I have never been a fan of the Power Rangers property, I did not enjoy all that trite and the cheese factor that came with the TV series. I had Thundercats, G.I. Joe and Sky Commanders that were infinitely more interesting than Power Rangers; even though the latter were definitely more successful.
But as the marketing revved up for the Power Rangers movie, as we got closer to the release, I got more and more excited because everything looked really good. Would it be a case of some sequels to Transformers where the trailers looked great but the movie crapped, or would it meet expectations?
Under director Dean Israelite, who made me watch his Project Almanac twice in the cinema, this movie had more heart than I thought it would.
The first half of the story was all character building, focusing mainly on three characters that were competently acted by Dacre Montgomery, Naomi Scott and RJ Cyler (only one out of the three is American, not to my surprise).
The second half was devoted to the action and the glory of the Power Rangers suits and their Zords. And the nostalgia factor kicked into my friends who were true fans of the property. It did not disappoint and left them longed for more.
Full credit goes to Israelite, who once again balanced the drama and the thrill, just like in Project Almanac. And this is why his movies are always so enjoyable, as compared to, say, Kong: Skull Island; which failed to make me care for the characters.
I really enjoyed how there was zero cheese factor, and even the "teenage problems and angst" were not just tolerable but believable.
As for Elizabeth Banks, she made a fantastic villain that in a couple of scenes was even scary. Which reminds me, a couple of times Israelite made this movie go quite dark; and that was refreshing.
It was great to see Bryan Cranston in that brief scene, Bill Hader's voice for Alpha 5 felt perfect; and Becky G. and Ludi Lin rounded the Power Rangers off nicely.
I really enjoyed the movie, but personally though, I think the real test will be in that second viewing; to see if it really holds up.
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