Power Rangers

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Power Rangers is a reboot of the 1990s television series. Five teenagers are selected (almost through accident) to become the new generation of Power Rangers by a little robot named Alpha-5 (voiced by Bill Hader) and Zordon (Bryan Cranston) to stop the villainous Rita Repulsa (Elizabeth Banks). I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect going into this. I was never really a Power Rangers fan as a kid. For the most part, I like the acting in the movie. The actors playing the Power Rangers themselves actually give really good performances. The chemistry and relationship between these five is actually really solidly built up. They all feel like people you actually could come across in your own high school or on the street. As usual, Bryan Cranston is no slouch. The action sequences are pretty damn cool (even if the slow motion could have been reigned in a touch). The character of Alpha-5 straddles the line between being annoying and being entertaining. He becomes a little more entertaining (largely due to Hader’s charisma). Elizabeth Banks provides a solid enough performance as Rita (though she seems like she’s in a completely different movie when she’s on-screen). The woman just hams up every scene she’s in. The blatant product placement feels forced. A Krispy Kreme store is actually a major plot point in the movie. It did make me hungry for doughnuts, though. So, that’s something. The tonal shifts in this movie are also pretty jarring. It will literally go from a scene with Rita Repulsa murdering someone and stealing their teeth (for reasons never really explained) to the main characters bonding with each other (often spouting jokes while they do so). Overall, Power Rangers has its noticeable flaws, but it’s well acted and, for the most part, has likable characters.

7 / 10