be, and silly as shit when it needed to be. It didn't take itself too seriously, but it also wasn't afraid to have fun with itself either. And the actress playing Rita was great in my opinion. She was so over the top and hammy. I'm surprised Angle Grove was still standing, she chewed the scenery so much. But it was a good chewing, she was definitely channeling the source material with her performance, which, while at odds with the rest of the tone for the most part, oddly still fit for me. She was this insane, batshit crazy alien woman, who had One Goal, and she didn't give any fucks about these pesky mortals on this planet. She did her own thing, and to hell with the body count.

Bottom line, I had fun with it. If you can appreciate them taking the story in a different tone than the original material, I think you can enjoy it.

 

[aegix drakan_v1legacy]

Huh. All the friends I have that have seen it tell me it's freakin' amazing, and some have gone back a second time.

Then again, Magical maguffin under a KRISPY KREE store?! I can't EVEN take this seriously right now. XD

 

[happyninja42]

Huh. All the friends I have that have seen it tell me it's freakin' amazing, and some have gone back a second time.

Then again, Magical maguffin under a KRISPY KREE store?! I can't EVEN take this seriously right now. XD

Well you're not supposed to take that seriously. xD Hell, the MOVIE doesn't take it seriously. It's very clearly played for laughs. It's like they said "Ok look, product placement is just a thing. It happens, it's always going to happen, deal with it. We're not going to try and sneak it in, because it never works, everyone notices the placements anyway and comment about it. So, fuck it, let's just be completely fucking obvious about it. Just open the coat and let our product placement dangly bits flop in the wind for all the world to see. Hell we'll even make it part of the plot. Why? Because fuck it, why not? If we play it right, it will be funny." And to me, they nailed it. It wasn't them trying to be sneaky, and assume we wouldn't notice, they just said "Yep, we got a shit ton of money from Krispy Kreme, so they get a spot in our movie. Deal with it." In my theater, everyone was laughing about it. It was kind of a 4th wall breaking, meta joke, for the audience. Acknowledging the reality of film production, and keeping the movie somewhat campy and light.

Personally, I've never really had much of an issue with product placement. I mean, I don't know about where anyone else lives, but where I live, restaurant chains and retail stores are all over the fucking place. It's the USA, commerce is literally pretty much anywhere you go that isn't a residential area. So the idea that, if they are fighting downtown, they will be doing it in front of a Krispy Kreme, a Subway, a Wal-Mart, etc, isn't unrealistic. I mean, if a giant mecha/kaiju fight broke out right now, in my city, within a 3 block radius of where I am at work, there would be product placement all over that fight, because they'd be fighting in a downtown, commercial district. What else would be in a downtown area? I mean, it's not houses, it's businesses.