The long-running American adaption of Japan’s Super Sentai; Power Rangers is back with a dark, grittier reboot inspired by pilot season (and perhaps the most popular) Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers. Jason, Billy, Zack, Kimberly, and Trini are five troubled youths who barely know each other, however when Rita (played by Elizabeth Banks) returns and threatens Angel Grove, they are enlisted to protect a powerful crystal by Zordon (Bryan Cranston) from Rita and her beast Goldar as the Power Rangers.

Power Rangers is a 2017 action film reboot of the 1993 series, it is produced by Lionsgate & distributed by Saban Films. It is currently available on Digital HD with 4K & Blu-Ray releases coming June 27, 2017.

Go, go, Power Rangers.

Based on the fan favorite original season/series of Power Rangers, the film version focuses on the main characters of the same name. After obtaining power coins from a dig site the five teens are met by Alpha (Bill Hader) and Zordon who train them in martial arts in order to morph into their armor so they are strong enough to defeat Rita & Goldar. However, the teens troubled lives gives them an inability to do so. Once they understand each other, they come together to face the impending threat to hometown Angel Grove.

Bill Hader voices a re-imagined Alpha.

THE GOOD: If you don’t mind your childhood being re-done into the darker side of TV & film storylines, then Power Rangers is a solid first effort into a likely new film franchise. The action is fun, the acting is solid, and there’s a nice amount of fan service to make even the most cynical of fans smile. As for the cast, one has to commend Lionsgate for entrusting these characters to (mostly) unknown actors and actresses, at least as far as the Rangers are concerned. It was a bold move that deserves some praise, especially given their effort and acting performances throughout the film, and I enjoyed how Lionsgate handled using a character with autism as well as a character who was LGBT, it didn’t feel like some try hard effort for diversity, it was subtly revealed and never forced. The more well renowned cast such as Banks, Cranston, etc did their jobs, Cranston’s Zordon however felt a little more harsh than the fun loving, father figure character of the past and came off as somewhat of a douche. Speaking of well known cast, Jason David Frank & Amy Jo Johnson, who played the original Tommy Oliver & Kimberly Ann Hart respectively, have a fun cameo around the end of the movie (which unfortunately didn’t make the final theatrical release).

The main cast of Power Rangers.

THE BAD: It can be a little tough understand just what exactly Power Rangers wants to be, as it frequently shifts between dark and light tones during multiple scenes. There’s also an annoying, repeated product placement with Krispy Kreme Doughnuts, Lionsgate tries to make almost every on screen mention of the establishment a clever joke, but it just comes off as cringy most of the time.

Goldar vs The Megazord.

OVERALL THOUGHTS: One would think a first attempt at a darker Power Rangers would fall flat on its face, but Lionsgate’s reboot is a solid first attempt. The characters are at the very least well taken care of from a writing perspective, with some fun action scenes to get you through to the end. However, annoying product placement, and random shifts in tone may confuse some viewers. Otaku Dome gives Power Rangers a 70 out of 100.