Power Rangers

This is the Power Rangers Film we deserve...even if it isn't the one we need right now.

A seriously dark and dystopian take on the 'Teenagers with attitudes' that we grew up with.

It manages to get a hell of a lot of story into its short runtime...and luckily it's a great story too.

Impressive visual effects add to the film instead of being the basis for it. Sackhoff & Van Der Beek turn in good performances too.

The only downside for this film, is the fact that it gives us a taster of a fantasy product that we are never going to get; but one could say the same of a lapdance, yet the stripping industry still manages to get buy.

Since the internet is full of chatter over this fan film being taken down due to a claim by Saban, the creator of the series, I will not take up too much time on this topic, suffice to say that when your fan film contains fantastic effects, high production values, and actors like James vander Beek and Katee Sackhoff, then perhaps the idea of "fair use" of IP doesn't have quite enough goodwill in it to totally cover you. Anyway, outside of the fuss, the short film is not only a fan film, but also a sci-fi actioner with good effects and action to cover up for it being a snippet rather than a whole narrative. In both cases such things are common on the internet, since shorts often turn to this genre to try to deliver fancy effects packages.

So, in terms of the reason for the huge numbers of views this got in a very short period of time, it is pretty clear it was the brand and the name that made it such a hot property – and thus easy to see why the actual owners of these got upset that someone else would profit off their work. Anyway, that is not to say that the film itself doesn't deserve credit for what it does – because although inherently the genre/concept is common, it is very well done. The narrative is very simple but I was engaged by the idea of these comical, tacky characters (in my opinion) suddenly placed into a much darker world. This also allows the atmosphere to work and the short feels wonderfully violent, impacting and impressive.

The special effects are part of that, since they are generally impressive, but it is the total delivery that makes more of them. The performances also help add strength to this – with Gamba, Lee, Sackhoff, and vander Beek all doing very good work it must be said. The film adds to these good bits of casting by also getting Pérez to reprise her role from the original cast, as well as yet more to talk about with former porn star Olson too. The thing is, whether I want to grumble about it being a clickbait piece of special-effects showing off, it actually does work, and I really enjoyed the dark tone, slick action, and violent content. It may or may not be easily available but it is worth having a look for what it is.

"When two empires declare war, neither side is innocent"

Thanks to the popularity this short film was receiving over the internet I decided to check it out despite never being a fan of the Power Rangers or knowing anything about the characters. I remember glancing at it a couple of times during my childhood, but it all seemed a bit too silly for my taste. My appreciation for this film is affected by my lack of knowledge about these characters because the short does require you have some background information about who these people are in order to understand what is going on. It is a fan film so the more you know about the series the better off you are. I still have to admit that I was entertained with the action sequences and some of the performances. I found the visuals pretty solid and its short running time does go by very quickly.

There has been a fascination in mainstream audiences for grittier and darker films and comics. We've seen it in several comic books that have turned away from the childish elements and focused on adult themes. In movies we've experienced it most recently with the Batman franchise and in the James Bonds films to name a few. We've shifted gears from the innocent and fun playfulness of those screenplays to much more serious and grittier ones. Joseph Kahn knows this all to well and so he decided to have fun with the beloved childhood characters by directing this dark version of the Power Rangers. It is a parody that is aimed to shock audiences who grew up loving these characters. The lead characters in this film are played by Katee Sackhoff and James Van Der Beek who have an interesting verbal face off. She is playing Kimberly (Pink Ranger) and he is Rocky. We get some flashbacks as well of what has happened with the rest of the Rangers. Gichi Gamba gets a decent amount of screen time playing Zack (Black Ranger) and he gets the most interesting action sequences as he faces off some Japanese gangsters. There is also an interesting twist at the end of the film. Overall I found this an enjoyable short film with solid visuals and good performances, but I wasn't in to it as much because I really didn't know much about the characters.

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Let me tell you I had a nephew who loved the Power Rangers I am a fan of the originals myself. With that being said this short was amazing! It was gritty and had big movie production feel to it. I saw here in one of the reviews that it has since been removed? Why in the world EVERYONE loved it in the comments it had with the short. I would love to see this as a full on production movie, with Hollywood revamping movie after movie THIS was refreshing to see. I hope everyone gets to see this short.

So apparently I don't have enough here so blah blah and I love vampires and good books.

The battle ended. For them. They moved on, got jobs, tried to deal with having been child soldiers in a war that had nothing to do with them. But then they started dying off. Kimberly(Sackhoff, capturing the now hardened, sweet Pink) is being interrogated by Rocky(Van Der Beek, tough). Fingers are being pointed. They think it's Tommy(Bain, doing a lot with little screen-time), and they need her help to find him. To stop him.

This is a compelling, not to mention badass, gritty take on the franchise so many of us grew up with. It manages to fit in a ton of the aspects, characters and conflicts, without it feeling rushed or overstocked. Heck, each of our well-cast main rangers get credible follow-ups and at least some closure. Well, poor Trini is merely a still as we see her funeral, so, all except for her. We even get a few *awesome* fight scenes. Twists, solid dialog, great acting and incredible production values. Quality CG, well-integrated and not flashy.

There is a lot of brutal, bloody violence and disturbing content in this. I recommend this to every fan of the series who wants this kind of reimagining. Heck, check out all of the bootleg universe. Adi Shankar is the man. 8/10