Power Rangers

Starring: Dacre Montgomery, Naomi Scott, RJ Cyler, Ludi Lin, Becky G., Elizabeth Banks, Bryan Cranston, Bill Hader (voice), Matt Shively, Cody Kearsley
Directed by Dean Israelite
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Action, Adventure, Science Fiction
2017

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: A group of high school students uncover a mysterious craft that gives them unexpected powers.

Review:

Tim: Dean Israelite's first film was the decent Project Almanac, so it did make sense to give him the revival of the Power Rangers franchise. He's young and showed promise on that film. I didn't expect him to not only improve on the first film, but to deliver a Power Rangers movie that I actually enjoyed, but he did. Look, this movie is cheesy and certainly has its flaws, but I had a fun time watching it. I liked this movie and no one is more surprised at that than me.

Like his first film, Israelite is tasked with pulling together a group of young actors and giving them something science fictiony to do. He actually does a really good job of that. While none of the young cast members are especially memorable, he gets them to work together in a way that's just entertaining. He captures that youthful innocence and openness to the world. You watch these five different teenagers come together and you remember what it was like being in high school, connecting with people you never expected to connect with. This movie captures that exuberance of the young and it's fun to watch these characters discover powers beyond their imagination. I love that the movie at least attempted to root this in reality, to take a slightly more logical approach to something that we've seen can be so cartoonish and absurd. The movie treated the subject matter seriously, not as a joke- and the movie benefits greatly from that. So yes, this is a Power Rangers movie, but it's a coming-of-age story. It's about a group of high school students who move past their prejudices and baggage and form new relationships. It's fun to watch the characters develop and mature over the course of the film. Of course, there's aliens and monsters and giant robots and all that, but the heart of this story is a human one. I really, really appreciated that.

The film does a good job of building up to the Power Rangers actually clad in their armor. It takes a long time for that to happen and I was okay with that. This story had to be about the characters. It wisely spends so much time on them that when they do finally morph, it feels like a celebration, a victory. The conclusion of the film is the big visual effects spectacular, and those scenes are solid. They aren't incredibly memorable, but it's fun to see the Power Rangers in action. The most important scenes all take place earlier, though- establishing the characters as people we should actually care about.

Now, while the characters were decent, I have to say that none of the young cast members really impressed me. Dacre Montgomery was probably the best (which is good, since he's the lead role as the Red Ranger), but I can't say he gave a great performance. The same can be said for the rest of the young cast. They were okay, but no one is especially memorable. I didn't love any of their performances. Israelite was able to pull out decent performances, but he didn't have a star among the main cast. He's fortunate to have Elizabeth Banks as the antagonist and Bryan Cranston as one of the allies, because both bring their talent to these roles. They took the parts seriously and certainly elevated the film. Banks and Cranston were essential to making this film a good one.

It's easy to dismiss this as a "bad" movie because most people likely expected Power Rangers to be crap. However, Israelite did some very interesting things with this film. Sure, it's flawed and corny, but it still delivered an entertaining experience. I wasn't expecting much, but I had fun watching this movie and I actually hoped we'd get a sequel. That is more than I could have ever expected from this film.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 7



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers, Project Almanac