Review Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Once and Forever [Netflix]

Director: charlie haskel | Script: Becca Barnes, Alwyn Dale | Cast: Walter Jones (Zach), David Yost (Billy), Charlie Kersh (Minh), Steve Cardenas (Rocky), Catherine Sutherland (Kat), Barbara Goodson (Stem van Rita Repulsa), ea | Time to play: 55 minutes | Year: 2023

The children’s television hit of the nineties celebrates its thirtieth birthday this year and celebrates it with a new sequel. Although that’s not really the right word when it comes to the Forest rangersince the original series is a hodgepodge of images from the Japanese series super sentai and shots of American “bold teens” when they’re not wearing their brightly colored Spandex. Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Once and Forever It consists entirely of original images, but luckily it has not lost the nonsense and enthusiasm of the series to which it pays homage.

In a measly fifty minutes (about two and a half Mighty Morphin Power Rangersepisode) it’s up to the original Power Rangers to defeat their nemesis Rita Repulsa again, as she has risen from the dead. After Rita kills the yellow ranger Trini, the black ranger Zach decides to become the guardian of Trini’s daughter, Minh. The emotional core of once and always it’s the relationship between Zach, blue ranger Billy and Minh, and Minh’s desire for justice. Due to this solid base, the scenes without colorful costumes and the fights accompanied by a lot of screaming are also fun to watch.

This is not to say that the script is well written. Of course, that was never a strong point of the Forest ranger, but for longer dialogues a little extra finesse would have been nice. Just because you physically cringe at the “funny” things heroes yell at enemies right before a fight doesn’t mean you want it in other scenes as well. The dialogues between the three main characters increase in quality over time.

Of course, kids in the 1990s weren’t drawn to deep dialogue, but to exuberant, enthusiastic fight scenes between people in colored spandex and people in gray spandex. Easy to ridicule, but it’s still a golden formula and the creators understand that once and always Also, when the Putties return in all their gray splendor. The most powerful helpers Rita uses this time, Snizzard and Minotaur, are also people in bulky plastic suits, but they look cool. The outfits are a breath of fresh air among all the blockbusters that nowadays contain more computer animations than people.

Now the choice of practical suits over CGI could also be related to budget, as the CGI being used shows that there wasn’t a lot of money for it. The explosions in particular are embarrassingly bad. Fortunately, much of it blows up in the last half hour, and if you’ve made it this far, chances are you’re a fan accustomed to moderate effects.

For fans, this reunion is a recognition party. Statements like “It’s morphin time!”, Alpha’s “aiaiai” and Billy’s “yes” were required in every episode, so it’s a good thing they weren’t forgotten here. Also, summoning the Zords, the robotic dinosaurs that the Power Rangers have at their disposal, is exactly the same as it was thirty years ago. The visuals may have been updated a bit, but it’s still a shot for shot of the same glorified toy commercial accompanied by overzealous electric guitars.

These guitars no longer fit into contemporary orchestral film music and that is also noticeable in all the musical accompaniment in this film. Outside of the fights, the music is calmer and is actually composed of traditional instruments such as a piano or a violin. However, because these scenes are character driven and not action driven, the lack of energetic music isn’t very disturbing.

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Once and Forever is an anniversary made by and for people who have held a special place in their hearts during the first seasons of the series. This is evident in the many casual comments referring to past events and characters, the willingness of the actors to return, the reused locations, and all the visual references to the series. They even made the effort to include Bulk and Skull’s faces for a tiny second as icing on the cake.

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Once and Forever can be seen in Netflix.