'Power Rangers' - Movie Review

'Power Rangers' still. Picture courtesy Film's official Twitter account

'Power Rangers'
U/A; Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
Director: Dean Israelite
Cast: Dacre Montgomery, Naomi Scott, RJ Cyler, Ludi Lin, Becky G, Elizabeth Banks, Bryan Cranston, Bill Hader
Rating:

This is not a Young Adult adaptation, it's a reboot of a Saturday morning TV series and I guess that says it all. Imagination is limited to cartoony hysterics and excitement borders around whether you know where it's coming from.

This action, adventure, sci-fi extravaganza has a group of high-school students, led by quarterback Jason (Dacre Montgomery), Kimberley (Naomi Scott), geeky IT whizkid Billy (R.J. Cyler), mother's boy Zack (Ludi Lin) and petite Trini (Becky G) find a glowing object that gives them superpowers. They train under the watchful eye of Zordon (Bryan Cranston) and robot Alpha 5 (voiced by Bill Hader).

What they are training for, hardly matters much, though. The five go berserk trying to get the hang of their powers, a la Peter Parker and only come to a reckoning when the evil baddie Rita Repulsa (Elizabeth Banks) who has an insatiable desire for gold , ups the ante. But the battle between good and evil is a lost one (for the audience) because it's played out quite ridiculously- involving many a genre cliche; that's been done to death a thousand times over.

The action here is quite pitiable even though the CGI is quite spiffy and Elizabeth Banks' campy performance delights. The silliness may translate into fun for the impressionable but it wont last for sure. The overall experience is one of waning interest right from the word go!