Against all rational
expectation, this film does not suck. I don't wish to oversell it.
There's legitimate reasons to dislike the movie, like product
placement, and it hovers around competency rather than greatness, but
it does not suck. We certainly had every reason to think it would
suck in the run up to its release. It seemed to be aping the Michael
Bay Transformers films, which suck. It seemed to be a dark and gritty
reboot of children's TV show, which tend to suck. Its another movie
that assumes a sequel, which is cheeky and usually sucks. It was was
gonna be an origin story, which don't automatically suck, are so over
done as a concept it often results in suck anyway. And its source
material, while I would not say it sucks, its not exactly starting
from a position of high art. The Power Rangers brand,
long-story-short, is a toy advert cobbled together from Japanese
stock footage, which equates to suck in most formal review styles.
There was no reason to assume that the result would be tolerable, and
despite the content of this blog, I have no nostalgia goggles to
apply. However, the film ends up working, to the point where I was
honestly surprised at the amount of fun I was having with it.
I say again, Power
Rangers, somehow, does not suck.
It has a shaky start.
There's some obnoxious camera-work, and a red flag in the form of
a“bull milking” joke. Fortunately this is brief, as the film
moves into teen drama territory. It does not rush into morphing time,
and a majority of the movie is characterisation first. This bears
unexpected yet admirable fruit in that one ranger is autistic and
another of the LGBT persuasion, facts which are treated as just part
of life with little fanfare. Its not the earth-shattering leap
forward that some have made this out to be, but diversity matters, so
have a brownie point. The tone is initially serious, but lightens
into a sense of wonder and fun by the films end when the rangers
armour up and start promoting toys. While the design aesthetic is
butt ugly, seeing the Zords in action is an undeniable high point,
with a sprinkling of fan service and being easy to follow. Even the
alien designs for Zordon and Alpha 5 grow on you, something
undoubtedly help by a subplot involving Zordon's actual existence,
and Bill Hader's vocal performance. The plot has its contrivances,
and its influences are worn on its sleeve, but Power Rangers earns
its high points and doesn't make any overt mistakes. That's faint
praise I know, but the film does seem to have been made by people
whom took pride in their work and weren't embarrassed by what they
were adapting. As long as Batman V Superman exists, and Michael Bay
keeps doing Transformers films(1), that's something.
Perhaps the nicest thing
about the film however is Elisabeth Bank's depiction of Rita Replusa.
While another visual departure from the TV series in that she looks
like something Elven out of Warcraft, Rita matches the changing tone
of this film. After being made a definite threat by killing people
personally, not being at full power and scrabbling for resources, she
becomes increasingly flamboyant as the story progresses in her
favour. The result is an actress wallowing in the ham a role provides
her, going full panto by the end of it, chewing the scenery like she
hasn't ate in days. Whatever you feel about the film, you will
remember this performance. Especially, if you have a phobia about
teeth.
All-in-all, Saban's Power
Rangers is not a film that will stand out in the crowd, but one that
as a pleasant surprise. Low expectations probably play a big part
with this, but its nice to be wrong about something. Its not great,
but it doesn't mess things up either. It is what it is. If you end up
watching this with your kids, you won't have a bad time.
As mentioned, it does not
suck.
Foot notes
1) The creators seem to
have been of a similar mind, there's a joke/FU in this film worth the
price of entry.
Image Copyright Saban, used under fair use provisions.
No comments:
Post a Comment