From left to right: Zack the Black Ranger (Ludi Lin), Trini the Yellow Ranger (Becky G), Jason the Red Ranger (Dacre Montgomery), Kimberly the Pink Ranger (Naomi Scott) and Billy the Blue Ranger (RJ Cyler) in “Saban’s Power Rangers” (Photo Credit: Lionsgate).
Staying Fairly True to Original with a Few Twists
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Will the remake of “Saban’s Power Rangers” gain new fans or be an epic fail?
The “Power Rangers” has become a pop culture phenomenon since its inception in the early 1990s with popular catchphrases like, “It’s Morphing Time!” and “Go, Go, Power Rangers” resonating with kids wanting to be one of the famed characters.
Originally created by Haim Saban, his 2017 version of “Saban’s Power Rangers” is the third version in this franchise.
Based on five teenagers who are drawn together by fate or destiny, Saban stays true to the original television series portrayed by a new cast with a few twists.
A tad bit dark and a little scarier than the original series, “Saban’s Power Rangers” has rebooted two of its original Power Rangers.
For instance, the Blue Ranger/Billy Cranston, (RJ Cyler) is a highly functioning autistic person who desires to have friends, but has a hard time relating to the norms of human interaction.
Therefore, becoming an outcast and the victim of bullying by his peers.
Yellow Ranger/Trini Kwan (Becky G) is a member of the LGBT community and is having a hard time expressing herself to her parents for fear that they will not understand who she is, ultimately causing her to shut everybody out.
The film also stars Dacre Montgomery (Jason Scott/Red Ranger), Naomi Scott (Kimberly Hart/Pink Ranger) and Ludi Lin (Zack Taylor/Black Ranger), who also have their share of problems.
Jason Scott/Red Ranger is a popular football player who becomes the town hero.
The pressure of this responsibility leads him to be reckless and irresponsible in other areas of his life.
Through a series of events, he finds himself on house arrest and detention for the remainder of the school year and off the football team.
Although his behavior is reckless, he has leadership qualities that rally the Power Rangers together.
Kimberly Hart/Pink Ranger is one of the popular and mean girls who turns on one of her own best friends by sending out a distasteful photo given to her by her friend in confidence.
This heinous act lands her in detention, ousted from her group of friends and with her popularity diminished.
She decides to become this tough girl hiding the hurt she feels for causing so much pain for her friend.
Lastly, Zack Taylor/Black Ranger lives on the edge enjoying a fearless life.
He has a sick mother at home who he takes care of with no other family in sight.
His biggest fear is being alone when his mother passes.
The unlikely five teenagers are brought together by Zordon (Bryan Cranston), the original ancient Red Ranger who lived millions of years ago and is now part of a Morphing Grid, which does not appear until the five teenagers are drawn to the heart of the ship.
From the Grid, Zordon trains and mentors his protégés into super heroes, with the help of his trusty assistant Alpha 5 (Bill Hader), to defeat the pure evil Rita Repulsa (Elizabeth Banks) who wants to destroy Angel Grove and planet Earth.
Rita was originally the Green Ranger who turned on fellow Rangers to take over the world by creating a monster made of gold called Goldar.
With this creature in tow, Rita is on a mission to find the zeo crystal, giving her ultimate power.
Although “Saban’s Power Rangers” is action-packed with a good storyline and some corny humor, there are some explicit scenes that may have parents of younger children explaining the context or covering their eyes from some of the scarier moments of “Saban’s Power Rangers.”
There will be a continuation of “Saban’s Power Rangers” as the movie ends with the introduction of the Green Power Ranger/Tommy Oliver.
He’s not seen, but is introduced by the calling of his name in detention.
It will be interesting to see how the public relates to two of the original Power Rangers as autistic and LGBT.
Will audiences embrace these two characters or reject “Saban’s Power Rangers” for not staying totally true to the original series?
REGAL RATINGS
FOUR CROWNS=EXCELLENT
THREE CROWNS=GOOD
TWO CROWNS=AVERAGE
ONE CROWN=POOR
