Power Rangers 2017

Five ordinary high school students learn that their little town of Angel Grove and the whole world are on the verge of extirpation by an alien threat. Selected by fate our heroes quickly realize that they are the only ones who can save the planet.

Review
It is really strange that someone decided to spend $ 100 million on the film "Mighty Rangers" in 2017. And it's doubly strange that someone decided to spend $ 100 million on the film "Mighty Rangers" in 2017 and realize it that way ... out of the box. The message is clear - on the one hand, we live in an era of infantilization of mass cinema and the industry must maintain its existence, selling to the audience echoes of what everyone remembers and loves. On the other hand, Hollywood desperately needs ideas that can be exhumed, updated and sold to the public in the form of megabudgetary franchises (this leads to the fact that the studio literally scraped the bottom and released in the year 2017 something like "Ghosts in the Shell" and "Rescuers Malibu"). But the "Power Rangers" surpassed everyone. In many respects, creative ideas and unusual approaches are felt here, by and large, this version of "Power Rangers" is felt so far from the spirit of all previous works that if the film were released under some more original work, the way out of the franchise's shadow would go only for the good. But how to create a work without fan bets?

"Power Rangers" - a brilliant children's series, broadcast on TV in the mid 90's and early 2000's. The original story about a team of American superheroes was resourceful, colorful, exaggerated (on the other hand, a child's adventure is only good), and the implementation was based on the series "Super Sentai" from Japanese television. Superheroes then the audience did not get bored, so the show fell in love with both the American and Russian audience. The current iteration of the "Rangers" probably unintentionally focuses its attention on the social problems of the multiracial detachment of high-school rogues capable of achieving their true strength, "discarding masks and prejudices." The very fact of this shows how much the "Rangers" of 2017 feel hopelessly lost in time and, apparently, the writers had no idea who their audience really is. This is definitely not an ironic thriller, an action-fantasy for adults. It certainly was not meant as a film for teenagers, because the reboot was too mature, gloomy, pretentious and without all that the fanbase loved the Rangers. And certainly not for children because of the abundance of crude humor.

The main storyline has not changed. The villain Rita Repulse has a long-standing conflict with extraterrestrial dude Zordon (here he plays the digitized head of Brian Cranston). The latter collects a team of schoolchildren: Jason Scott - local champion and hooligan; the beauty of Kimberly; quiet Trinity; Zak's rebel; and, finally, a black autistic (!) Billy. Further, the scenario of the "Rangers" follows the same structure as any other story related to unpretentious teenagers, gaining superpowers and conquering the universal villain.

It's hard to remember what happens between acquaintance with the heroes and their ultimate victory over the main reptile. The fact is that the "Power Rangers" are filled with a heap of mindless scenes: a ton of training montage, the antagonist kills for no reason a homeless person, and at some point the scandal of intimate correspondence is being seriously considered! And for the abundance of this garbage, heroes are lost. Dramatic stories such as the failure of the family, incapacitated relatives and the corresponding responsibility, cyber-blackmail and the possible theme of homosexuality do not disclose the actors. These are subjects that you do not expect to see here, and they greatly spoil the impression of viewing.

Stupid material can only be filed silly, despite the desire to add some social overtones. But much in the "Rangers" pleasantly surprised. Firstly, it's Cranston, who, although represented in the form of a talking wall, looks curious. And the design itself is not bad enough - the suits of the new rangers look almost like organic, like symbiots, fused with the bodies of the owners, and Elizabeth Banks behaves at times really intimidating. Secondly, there are several good scenes, like, for example, a scene in which teenage characters open each other in a conversation at the fire. It has the same interpersonal contact that is absent in many other scenes of the film. Actors are also chosen well and look attractive.

According to rumors, corporate bosses want another five (!) Adventures of the new Mighty Rangers. The relative cash failure of this film, perhaps, will cancel the plans of the producers, showing that the film needs something more successful than the outdated concept. Give the heroes more stringent tasks, inspire them to the grandiose accomplishments not only in the image of the rangers, but also people, and, finally, throw the idea wiser - voila, you have the same "morphing" that can save the material at the most dangerous moment.