Review | Film review: Power Rangers – colour-coded superheroes back for surprisingly entertaining reboot
Even if this film exists solely as a cash grab and franchise starter, director Dean Israelite and screenwriter John Gatins have managed to craft something entertaining and with heart
3/5 stars
In the pantheon of remakes that no one has ever asked for, this new Power Rangers film has already earned a spot alongside the likes of Spike Lee’s Old Boy, or the new Total Recall with Colin Farrell instead of Arnold Schwarzenegger. For though the cheesy low-budget US television show had a solid following during its 1990s heyday, even the most diehard of fans knew that it was the small-screen equivalent of junk food – just something mindless to kill half an hour every weekday after school.
Even if this film exists solely as a cash grab and franchise starter, director Dean Israelite and screenwriter John Gatins have managed to craft something entertaining and with heart. Taking the gimmicky “group of multi-ethnic high schoolers turned superhero group” concept from the show, this new update turns down the campiness and pastel colours of the original for a gritty and grounded story that is partly about teenage angst.
Make no mistake, the Power Rangers are still colour-coded, and still use the corny catchphrase, “It’s morphin’ time!”, but Israelite shoots the film with a muted colour palette and the early action scenes are refreshingly raw.