Power Rangers

This review may contain spoilers!

It's like watching one film about dark gritty teen drama and another completely opposite dumb blockbuster with cheesy one liners were awkwardly blended into one film. I would give Power Rangers a 4.5/10.

The film does a good job of tackling some roles with deep or interesting backgrounds; Billy's autism was some of the better writing within the film; however topics such as bullying, dealing with losing a terminal family member and same-sex relationships were all raised in interesting and unique ways. The cinematography of the film looked really good, the camera was constantly set up in a way that took in all the action set before it, which I personally found visually fascinating. The special effects also looked pretty good most of the time; the suits looked great, the Zords and Alpha 5 looked pretty good and even Zordon's holographic image was a fun part of the film.

Dacre Montgomery, who played Jason/Red Ranger, was a really cool central protagonist for the film; Montgomery really had the charisma and presence that was needed to lead the team. Naomi Scott, who played Kimberly/Pink Ranger, was a deeply conflicted character throughout the feature; Scott really made her character feel lost and had an open vulnerability which lead to a very honest performance. Bill Hader, who voiced Alpha 5, was a great comedic presence in this feature; Hader's running dialogue was a lot of fun and he was definitely the heart of the film.

However the best performance came from RJ Cyler, who played Billy/Blue Ranger. Cyler just crafts this awkward role who may be inept when it comes to understanding social cues but who has a lot of curiosity and heart at the core of his character. From the beginning we're explicitly told that Cyler's role is autistic and lost his Dad at a young age, these aren't easy aspects of a character to capture but they are done very well throughout this feature. Cyler has an open and great sense of chemistry with the rest of the main four, making it all the more believable when it's his character who constantly does important actions or makes sacrifices on behalf of the team. A fun role, a kind role and the Ranger that will be your new favourite for sure after seeing this film.

Power Rangers has always been known as the TV show that got a little corny but brought some fun action; what the film does is nothing like that up until the last half hour. It's no great surprise that the film has a focus on teen angst and the social issues these teenagers face from day to day; yet when the film has a heavy focus on these outcasts becoming friends by exposing their secrets to one another you lose interest pretty fast. The more interesting elements of the feature such as the history of the Power Rangers or the big bad, Rita Repulsa, feel like cheap gimmicks that you aren't ever invested in. Sadly these gimmicks pile up pretty quick as we're first told that the Ranger armour will only appear when everyone is friends with one another, the giant disembodied head can 'come through the wall' once they armour up, the baddie is making a solid gold monster and that the Rangers each get a super sweet dinosaur themed vehicle. In the final act of the film you're assaulted with a sudden focus on cheesy humour, cringeworthy one-liners and plot devices that feel as if they'd been ripped out of a Saturday morning cartoon. Considering the history of Power Rangers one might wonder why this is such a bad thing? Well it comes down to tone; if your film starts with a dark angsty tone and then transitions to feeling like a cheap cartoon then the two tones within your film clash pretty strongly. Furthermore the score for the film is mostly forgettable, the soundtrack has to be even worse, with the original Power Rangers theme song and a Kanye West track landing only minutes between one another.

Ludi Lin, who played Zack/Black Ranger, is the weirdest and possibly worst performance out of the entire cast; Lin goes from one extreme to another while portraying his role's personality and his attempts at comedy fall dismally flat. Becky G, who played Trini/Yellow Ranger, is pretty forgettable as far as being a Ranger goes; The way her character refuses to really connect with the rest of the cast means that you never really get to take an interest in her role. Elizabeth Banks, who played Rita Repulsa, doesn't seem to know how to play anything other than over the top; Banks does not even try to bring a sense of range to Rita and instead brings out one of the most camp villains of the year. Bryan Cranston, who played Zordon, is honestly just quite a dull character who you never get to know and is filled with exposition heavy lines; gone are the Breaking Bad days of acting clearly. David Denman, who played Sam Scott, is a bit intense as far as father figures go; frankly while Denman has a lot of passion you never really buy the relationship between him and Montgomery. Fiona Fu, who played Zack's Mum, was even worse than Denman as far as playing a parental figure; Fu had a very forgettable connection with Lin onscreen and you didn't really care or take note of her sickness.