Greetings Everyone,

I had a chance to check out the long-awaited reboot, Saban’s Power Rangers, and wanted to provide you all with a review. Before I get started, take a look at the following trailer if you haven’t seen it.

Directed by Dean Israelite, Saban’s Power Rangers stars Dacre Montgomery, Naomi Scott, RJ Cyler, Ludi Lin, Becky G., Elizabeth Banks, Bryan Cranston, and Bill Hader.

In the small town of Angel Grove, 5 troubled teenagers discover power coins that give them superhuman strength and capabilities, which they will need in order to protect the planet earth from a villain who’s out of this world; Rita Repulsa (Banks). With the guidance of Zordan (Cranston) and Alpha 5 (Hader), these teens go through extensive training and group bonding to eventually morph into the Power Rangers. Protecting the world no longer becomes their temporary mission, it’s their calling.

If you grew up in the 90s, then you know how much of an impact the Power Rangers franchise had on your growth & development. For many of us, myself in particular, it was our childhood. So I went into the movie theater with my guard all the way up, especially after seeing the obvious change in the characters.

Surprisingly, however, I enjoyed this film more than I thought I would. The original Black Ranger, Zack (Walter Jones), was my favorite character; he had swag, was athletic, and he was the only Ranger who could break dance while beating up puddies. But since we live in a fake, politically correct society and social media activists are always on call, I understood why the creators of this reboot might’ve felt the need to switch some things around. Which did not hurt the film at all, because the character development was one of the strongest aspects of the movie.

Unlike their 1993 predecessors, these teens were anything but squeaky clean. They suffered from the same insecurities, self-doubt, confusion, and bullying that most teenagers have to deal with. And this inevitably helped them become better superheroes throughout the process. The only hiccup I had with this film was the lack of combat.

The fight scenes that the Rangers had with Rita’s minions, without their suits and armor, were my favorite parts of the television series. I mean, they fought everywhere: the playground, parking lot, school, carnival, you name it. So I would’ve liked to see more of that instead of the CGI-infused climax that took place in the final quarter of the movie.

Overall, the nostalgia, cinematography and intriguing characters outweighed the changes made, as well as minor absences (Bulk and Skull) from the original, so no real harm was done. I look forward to seeing how this revamped franchise will expand going forward.

Grade of B

Until Next Time…