The story, took the premise of the American show and put it into movie form. Five teenagers with attitude uncover the coins and become Power Rangers. It is up to them to learn to work together, use their powers and stop Rita Repulsa from Destroying the world. The movie's main strength is how simple it is. More time can be devoted to things like characters, action and even fan-service. Arguably even more important than that, the movie was fun. I enjoyed watching the movie pretty much all the way through.
None of that is to say the movie is without flaws. There are some pretty obvious flaws with the film that keep it from being truly great but, in my opinion, don't lessen the experience as much as others would have you believe. There are many things that people have been complaining about that I would say are not really a problem. The main complaints/flaws are as follow:
1) The opening scene - The movie opens to a prologue explaining why Zordon and Rita are on earth in a pretty intense scene that even shows an Aquitian, as fans of the show will recognize. The movie then cuts to Jason pulling a prank by putting a cow in a locker room. This scene is quickly gaining infamy for a pretty weird milking joke. It is the kind of dirty humor that you are going to love or hate but the problem is it doesn't fit that well in the movie, and for some does not set a good precedent for what they are about to see. While I didn't mind it as much as others, it was a clear problem
2) Rita's acting - This is generally viewed as a point against the movie as people are either going to love her brand of crazy or hate it. I was among the ones that loved watching her be psychotic and murderous. The main argument against her is that she was too out there for a movie that was trying to be a bit more mature. While I see where people who say that are coming from, I would propose that it would be a lot stranger to see Rita as a subdued tactful villainous. Rita was always crazy, and this movie did pretty darn good with what they had, in my opinion.The personal problem I had with Rita is that in this movie she is established to have been the green ranger before. I personally don't like the idea of Rita being a Ranger, but I am willing to forgive it for a few reasons. Her "transformation", the green armor, is incomplete and it can be inferred that her corruption has started to sever her connection to the morphing grid. The other reason is she doesn't really rely on the power of the armor at all, but rather her own spells and fighting prowess. It took some getting used to but was ultimately tolerable.
3) Forced references - I have only heard a few people mention this. References to many power rangers series are littered throughout the movie. How certain items, street names and powers are named and used will probably only bug you if you are expecting a one-to-one copy of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, which the creators made clear is not what this is. If you let this movie be its own thing, I swear the references will not bother you at all.
4) Rangers screen time - I hear this one a lot. Many people are saying that the Rangers were not in their suits for enough of the movie and many people wanted to see the Power Rangers be the Power Rangers and beat up evil. Many people wanted a lot of action, and if you are expecting action from beginning to end this may bug you. The Rangers are only suited up for about 15-25 minutes towards the end of the movie. This is seen as a problem by those expecting a nonstop explosion fest but it is not that kind of movie. While many claim it is a problem, I think this leads into a great strength for the film. The movie is not a beat-em-up thriller. This movie is about the rangers becoming a team and earning their powers. We have the luxury of getting to know the characters and story before they morph for a very well done action scene, and this is somehow a bad thing. people are weird.5)Krispy Kreme - I honestly can't defend this one that much. The product placement in this movie was ridiculous. there was too much dialogue towards the end regarding the Krispy Kreme. It got too a point that it seemed like a self-fulfilling joke in the movie, but that doesn't excuse that it is pretty sloppy in regards to film-making. There is even a scene where Rita eats a donut like shes in a commercial. It was stupid, it was needless, I thought it was funny, but it is still a problem.
Those are the main 5 that people seem to point out as problems, and most of them boil down to personal preference. There are also some sprinkled plot holes but they are few and far between and can be explained pretty easily with just the phrase "morphing grid". Beyond these problems though the film has a lot of strength to it that drew fans in and earned it some well deserved praise.
This movie was a character driven film from beginning to end. The main 5 were fantastic actors that got tons of laughs out of me and even got me bit teary eyed during the now infamous campfire scene. Each of the Rangers show off their unique personalities and enough time was put into getting to know each one. These characters knew their role very well and 100% captured the idea of "teenagers with attitude" in a realistic and engaging way. The good character writing was not limited to the Rangers of course. Much to the surprise of many, Zordon was even given a slight character ark. Zordon was prideful and somewhat resentful that he failed to stop Rita before and begins to take his frustration out on the Rangers before realizing that this is not his team anymore, and he must be there as a guiding hand instead of barking orders. Bryan Cranston did wonderful and gave us, at least close to, the best portrayal of Zordon fans could ask for. Even Alpha 5, though annoying at times, had plenty of character and was a little more engaging and fun to watch than previous incarnations of the character.
This movie also has a great sense of Humor. I mentioned that the opening scene will be hit or miss and seems out of place, but the rest of the movie is very fun. Billy, for instance, is established as being on the autism spectrum. He has trouble identifying sarcasm and this leads to him taking certain things literally. This is portrayed with enough care that it is never offensive or demeaning to those with autism. The audience is just given some funny and realistic exchanges between Billy and other Rangers. The Humor also comes from Rita and how much Elizabeth Banks just loves her role. As one of the people who enjoyed her performance, I loved how crazy and out there she was. It put a huge smile on my face when she said "Make my monster grow!". As much as the film is trying to be something different, It clearly knows where it came from and is not afraid to poke fun at it while lovingly embracing its roots.
The Power Rangers film is not without problems but it is still a very loving tribute to the show and a worthy reboot of the original Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. I do recommend that everyone give this movie a try. I am confident that most people will see this movie as at least pretty good. I can understand people being hesitant to see it or not being drawn into the movie as much as others as many elements are, of course, love em or hate em. If I were to rate this movie, I would give it a solid 8 out of 10 but I can understand others giving it a 7.5 or even a 7. I will likely be seeing this movie again while I await potential future installments of these new Power Rangers.
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