Wait, what?

Eh, that's a fairly decent way to do a sequel hook.

 

That's been my reaction to all of this.

 

That was due to the limits of what they had. This movie doesn't have those limits, and shouldn't be making the same mistakes. It doesn't have Sentai footage to conform to, it has a bigger budget. It should be doing what the original show wanted to do, not falling behind it.

It actually does. Morphing was suppsoed to be what gave them powers, though due to whether or not they wanted a joke about Bulk and Skull beating the Putties by accidentally tripping them whilst trying to run from them.

And even if morphing was useless, again, this movie should be fixing an incongruity like that, not making it even more obvious.

You sure? Because it's 50% on RT, and even the positive reviews aren't exactly saying it's amazing. At best they're along the lines of "it is what it is" or "fans will like it I bet." The negative reviews are far more in-depth and offer more examples, like Kimberly's revenge porn stunt, or Jason jacking off a bull.

Putties weren't made of rock. It wasn't actually clear what they were made of, but y'know I assume putty. Which isn't exactly going to break your hands. (and the teens frequently practiced breaking planks and cement blocks and shit like that. They were tough because they were constantly training as people)

For one, having eyes and the proper amount of legs.

But the fact that each zord was deisgned to transform to make a coherant, iconic looking robot without the need for cheating (aside from proportions to fit a guy in the suit) that wasn't awkwardly covered in wings and guns like afterthoughts was also not bad.

What does that have to do with what I said? (also they did show the zords individual attacks on occasion, they weren't cut entirely, but )

But it's the most braindead way of doing it. "They're aliens, so make everything over complicated and full of gaps!" Like, if the power coins have realistic depictions of animals in them, why are the zords so abstract and generic? Funny how these aliens just happen to look like every overdone version of aliens Hollywood comes up with.

But those design cues are just tacked on. The wings are just the Pterodactyl stuck on the back, I don't even see where the Triceratops is in the legs. And the wepaons are just stuck on. It's not like the Sabertooth transforms into the arm, the Sabertooth's gun just relocates to the arm magically. Again, what's better, a design that's practical and accomplishes an attarctive robot mdoe through engineering and clever transformation schemes, or a robot that looks nothing like it combines except a few parts are just thrown on. Where's the Sabertooth? Where's the T. Rex and Mastodon? Again, even the TF movies had this aesthetic of "cars stood up." The front of the car was generally the chest or around the chest, likewise the tail lights and wheels ended up on the backs or legs. They were bullshit for sure, but they at least attempted a continuity between modes to the point where the toys could reasonably approximate them quite well. Someone put thought into how the transformation would work, even if it defied physics for the most part. Even with the wings, the Megazord has no indication it comes from anything. The head doesn't even have a face. No thought was put into its combination or transformation.

And yet, it's still as generic as they come. No face, no distinct chest design or anything. The wings are just wings, they're not really meant to look like anything. It has no internal aesthetic to compensate and is mostly just this weird mesh chainmail bodysuit thing. It's completely unremarkable.

 

I can get the putties being easier to beat. But the Tengus - armored bird monsters? Goldar's suit of armor? Or my favorite example of a fodder villain - the cog soldiers of Zeo...who are 100% metal robots. Go punch your car. Tell me how well it does. This is like saying you could beat up a medieval knight with some kung-fu punches. It's one of the biggest gaps in the story of Power Rangers. Having some degree of out-of-suit powers negates that. As for the campiness - you can't complain about realism for zords or the suits and say "eh it doesn't matter, it's supposed to be campy" for other things. It's just inconsistent.

 

It isn't, because the new movie isn't trying to be campy, that's my point. If it wasn't trying to be so serious, this wouldn't be as much of a problem. But a big budget fetaure with a more gritty, cynical tone shouldn't be making the same mis-steps as the shoe-string budget kid's show. It's the same reason "well G1 was porrly written" isn't and excuse for the terrible dialogue and story of the TF movies.

Also, neither the Tengas or Goldar were ever beaten unmorphed. Goldar was at best just knocked away, and Tengas were usually outsmarted or likewise only held back. They needed to morph into their ninja powers at least to beat Tengas. Hell, in season one there was a whole episode when Jason had to fight Goldar unmorphed, and barely managed to avoid being beat. Tommy managed to beat Goldar but only after being pushed to the brink, and even then didn't really "beat" him. (and Tommy was supposed to be a league above the others, hence why he was made leader later on)

I never did? I complained about the stupidity of the design choices, but that's less about realism and more like a logical incongruity, mixed with just dog shit design.

 

But the reviews I've seen have either complained or applauded the campiness of this? So it good or bad- the camp factor is there.

Are you going to see this btw? (Genuine question- would like to know your opinion after seeing it)

 

I believe this was already hinted at in the character bios that was released prior to casting but cool nonetheless. With this and the new Sesame Street character, Julia, it's been a good time for ASD representation.

 

Am I going to see it in theatres? Almost assuredly no, but I will see it eventually. Unless more reviews hit that reveal some hidden genius that just isn't being mentioned, things like the terrible humour and waiting 90 minutes to actually see the Rangers, I'm waiting for it to hit Netflix.

 

Yeah still waiting for the more faithful sequel with Ivan Ooze  

 

Bumblebee was paid extra to appear, okay? He's a celebrity now!

 

Insecure much, Power Rangers?

 

I'll still see this just if nothing else because I'd like to see more future blockbuster movies with POC, queer, and disabled protagonists if this succeeds.

I'm gonna forecast the movie making just enough to make its budget back if it's still hovering at 50% on RT by the end of the week. I don't expect a phenomenal success at all, but at absolute best I'll put the top bar at $700 million (first Transformers movie level), and that's only if it proves to do good with the crowds.

Bee needed the check!

 

Morphing was useless in the original series. The teens were always shown to be completely competent and capable of taking on and even defeating the villains without transforming. If anything, the movie is improving on that by giving them super-strength pre-transformation: they're no longer the completely perfect examples of humanity in regards to both morality and physicality that they used to be and have a reason for being able to fight unmorphed. That being said, we're not even sure of the true capabilities that the movie Rangers have transformed as we haven't seen the movie. For all we know it harnesses their power or allows proper control of the Zords. We'll have to wait until after we see the movie. As can be glistened from the trailers, it does indeed seem that the civilian Rangers can't take on Putties, either real or fake.

I was expecting much lower than 50%. It is a Power Rangers movie, after all. Comparing it to nearly every other toy franchise's scores, that is above average.

The Putties were originally called "Golems" and are homunculi brought to life by magic. If not rock they're probably made of clay or some other mineral... but certainly they still had the rocky dust come off them when punched and the sound effects inserted were definitely meant to evoke something hard being punched, not soft.

My point is that the movie has tried to make the individual Zords just that: individuals. They all have visible weaponry that sets them apart, as opposed to them existing solely to combine into the Megazord. This is not something that the Zords in the original MMPR had going for it.

Also, none of that is "classy"...

See, that's all opinion and even if it wasn't I feel like you're kind of biased towards the movie and wouldn't have liked anything that they put out anyway as both here and on Tokunation you've gone as to why every single little detail about this movie sucks from the get-go, from trailers to toys to every design to frickin posters... but that's neither here nor there. The way that the robots more merge rather than combine, the alien-look of the Megazord or that the face looks like a cockpit could all be used as compliments to the design that fit the overall aesthetic that the movie is going for. I think the Megazord looks great, you don't, that's all opinions. It's not a "lazy" or "dog shit" design, it's just not to your taste.

 

That Jeremy Jhans guys review seemed fairly positive- said it does take a while to get to the morphin', but it comes off as a fairly good character piece in which all the rangers are enjoyable to get to know.

Character pieces are my jam so I'm happy with that- understand why some people aren't happy to hear they don't morph in the first 20 minutes, but it is what it is.

 

I mean I don't even need a morph in the first twenty minutes, but I'd like more than one morphing sequence in the film. His review did give me some semblance of hope that maybe I can walk out saying it's a good time. I feel like my expectations are low enough that the movie can almost only impress me at this point.

 

The super strength is a cop out of the highest order and it's worse here because none of them (based on the pre-release material) have demonstrated the discipline or character to use it wisely, and if Rita still has the power and the skill there's no reason she should lose in a fight against them.

They don't all have to be Captain America levels of nice person, but I fear it's gone too far in the other direction.

 

Why? I can see that they're pulling the "flawed hero" angle pretty hard for this movie but I think there's good reason for that: the personalities (loosely using the term) of the original cast simply would not be able to carry a movie in this day and age. Let's be honest, the original Power Rangers characters are embarrassing to watch nowadays. They're not only insanely high level martial artist prodigies, while one of them has the stereotypical "nerd" characteristic the the others are all still top of their classes when it comes to grades, they're humanitarians and spend all their free time doing charity work, they're part of all the school's sport's teams and they're involved in every community project under the sun. They're unlikable because they're so perfect. They don't work as role models because they literally have no flaws. It's awful.

I think people forget just how bad MMPR was.

 

Spoiler

According to spoilers, Bulk and Skull DO appear. They're jason's mates, who convince him to "milk a bull for its white milk", under the impression that it is a cow.

That update is either phenomenally stupid or some kind of a dare from mean-hearted bullies who got away with it and let Jason suffer.

 

Sounds like something dumb teenagers would do and very believable.

 

I haven't forgotten, because I watched the first couple of seasons with a friend recently. Cheesy as balls, no argument there but they aren't martial arts prodigies: Master Lee was a prodigy, these guys are as good as I would expect people who've been training since they were kids to be - aside from Billy who at the start did not know his arsehole from his elbow. Besides, even if they are a bit twee, there must be some fucking middle ground between original flavour and the kind of idiots who jerk off bulls or distribute revenge porn. They don't all have to be on Steve Rogers' level, but again they've gone a bit too far to the other side.

I don't disagree, not after reading the news of that silly bastard in Queensland who jumped into a river (on a dare to impress a girl allegedly) and was promptly mauled by a saltwater crocodile. Nearly lost his arm the dozy prat.

However that doesn't make Power Rangers' chosen idiocy any less stupid or detestable.


On a lighter note, I found an article that goes into some detail of what the original cast of Might Morphin' got up to after the show.