Power Rangers Teaser Trailer (I think, there weren't any Power Rangers in it)

[IOwnTheSpire]

I haven't been a fan of Power Rangers since I was in Grade 6, over 20 years ago, but I do not like the tone. I suppose a reboot is entitled to do it's own thing, but I don't appreciate them taking a franchise that was previously campy and colourful and turning it dark and edgy. I HATE dark and edgy.

In case you missed Xsjadoblade's comment:

Do you realise there is a difference between "dark and gritty" and "serious"? Because the former is currently being beaten into meaninglessness by anybody who sees work that isn't all as full of slapstick rainbows and childish joy as they personally expect. Dark and gritty is supposed to be referencing the true grimy underbelly of society and ugliness within people in unflinching detail of which even many adults prefer to ignore. Subjects that are often avoided. This teaser is nowhere near such themes. At best, it looks like a High school drama action with comedy elements. So it's slightly more serious than a Saturday morning cringe-fest, big whoop. That doesn't make it "dark and gritty." ...blimey, talk about melodramatic reactions.

 

[Canadamus Prime]

I haven't been a fan of Power Rangers since I was in Grade 6, over 20 years ago, but I do not like the tone. I suppose a reboot is entitled to do it's own thing, but I don't appreciate them taking a franchise that was previously campy and colourful and turning it dark and edgy. I HATE dark and edgy.

In case you missed Xsjadoblade's comment:

Do you realise there is a difference between "dark and gritty" and "serious"? Because the former is currently being beaten into meaninglessness by anybody who sees work that isn't all as full of slapstick rainbows and childish joy as they personally expect. Dark and gritty is supposed to be referencing the true grimy underbelly of society and ugliness within people in unflinching detail of which even many adults prefer to ignore. Subjects that are often avoided. This teaser is nowhere near such themes. At best, it looks like a High school drama action with comedy elements. So it's slightly more serious than a Saturday morning cringe-fest, big whoop. That doesn't make it "dark and gritty." ...blimey, talk about melodramatic reactions.

I said "edgy" not "gritty." Nevertheless, if I didn't know any better, I'd swear the Director of this movie was taking inspiration from Christopher Nolan. And considering this is Power Rangers I don't consider that a good thing.

 

[Gordon_4_v1legacy]

Show me a fight scene, Power Rangers should if nothing else deliver awesome martial arts action. I don't care for these idiots back stories (especially since they're all cut from the edgy cloth; not quite Hot Topic though) so show me that they can bring it where it counts.

 

[Hawki]

I said "edgy" not "gritty." Nevertheless, if I didn't know any better, I'd swear the Director of this movie was taking inspiration from Christopher Nolan. And considering this is Power Rangers I don't consider that a good thing.

Considering that Nolan directed a solid superhero trilogy, I hardly see that as a bad thing.

And in anticipation of your reaction of "but it's Power Rangers, it's not meant to be serious," I'll counter with:

a) I'm sure people said the same of Batman - saying "x isn't meant to be y" is an argument based on perception rather than execution.

b) Power Rangers has done far more serious seasons than MMPR well before the movie, and was usually a better show for it.

 

[Canadamus Prime]

I said "edgy" not "gritty." Nevertheless, if I didn't know any better, I'd swear the Director of this movie was taking inspiration from Christopher Nolan. And considering this is Power Rangers I don't consider that a good thing.

Considering that Nolan directed a solid superhero trilogy, I hardly see that as a bad thing.

And in anticipation of your reaction of "but it's Power Rangers, it's not meant to be serious," I'll counter with:

a) I'm sure people said the same of Batman - saying "x isn't meant to be y" is an argument based on perception rather than execution.

b) Power Rangers has done far more serious seasons than MMPR well before the movie, and was usually a better show for it.

a) I'm sure there are people who would say that, however I'm not one of them. In fact I think Batman makes much more sense when he is done "serious."

b) Let me put it in perspective. In the game Dragon Quest V about 30 minutes in your character has to watch his father murdered in front of him and is then sold into slavery for 10 in-game years before escaping. Later in the game, shortly after your character's kids are born both your character and your wife are turned to stone and stay that way for 10 in-game years. And none of that felt as heavy handed as this teaser.

 

[Hawki]

a) I'm sure there are people who would say that, however I'm not one of them. In fact I think Batman makes much more sense when he is done "serious."

b) Let me put it in perspective. In the game Dragon Quest V about 30 minutes in your character has to watch his father murdered in front of him and is then sold into slavery for 10 in-game years before escaping. Later in the game, shortly after your character's kids are born both your character and your wife are turned to stone and stay that way for 10 in-game years. And none of that felt as heavy handed as this teaser.

a) You're missing the point. I'm not talking about preference, I'm talking about perception. As in, if a product starts off with a certain tone, the question is, is it obliged to stick with that tone? I'd argue no. I used Batman as an example because it's an example of a series that did start out goofy, but generally errs towards the "serious" side of things.

b) I'm not sure what I had to do with anything. My original statement was "Power Rangers has done far more serious seasons than MMPR well before the movie, and was usually a better show for it," to which you responded with describing Dragon Quest V. That doesn't really address my point, namely that the quality of writing in Power Rangers usually goes up when the show has somewhat serious situations. RPM? Post-apocalypse. SPD? Intergalactic police force. Dino Thunder? Teenagers with very different personalities that wouldn't associate with each other if not for circumstances forcing it. There's also In Space, which is generally highly regarded, but I can't comment on it directly. As fondly as MMPR might be regarded, it's certainly not a fondness that stems from the quality of its writing or character development.

Also, isn't Dragon Quest worked by the same guy who does Dragon Ball, a series that includes planet-destroying superpowers, the genocide of entire races, and death being a two-way street? As in, the same series that I can't get invested in because, among other reasons, it's effectively bereft of long-term consequences? Because thinking of another JRPG, Golden Sun, where you lose your father (and your friend/future wife loses her entire family in the first ten minutes), while those circumstances are alleviated by the second game's end, after losing them, as we skip forward three years into the future, time is taken to show the emotional fallout of those losses. Do you think the narrative would be served by not doing so?

 

[Canadamus Prime]

a) I'm sure there are people who would say that, however I'm not one of them. In fact I think Batman makes much more sense when he is done "serious."

b) Let me put it in perspective. In the game Dragon Quest V about 30 minutes in your character has to watch his father murdered in front of him and is then sold into slavery for 10 in-game years before escaping. Later in the game, shortly after your character's kids are born both your character and your wife are turned to stone and stay that way for 10 in-game years. And none of that felt as heavy handed as this teaser.

a) You're missing the point. I'm not talking about preference, I'm talking about perception. As in, if a product starts off with a certain tone, the question is, is it obliged to stick with that tone? I'd argue no. I used Batman as an example because it's an example of a series that did start out goofy, but generally errs towards the "serious" side of things.

b) I'm not sure what I had to do with anything. My original statement was "Power Rangers has done far more serious seasons than MMPR well before the movie, and was usually a better show for it," to which you responded with describing Dragon Quest V. That doesn't really address my point, namely that the quality of writing in Power Rangers usually goes up when the show has somewhat serious situations. RPM? Post-apocalypse. SPD? Intergalactic police force. Dino Thunder? Teenagers with very different personalities that wouldn't associate with each other if not for circumstances forcing it. There's also In Space, which is generally highly regarded, but I can't comment on it directly. As fondly as MMPR might be regarded, it's certainly not a fondness that stems from the quality of its writing or character development.

Also, isn't Dragon Quest worked by the same guy who does Dragon Ball, a series that includes planet-destroying superpowers, the genocide of entire races, and death being a two-way street? As in, the same series that I can't get invested in because, among other reasons, it's effectively bereft of long-term consequences? Because thinking of another JRPG, Golden Sun, where you lose your father (and your friend/future wife loses her entire family in the first ten minutes), while those circumstances are alleviated by the second game's end, after losing them, as we skip forward three years into the future, time is taken to show the emotional fallout of those losses. Do you think the narrative would be served by not doing so?

a) Bad example

b) My point was it's about atmosphere. You can do "serious" without having such dark (yes this teaser felt quite dark) atmosphere. Besides, ripping-off Christopher Nolan just because his movies were successful-ish, instead of doing their own thing is not going to score points with me. If they must rip off a successful super hero movie, why not rip off Guardians of the Galaxy. At least that movie was fun to watch instead of being so goddamn intense.

And yes, the ART for Dragon Quest is done by Akira Toriyama, the same guy who does Dragon Ball, but doesn't write the stories for Dragon Quest (good thing too) so that's irrelevant.

 

[Hawki]

b) My point was it's about atmosphere. You can do "serious" without having such dark (yes this teaser felt quite dark) atmosphere. Besides, ripping-off Christopher Nolan just because his movies were successful-ish, instead of doing their own thing is not going to score points with me. If they must rip off a successful super hero movie, why not rip off Guardians of the Galaxy. At least that movie was fun to watch instead of being so goddamn intense.

I agree that a work can be serious without being dark. However, I can't say anything in the trailer was dark apart from the actual lighting at night scenes. If teenagers acting like actual teenagers, including the worst aspects of human nature shining through at times, is considered "dark," well, no comment. The only thing approaching "dark" conceptually is Rita playing mind games with Trini, but aside from that...nup, not seeing it.

And I can't see anything in the trailer that resembles Nolan. Not in terms of style or content. The closest movie I can see conceptually is Chronicle. As for Guardians of the Galaxy, that could work, but while GotG is a "fun" movie, I'd hardly call it a "good" one. It's generic, cliched, and the idea of a bunch of scrappy outlaws in space fighting the good fight is an idea that's been done before, and done better. Not that Power Rangers really gets points for originality, but it doesn't need to stoop to GotG's level.

 

[Canadamus Prime]

b) My point was it's about atmosphere. You can do "serious" without having such dark (yes this teaser felt quite dark) atmosphere. Besides, ripping-off Christopher Nolan just because his movies were successful-ish, instead of doing their own thing is not going to score points with me. If they must rip off a successful super hero movie, why not rip off Guardians of the Galaxy. At least that movie was fun to watch instead of being so goddamn intense.

I agree that a work can be serious without being dark. However, I can't say anything in the trailer was dark apart from the actual lighting at night scenes. If teenagers acting like actual teenagers, including the worst aspects of human nature shining through at times, is considered "dark," well, no comment. The only thing approaching "dark" conceptually is Rita playing mind games with Trini, but aside from that...nup, not seeing it.

And I can't see anything in the trailer that resembles Nolan. Not in terms of style or content. The closest movie I can see conceptually is Chronicle. As for Guardians of the Galaxy, that could work, but while GotG is a "fun" movie, I'd hardly call it a "good" one. It's generic, cliched, and the idea of a bunch of scrappy outlaws in space fighting the good fight is an idea that's been done before, and done better. Not that Power Rangers really gets points for originality, but it doesn't need to stoop to GotG's level.

Again it's about the atmosphere. Everything felt very dark and oppressive here. The dark colours, the overcast sky, the muted lighting, it all made for a very repressive, dark atmosphere. Then, of course we see people being assholes, which only contributes to it.

 

[Hawki]

Again it's about the atmosphere. Everything felt very dark and oppressive here. The dark colours, the overcast sky, the muted lighting, it all made for a very repressive, dark atmosphere. Then, of course we see people being assholes, which only contributes to it.

While it's certainly darker in tone than other PR seasons, if not in context, I disagree with the assessment of everything being dark and oppressive.

Everything up to the 1 minute mark, yeah, I more or less agree. We've got a night scene, and it's established that the cast are 'problem children,' so to speak. From 1 minute to 1:25, we get more lighthearted stuff as they explore their powers, and scenes that wouldn't be out of place in Spider-Man, if you replace Billy with Peter and what I'm guessing is Bulk with someone like Flash Thompson. Everything from 1:25 to 1:50 is a mix of both, if anything, bringing in granduer (for instance, what I'm guessing is the film's version of the command centre). Then we have the Rita-Trini scene, which is about the only thing that's dark contextually. Then we get a glimpse at the morphing sequence. The trailer has a clear sequence of despair, followed by joy, followed by gravitas, followed by darkness, followed by hope.

Since Nolan's been brought into this, let's look at something like the trailer for The Dark Knight (see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EXeTwQWrcwY). I'm not going to dissect it, but looking at them side by side, The Dark Knight is clearly selling itself as a dark film contextually. Power Rangers isn't - it's selling itself as the usual "band of teenagers discover superpowers, fool around with those powers, only to discover there's a threat out there."

 

[circularlogic88]

What if The Breakfast Club were in Chronicles? Power Rangers obviously.

Nothing offensive in this teaser, but nothing that makes me say, " yeah, that's Power Rangers, I'm on board." Just funny to see Hollywood's trends permeate throughout this video: muted/washed out colors, broken down piano cover with nearly whisper singing, children's franchise being placed in a "realistic" setting to be taken more seriously. Its actually adorable that it almost achieves the same level of schlock that fan produced project generated a while back.

Off Topic: who wants to bet that Zords will be an acronym? Its just a weird thought I had that the film might be afraid we won't take it as read what a Zord is and feel the need to explain it with a convoluted acronym.

 

[Canadamus Prime]

Again it's about the atmosphere. Everything felt very dark and oppressive here. The dark colours, the overcast sky, the muted lighting, it all made for a very repressive, dark atmosphere. Then, of course we see people being assholes, which only contributes to it.

While it's certainly darker in tone than other PR seasons, if not in context, I disagree with the assessment of everything being dark and oppressive.

Everything up to the 1 minute mark, yeah, I more or less agree. We've got a night scene, and it's established that the cast are 'problem children,' so to speak. From 1 minute to 1:25, we get more lighthearted stuff as they explore their powers, and scenes that wouldn't be out of place in Spider-Man, if you replace Billy with Peter and what I'm guessing is Bulk with someone like Flash Thompson. Everything from 1:25 to 1:50 is a mix of both, if anything, bringing in granduer (for instance, what I'm guessing is the film's version of the command centre). Then we have the Rita-Trini scene, which is about the only thing that's dark contextually. Then we get a glimpse at the morphing sequence. The trailer has a clear sequence of despair, followed by joy, followed by gravitas, followed by darkness, followed by hope.

Since Nolan's been brought into this, let's look at something like the trailer for The Dark Knight (see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EXeTwQWrcwY). I'm not going to dissect it, but looking at them side by side, The Dark Knight is clearly selling itself as a dark film contextually. Power Rangers isn't - it's selling itself as the usual "band of teenagers discover superpowers, fool around with those powers, only to discover there's a threat out there."

Ok fine whatever, like I said I haven't been a fan nor even watched Power Rangers in 20 years (except for that one time I rented the movie out of curiosity). However that first minute or so completely turned me off the movie so FAIL.

Just funny to see Hollywood's trends permeate throughout this video: muted/washed out colors, broken down piano cover with nearly whisper singing, children's franchise being placed in a "realistic" setting to be taken more seriously.

THANK YOU!! This is the major problem here. Why do children's franchises need to be made "realistic" (sarcastic air quotes) and "serious" (sarcastic air quotes again)? Probably because they saw the success of Bay's Transformers and Nolan's Batman and wanted a piece of that pie.
Obviously there's an audience for this, so apparently I'm the only one who doesn't want my childhood heroes to grow up with me. And don't tell me I'm not!!

 

[Cicada 5]

b) My point was it's about atmosphere. You can do "serious" without having such dark (yes this teaser felt quite dark) atmosphere. Besides, ripping-off Christopher Nolan just because his movies were successful-ish, instead of doing their own thing is not going to score points with me. If they must rip off a successful super hero movie, why not rip off Guardians of the Galaxy. At least that movie was fun to watch instead of being so goddamn intense.

I agree that a work can be serious without being dark. However, I can't say anything in the trailer was dark apart from the actual lighting at night scenes. If teenagers acting like actual teenagers, including the worst aspects of human nature shining through at times, is considered "dark," well, no comment. The only thing approaching "dark" conceptually is Rita playing mind games with Trini, but aside from that...nup, not seeing it.

And I can't see anything in the trailer that resembles Nolan. Not in terms of style or content. The closest movie I can see conceptually is Chronicle. As for Guardians of the Galaxy, that could work, but while GotG is a "fun" movie, I'd hardly call it a "good" one. It's generic, cliched, and the idea of a bunch of scrappy outlaws in space fighting the good fight is an idea that's been done before, and done better. Not that Power Rangers really gets points for originality, but it doesn't need to stoop to GotG's level.

Again it's about the atmosphere. Everything felt very dark and oppressive here. The dark colours, the overcast sky, the muted lighting, it all made for a very repressive, dark atmosphere. Then, of course we see people being assholes, which only contributes to it.

We also see Jason standing up for Billy when the latter is being picked on, Billy getting the better of said bully later on and Kim and Jason making out.

 

[Cicada 5]

Again it's about the atmosphere. Everything felt very dark and oppressive here. The dark colours, the overcast sky, the muted lighting, it all made for a very repressive, dark atmosphere. Then, of course we see people being assholes, which only contributes to it.

While it's certainly darker in tone than other PR seasons, if not in context, I disagree with the assessment of everything being dark and oppressive.

Everything up to the 1 minute mark, yeah, I more or less agree. We've got a night scene, and it's established that the cast are 'problem children,' so to speak. From 1 minute to 1:25, we get more lighthearted stuff as they explore their powers, and scenes that wouldn't be out of place in Spider-Man, if you replace Billy with Peter and what I'm guessing is Bulk with someone like Flash Thompson. Everything from 1:25 to 1:50 is a mix of both, if anything, bringing in granduer (for instance, what I'm guessing is the film's version of the command centre). Then we have the Rita-Trini scene, which is about the only thing that's dark contextually. Then we get a glimpse at the morphing sequence. The trailer has a clear sequence of despair, followed by joy, followed by gravitas, followed by darkness, followed by hope.

Since Nolan's been brought into this, let's look at something like the trailer for The Dark Knight (see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EXeTwQWrcwY). I'm not going to dissect it, but looking at them side by side, The Dark Knight is clearly selling itself as a dark film contextually. Power Rangers isn't - it's selling itself as the usual "band of teenagers discover superpowers, fool around with those powers, only to discover there's a threat out there."

Ok fine whatever, like I said I haven't been a fan nor even watched Power Rangers in 20 years (except for that one time I rented the movie out of curiosity). However that first minute or so completely turned me off the movie so FAIL.

Just funny to see Hollywood's trends permeate throughout this video: muted/washed out colors, broken down piano cover with nearly whisper singing, children's franchise being placed in a "realistic" setting to be taken more seriously.

THANK YOU!! This is the major problem here. Why do children's franchises need to be made "realistic" (sarcastic air quotes) and "serious" (sarcastic air quotes again)? Probably because they saw the success of Bay's Transformers and Nolan's Batman and wanted a piece of that pie.
Obviously there's an audience for this, so apparently I'm the only one who doesn't want my childhood heroes to grow up with me. And don't tell me I'm not!!

I'm not really sure if I'd consider the Bay Transformers movies to be serious.

 

[bluegate]

Show me a fight scene, Power Rangers should if nothing else deliver awesome martial arts action. I don't care for these idiots back stories (especially since they're all cut from the edgy cloth; not quite Hot Topic though) so show me that they can bring it where it counts.

My worst nightmare is that the fight scenes are filled with jump cuts and shaky cam, leaving you sitting there going; I have no idea what is going on here... but it must be awesome, right? There's so much movement! Wow!/s

 

[The Purple Grape]

Why am I getting Shadow the Hedgehog flashbacks? Feel like I'm going injure myself on the edge again.

 

[Canadamus Prime]

I'm not really sure if I'd consider the Bay Transformers movies to be serious.

Probably not, but they're still much more "adult" and "mature" (sarcastic air quotes)) than their source material.

 

[Canadamus Prime]

What if The Breakfast Club were in Chronicles? Power Rangers obviously.

okay im glad I'm not the only one thinking about the Breakfast club when everyone apparently meets for the first time in detention

I mean, we got the red ranger who its implied killed someone while drunk driving probably (and is wearing a tracker ankle bracelet for show)

the pink ranger gets called a slut

yellow ranger is being told to kill herself

blue ranger is a traditional nerd archtype

and the black ranger likes to sit on top of buildings because hes cool and edgey



EDDDDDDDDDGGGGGGGGGGGGGGEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

And these are the teens we're supposed to believe would become heroes upon discovering super powers by chance. Sorry my willing suspension of disbelief will allow for a lot of things, but not that.