Time to talk about Hasbro and Power Rangers

     So I was tempted to bring this up as a bonus in last week's grab bag but there is a lot I want to say on this topic. As most of you know, Hasbro has recently bought Power Rangers from Saban Properties LLC for $522 million dollars in cash and stock. Fans were shocked as this could mean a lot, and I mean A LOT of things for the franchise. I think right now it is fair to look at what this deal entailed and what this could mean for the future from this fans opinion as only time will tell what will happen for sure.
     One interesting thing to be made aware of is that, while buying the whole franchise was a shock, Saban having deals with Hasbro is not as new. Back in February, Hasbro had acquired the rights to make Power Rangers toys. The fact is a lot of toy based deals and sales were happening around that time. Companies who manufacture and distribute toys took a significant hit after the closing of Toys R' US. Strictly speaking of toy companies, a lot of deals had to be made and things signed over so some people can keep their business afloat.
     Does this mean that the fall of Toys R' Us is to blame for all of this? I don't believe so. While many, including Hasbro, blame the fall for declining sales across the board, there is likely another cause. It has been a trend for years that people prefer to buy things online instead of going to the store to buy things, which is criminal and stupid but not what we are here to discuss. It is one of the main reason's that Toys R' Us went under in the first place. Toy companies had to rethink a lot of strategies, like Saban making a new deal with Hasbro.
     Now what does all of this have to do with Hasbro acquiring Power Rangers? I believe a lot. Whether we like it or not, the Power Rangers franchise is kept afloat by two things; Toys and viewers. The show gets us to buy toys and the toys get us to watch the show. While this marketing strategy may warrant criticism, it has worked for over 25 years in America and almost 40 years in Japan. The obvious upside is that both sides of the coin strengthen each other for constant growth. The even more obvious down side to this is if one goes bad, the other suffers. Anybody who has watched Power Rangers recently knows the show has been far from it's best. Couple that with a hit to the toy sales and Saban was left in honestly a pretty bad situation.
     Thinking about this from Saban's perspective, Hasbro is great at making toys. The current toy lines for Star Wars, Transformers and My Little Pony have been great, despite the fall of Toys R' Us. It was safe to say the toy problem was solved. There was still the issue with making the show. I don't believe the people running Saban are stupid. I believe they are aware of all of the problems and complaints people have made about Power Rangers since MegaForce came on the air. Power Rangers is staying afloat but not to the degree it used to in the mainstream. There is a very clear downward trend. To save money and prevent further risk to the company, Somebody else had to take the helm of producing the shows in the future.
     While Disney may have been a consideration it was probably easier to deal with Hasbro since there were already written agreements in place. Hasbro even has been connected to some very successful television shows. Again, My Little Pony started a phenomenon that is still going on to this very day. Looking at the stellar toy record of Hasbro and their incredibly decent, albeit short, TV history, Saban had the means to turn the series over to potentially good hands and still score a profit.

     With that we are left with one question. Will Hasbro do the series justice? Hasbro can absolutely make toys that people will love. If they partner with Bandai for more legacy figures, even better. The biggest point of contention is going to be the show. Hasbro is already starting ambitious and basing the next Power Rangers off of a Sentai that was skipped before, Tokumei Sentai Go-Busters. Already they are using viral marketing and open auditions to get the best people possible. The heart is there but Power Rangers is more tricky to make than it would seem at first. Hasbro may do the series a service and sneak in plenty of adult and pop-culture humor like their other shows, but that could detract from some of the initial fun of the show.
     Time will tell what Hasbro does. The first toy line will come out next Spring, and the show will premiere sometime that year as well. All eyes will be on Beast Morphers next year. If this series is good, Hasbro will have won over the fans. If the series flops, then nothing will have changed and Hasbro will receive blame for "the downfall of the Power Rangers". Oh yeah not just fan opinion, but Hasbro's credibility is on the line for this move. At least part of it anyway. I will remain optimistic that Beast Morphers will be a decent show. Go-Busters is one of my favorite Sentai so I must be a little strict with it lol. Keep your hopes up you fellow toku-nuts!

Kaiju Grab Bag Vol. 5: Godzilla news A-plenty!

     Quite a few interesting bits of news have come out recently revolving around Godzilla. It wasn't just news we were expecting or hoping for either. Sure we got some news about the Godzilla anime but also some leaks regarding the upcoming Godzilla: King of the Monsters coming out next year and some really unexpected news regarding where the Godzilla franchise is heading in Japan. So let's discuss these things shall we?

Godzilla 2 leaks and news

     So a lot of small bits of news have come out regarding the sequel to Legendary's Godzilla film. Most of it has involved actors being revealed and announced to continue on to be in Godzilla versus Kong. The actors in question are fantastic picks in and of themselves. Millie Bobby Brown did great on Stranger Things and Kyle Chandler is a very well rounded actor who did great on Super 8. There is also the return of Ken Watanabe as Dr. Serizawa which is very welcome. 
     Without a doubt the bit of "news" that caused the most stir is the supposed leak of Ghidorah's design in the new movie. As the internet tends to do, people ate it up right away without taking any part of it with a grain of salt. Many fans were open to the design, just about as many didn't care for it. Since it's release the creators have gone on record to state that that is not the design for Ghidorah. While many fans are understandably skeptical of this, I tend to believe them. Legendary is very clever with their marketing so I am sure that was a concept they left teased to mess with our expectations. Comic-con is right around the corner and I feel many things will be teased or revealed around that time so it is best to keep our eyes and minds open.



Godzilla anime scheduling update

     The Godzilla anime got a of of mixed reviews when it came out. I have my own thoughts on it which I already discussed here. Despite the mixed feelings people were still awaiting the sequel, albeit more out of curiosity then sheer excitement. With that in mind, the current schedule we got for Godzilla 2 is...weird to say the least. We were going to get a version on Netflix this weekend but it has been pushed back to a yet to be determined date. The reasoning behind this actually makes sense. The movie is under-performing big time in the theater so the creators and Netflix are likely not throwing a lot of resources towards it compared to the first part. What really threw us for a loop was that the next part is right around the corner. The third and final part of the anime will air in November.  with a yet to be determined release date for Netflix. This could also be attributed to the under-performance. Creators may want to rush the product out to maximize profits since the project is ultimately short term. Even more so I think Toho wants some extra time to plan their future Godzilla projects.

New Godzilla Cinematic Universe? 

      This was the news nobody was expecting. Toho has revealed that they do have plans for a Cinematic universe for Godzilla after the contract for Legendary expires and the monsterverse reaches its conclusion. This news, by itself, was already enough to excite Godzilla fans all over, but there was a catch to this. It was also announced that there are currently no plans for a Shin Gojira sequel to make room for their cinematic universe. There were fans that found this very bittersweet since Shin Gojira was such a groundbreaking film. While it did initially make me sad, I am personally okay with Shin Gojira being a stand-alone movie. It is great enough in its own right to the point where it does not really need a sequel. I would dare to say that making the sequel anything like other Godzilla moves would feel like a betrayal to what Shin Gojira represents. That is a discussion for another day.



     Big things are happening with the Big G. with news and updates around every corner, there is no better time to be a fan of Godzilla. I can't wait to see all of these finished products in motion. This is the Kaiju Kidd signing out excitedly.

Rampage mini review and impressions

     After opening weekend Rampage was given praise after praise as one of, if not, the best video game movies in existence right now. That is a bold claim and while I can't say it is the best video game movie to ever come out, It is still a very enjoyable movie. When a video game movie comes out, it is inevitable that it is compared to the source material. So much stuff was changed for Rampage that it hardly resembles the base games save for a few details. On that regard I would happily say that it is a good movie, but not the best video game movie. Dawdling aside, there are plenty of things that make this movie great.
     The plot of this movie is just about as simple as the trailers portray and the movie is all the better because of it. Some scientists make a formula that causes sever aggression and mutations. The space station the experiment takes place crashes due to another creature going berserk and the containers with the formula scatter around the United States and cause severe mutations in three particular animals. George, a gorilla in the care of Davis Okoye (Dwayne Johnson), A wolf in the Midwestern United States who we come to know as Ralph, and a giant Alligator who we come to know as Lizzie. The three animals are lured to Chicago so the company who made the formula can get the samples they so desire. Shenanigans ensue as the monsters fight it out and wreck the city. Quick side note, I know technically it is said that Lizzie is a Crocodile but as a Florida boy I can't help but be confused by that  since the gators are in the everglades, where the container landed, and the crocs are mostly saltwater. Continuity be damned, I will keep calling Lizzie a gator!

     The huge down side to a plot this simple is it doesn't leave much room for character development. Really, aside from the villains, there are only three characters we are supposed to cling to. Davis Okoye (Dwayne Johnson), Dr. Kate Caldwell (Naomie Harris) and Harvey Russel (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) serve as the main characters. They are given very simple personalities and jokes, though I find Dr. Caldwell the most forgettable of the three. Granted, Harvey Russel chews the scenery whenever he is on screen. The point is you come to understand these characters very quickly and very early on. The movie knows what it is, and that is not a compelling character drama.
     The movie is meant to be a fun monster romp and that is exactly what it is. The movie does not try to be anything more than that. Because of this, the movie is far from perfect with very few shining moments, but even fewer groaning or just boring moments. The highlight of the movie is the climax. Nonstop monster-fueled destruction with enough pauses to move the story forward and get a laugh. I swear when the 3 creatures had their stand off in the movie I could hear the words "LETS GET READY TO RUMBLE!" playing in my head. This is the kind of tone the movie sets so yeah be sure to turn your brain off for this one. In fact, speaking of the monsters I do have some things to say about those.
     The CG effects in this movie are great. I can't say they are quite as good as some of the other monster movies as of late, but the quality is definitely up there. Each monster mutates in ways that you would expect that kind of creature to mutate...almost. George, being a terrestrial ape, gets huge muscelemass, regeneration and a very tough hide. Lizze, being an aquatic reptile, gets extremely thick armored scales, tusks, gills, and ravenous claws everywhere. Ralph, being a wolf gets a more nimble build, sharp fangs, porcupine spines ...and flaps to glide with. I know, in the movie they say mutations are unpredictable, but it is odd to see Ralph get all the weird stuff while George and Lizzie still look somewhat reasonable. It is a dumb thing, I know, but I feel like they should gone nuts with all 3 or none of them. Go big or go home so to speak.
     At the end of the day there are things that bug me and things that can be seen as flaws but I still cannot say that this was a bad movie. Above all else, this movie is fun. You cannot go in expecting a masterpiece or some sort of poignant message. This is the kind of movie where you go in, turn off your brain and have a good time. It provides an occasional laugh, some good action and nice pacing. Despite how different this movie is from the disjointed lore of the original rampage games, I can't help but say good job to the people who made this. I recommend this movie to anybody who likes action movies and/or monster movies.