Power Rangers: O Filme

I hate to admit this, but "Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie" is one of my major guilty pleasures. I really shouldn't like this movie since it's aimed squarely at kids. But to my astonishment I did. It's no classic to be sure. It's mostly ridiculous. It's absurd in many ways. However for some odd reason, it entertained me. The thing I liked best about the movie is the six young actors who play the Power Rangers. They're all good, although I wish the screenplay would have let their characters delelop better that it did. Then this movie would have been better. I wish this movie, as well as the TV show, could have been aimed at teenagers instead of kids. Then some of it wouldn't be so juvenile. However, this movie is nowhere near as childish as the terrible second movie "Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie". One good thing about "Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie" is that you don't see much of two of the most brainless characters in the history of show business, Bulk and Skull. Cut those guys out! The six actors who play the rangers (Karan Ashley, Johnny Yong Bosch, Steve Cardenas, Jason David Frank, Amy Jo Johnson, and David Yost) give far better performances compared to the two actors who play those goofballs (Jason Narvy and Paul Schrier) in this movie and on the TV show. Of all of these actors, only Johnson has gone on to some fame (on TV's "Felicity"). "Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie" has better special effects than on the show and in "Turbo", and that helps alot. This is one odd picture. It ain't all that good, but it's not all that bad either.

**1/2 (out of four)

Lots of nostalgia here. I grew up watching the TV show. And as far as I can remember, I believe this was the first movie I saw in theaters. It has it's ups and downs, the acting is on par with typical Power Ranger acting, but it has it's greats. Jason David Frank as Tommy is amazing as ever. And Ivan Ooze is one of the all time best Power Ranger villains period.

As a kid, MMPR was like, my favorite TV show ever (as was every little boy's), and every day I would kung fu fight and punch and kick and have fights with my brother - he would be Jason, the red ranger, and I was Zach, the black ranger. And this was part of the reason I went to see the movie at the cinema.

The other reason was, because of it's violence, MMPR was cancelled here in New Zealand, before the end of the very first season. So, I was naturally interested in the new White Ranger, plus the addition of Aisha, Rocky and Adam, as I never actually saw Trini, Zach and Jason leave.

Okay, so the movie wasn't ever gonna win any Oscars or Golden Globes (maybe a Golden Raspberry, though!), but at the time I saw it (8) it was great fun and I enjoyed every moment of it from start to finish.

And while, the only ranger that seems to behold any acting talent behind those heavy-looking power helmets is Kimberly, the Pink ranger (Amy Jo Johnson - who also came to become part of the core cast for 'Felicity'), they're basically just fighting in it, so they really don't have to act an awful lot.

I've seen it quite a few times since my naive 8th year, but still like it (perhaps I'm in a state of reminiscing, or extreme denial) - it's fast-packed, funky and a good 90 minutes to keep kids quiet.

Like about 20 movies in total, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie was for some period of time my favourite movie. I really liked the style, the colours, the energy, the basic concept, the action, the comedy, etc. Much of that still holds up today although it's very flimsy - not much is to be found in deeper meaning or originality.

Ebert is right that the characters don't have much individual personality, but that hardly matters. Their teamwork and positive attitudes shine through. Even though it's cliched, at least it's a good message for kids. They do fun things like skydive and roller blade (something I've recently been learning in my mid-30s), all while being safe and wearing their assigned colours. I don't see why they need issues to be more interesting. Nor do I think they need majorly different roles to play. As it is, we at least get Tommy who is a leader and Kimberly who is more sentimental.

The action is enjoyable, especially with some good music to go with it. It's harmless fun with many ridiculous physics-defying moves - a lot of flying kicks and spinning.

Visually, the movie holds up well. The costumes are cool - all different and shiny, including the goodies and the baddies. The special effects are dated but the designs of the zords and robots are cool, all of them newly introduced in this movie.

The music is surprisingly good and underused if anything. The action songs are decent, fit the choreography and don't disrupt the flow, but the orchestral score is even better.

The plot is very thin and full of holes. Apparently the Rangers can casually teleport to other planets and Ivan Ooze's bird monsters can also fly through space with ease. And I didn't know that comets were fireballs which you could throw enemies at. At least the movie hits the right beats and we don't get buried in melodrama or exposition - the story just keeps moving and focuses on the action, comedy and excitement.

Paul Freeman is clearly having fun as the main villain. He gets many funny lines including one he apparently ad-libbed - that he was disappointed to have missed The Brady Bunch Reunion (he likes being around for disasters). As an adult, his performance is the main highlight although the action and some of the comedy is also sincerely entertaining.

I can see that the movie isn't quite as flawless as it felt when I was 10 years old, but it was good enough to engage me and still generate some laughs and smiles. It embraces its goofy, safe, feel-good action and does it well.

When I first heard about a Power Rangers movie (long ago), I was thinking, "Japanese footage on the big screen." When the movie came out, I decided to check it out.

The MMPR movie doesn't have much of a groundbreaking plot (bad guy is free, Rangers must kill bad guy, save world, blah blah) and the special effects aren't exactly awe-inspiring, but at least you know those are movie effects, not like Turbo's "big-screen television episode." The first film was clearly superior because of the time, effort, and money these people has put into making a film look better than the TV show it is based upon. Some of the fight scenes are better than on TV. The impressive final battle made up for an ugly Megazord (well, I thought it was ugly). The orchestrated soundtrack wasn't reused on television. And there were only two instances where we had to hear that damned "Go Go Power Rangers" theme song in the whole movie.

The MMPR movie isn't the greatest piece of work out there. It doesn't have any major elements that will introduce new fans into the world of spandex-wearing heroes fighting rubber monsters from Japan, but it makes for an enlightning ninety minutes.