I never liked MMPR when it first became a phenomenon. The characters seemed to me like perfect little balls of nothing -- no unique personality to them, and they were like a hivemind. All of the subordinate Rangers always followed Red's orders -- seemingly in lockstep -- and Red always followed Zordon's orders. It was implied that they only got their powers contingent upon using them in compliance with Zordon's wishes, which is lame. It's like being handed the keys to a Ferrari and being told you can only use it to go grocery shopping for your mom. The way superhero stories work, usually, is that the character receives powers and then has to make the choice to use them for good.
The only distinct one was Tommy, but they were careful to explain that Tommy's bad-boy-ness was due to Rita's evil magic, not his own choices. Thus absolving of any blame but also stripping him of his agency.
(Rita was the coolest thing about that show. I always love a good, sinister female villain... because at the time they were rare.)
I never saw this movie in theaters because it just seemed like more of the same. I saw parts of it on YouTube and yep, looks like it. Like, don't they skydive and then rollerblade for charity in the opening or something? It just hammers home the point that the OG MMPR are what every fortysomething suburbanite parent wishes their kids were: attractive, omnitalented, getting straight A's and scoring a perfect 1600 on their SATs (the maximum at the time), all while lettering in football, participating in all the extracurriculars, volunteering at the homeless shelter and touring with Up With People. And always, always obeying authority figures to the letter.
I wasn't that kid, so I couldn't relate. I did, however, greatly appreciate the 2017 Power Rangers film, because it reimagined the Rangers as messed up kids who gained superpowers and... had to make the choice to use them for good. And were so stubbornly independent that working together as a team was a challenge for them. They were like the kids I actually hung out with in high school. If those Power Rangers were in the original show, I would have been way more into the franchise.
Later seasons of Power Rangers got better. Same hokey production values, but the characters were more human and fleshed out. And the primary original Japanese series behind Mighty Morphin, Kyōryū Sentai Zyuranger, was pretty rad in a VERY cheesy way.
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I never liked MMPR when it first became a phenomenon. The characters seemed to me like perfect little balls of nothing -- no unique personality to them, and they were like a hivemind. All of the subordinate Rangers always followed Red's orders -- seemingly in lockstep -- and Red always followed Zordon's orders. It was implied that they only got their powers contingent upon using them in compliance with Zordon's wishes, which is lame. It's like being handed the keys to a Ferrari and being told you can only use it to go grocery shopping for your mom. The way superhero stories work, usually, is that the character receives powers and then has to make the choice to use them for good.
The only distinct one was Tommy, but they were careful to explain that Tommy's bad-boy-ness was due to Rita's evil magic, not his own choices. Thus absolving of any blame but also stripping him of his agency.
(Rita was the coolest thing about that show. I always love a good, sinister female villain... because at the time they were rare.)
I never saw this movie in theaters because it just seemed like more of the same. I saw parts of it on YouTube and yep, looks like it. Like, don't they skydive and then rollerblade for charity in the opening or something? It just hammers home the point that the OG MMPR are what every fortysomething suburbanite parent wishes their kids were: attractive, omnitalented, getting straight A's and scoring a perfect 1600 on their SATs (the maximum at the time), all while lettering in football, participating in all the extracurriculars, volunteering at the homeless shelter and touring with Up With People. And always, always obeying authority figures to the letter.
I wasn't that kid, so I couldn't relate. I did, however, greatly appreciate the 2017 Power Rangers film, because it reimagined the Rangers as messed up kids who gained superpowers and... had to make the choice to use them for good. And were so stubbornly independent that working together as a team was a challenge for them. They were like the kids I actually hung out with in high school. If those Power Rangers were in the original show, I would have been way more into the franchise.
Later seasons of Power Rangers got better. Same hokey production values, but the characters were more human and fleshed out. And the primary original Japanese series behind Mighty Morphin, Kyōryū Sentai Zyuranger, was pretty rad in a VERY cheesy way.