The Power Rangers franchise was ramping up in a major way in 2017, as Lionsgate had assembled a cast of bright stars to bring a new era of Power Rangers to life on the big screen. The reboot had more alien-styled costumes and epic-looking Zords with an edgier version of Rita Repulsa, but despite heavy buzz, the reboot didn’t perform at the box office, shuttering any hopes of franchise sequels moving forward. Despite that, the film still knocked several elements out of the park, and here are 5 things the Power Rangers Reboot absolutely got right.
5. A Standout Fight
One criticism that was pretty hard to argue was that there weren’t enough fights in the film, as outside of the final battle, there was only one classic Power Rangers fight without the Zords. More of these fights would have been welcome, but if we’re just grading the fight on its own, it more than delivered.
The fight was against a horde of the new rock abomination Putties (which were also fantastic by the way), and the sheer number of Putties made the fight feel epic. It also allowed the Rangers to mix classic martial arts with a number of other fighting styles, and the Rangers also got to use their snazzy energy weapons as well. The big critique here is that it didn’t last longer, but what was there was pretty great.
4. The Zords Looked Amazing
The costumes weren’t the only aspect of the Rangers to get a more alien aesthetic, as the Zords also got a more cosmic makeover. The classic Dinozords designs will forever be iconic, but if you were going to redesign them, the new Zords were mighty impressive.
The iconic elements of each Dinosaur made the leap to the new Zords, but with very alien-looking accents that made them feel very different when compared to the original designs. The Triceratops had six legs now and a sleeker, more metallic face, but still had the same overall shape and horns at the front. The Pterodactyl was mostly intact shape-wise, but had a lot more stylistic additions to the body and the wings. The T-Rex also had a similar overall shape, but featured more alien-like designs along the body and on the head.
The sabertooth tiger and mastodon were probably the most radical departures, with the mastodon having eight legs and a more unique tusk design, while the Sabretooth Tiger was still on four legs and had a similar shape, but around the head looked more like a different creature entirely. Still, they all felt fresh and unique, and they looked marvelous in action.
3. Zordon and Rita Being Original Rangers
One of the first on-target decisions was made in the first few minutes, as the film begins by showing us how the original Power Rangers were defeated. The battle shows a beaten-down Red Ranger sending the Power Coins off to Alpha so they can be found later, and the Red Ranger is revealed to be Zordon.
A spaceship flying by and the destruction surrounding Zordon give the impression that a massive battle just took place, and then the kicker is that the Rangers’ opponent is none other than Rita Repulsa, who is the original Green Ranger. Her betrayal has brought down the Rangers, but then Zordon’s fast thinking takes out Rita and severs her from her staff, quickly establishing not only the origins of two Power Rangers icons but also setting the stage for the battle to come throughout the movie, and it knocked this entire sequence out of the park.
2. A Darker Rita
Rita begins the movie as the Green Ranger, but when we see her next, she’s a shell of her former self, and she wastes no time killing and disturbingly eating gold. Elizabeth Banks plays her wonderfully unhinged as the film begins, especially with the creepy little twitches of movement, but even after she gets to full power, she’s just as creepily intense.
Whether she’s sneaking into Trini’s room in one of the most intense scenes in the movie, or taking out the Rangers and actually killing Billy, that intensity never wavers, and it brings a welcome edge to the character that is missing from the original series. The comics have captured that edge as well, but in live-action, Banks hits it out of the park in the reboot.
An All-Star Ranger Cast
You can’t have a Power Rangers movie without Rangers, and the 2017 Reboot had a truly all-star cast before they were big names. That cast list reads like a who’s who of big-name stars, including Becky G, Naomi Scott, Ludi Lin, Dacre Montgomery, and RJ Cyler, but even taking away their star status in the here and now, they were wonderfully cast as Rangers at the time as well.
Cyler’s turn as Billy (Blue Ranger) was truly the heart of the film, and Montgomery was perfectly cast as the team’s leader, Jason (Red Ranger). Becky G delivered a standout performance as Trini (Yellow Ranger) and quickly became a fan favorite. The same goes for Naomi Scott as Kimberly (Pink Ranger) and Ludi Lin as Zack (Black Ranger), and each actor brought something unique and special to the role. As a group, they were even better, and while reviews were decisive at the time, most reviews praised the cast and their interactions as highlights of the film.
Sadly, we’ll never get a true follow-up to the 2017 Power Rangers reboot, which teased the Green Ranger Tommy Oliver in the final moments. The reboot deserves its praise for what it accomplished, nonetheless, and there’s a lot to be proud of.
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