Power Rangers: Review

Power Rangers is directed by Dean Israelite and stars Dacre Montgomery, Naomi Scott, Elizabeth Banks and Bryan Cranston. This enjoyable romp tells the story of a group of teenagers who are infused with superpowers after stumbling upon ancient coins, later finding they have become the Power Rangers and must fight against the newly awoken Rita Repulsa to save the world. 

What played originally as a ridiculous but enjoyable TV program has morphed into a big screen live action flick. So yes, with an incredibly bloated budget and a swap of lycra for metal we have the Power Rangers -2017. Like the recent Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles films, this is a cheerful nostalgia trip back to the 1990s golden era of cheesy superhero movies

Quirky, gritty and kind of cool, the John Hughes style first act perfectly creates the team of teens and their backstories, with almost as much depth as possible for a superhero movie. The acting was surprisingly Breakfast Club standard and the strong relationship between the teens maintained throughout the film. This was abruptly interrupted by the gorgeously over the top Rita Repulsa, who very much stuck out like a sore thumb against the otherwise cool youths. The film aims for but fails to deliver two contrasting things - a trendy, modern re-boot and a cheesy nostalgia trip. It's almost as blinding as the coloured spandex to see these really don't go together. Put it like this, Ketchup and Mustard are both enjoyable on their own but definitely don't mix.

That said, Elizabeth Banks's delivers an incredibly chaotic performance that completely changes the moody tone of the film when she finally burst onto the screen. Sadly, the time taken to develop the Rangers' characters means little time for the hilariously camp mighty morphin action, which only arrives in the later stages of the movie

In the end Power Rangers has bags of heart and some impressive acting, a very healthy portion of cheese, and a respectful nod to it's small screen past. Sadly though it fails to be either the modern moody teen drama it could have been, or the colourfully camp action flick it always was

I am going to give Power Rangers

5.2/10