Power Rangers Preview
20th December 2016It’s morphin’ time and the Power Rangers are back and badder than ever.
In this reboot movie that’s being released by Lionsgate in 2017 we see a more human aspect to the sci-fi/superhero series that’s currently 24 years old so let’s crack on.
For those who are new to the series; The Power Rangers are a team of teenage superheroes who are given incredible powers to fight with and save the world from the threats it faces. Over the years there have been attacks by aliens, demons, mutants etc.
The new movie takes us back to the beginning with the first team of Power Rangers: Trini, Zack, Kimberly, Billy and Jason. These five teenagers with attitudes are social outcasts in their home town of Angel Grove, California however, their lives will forever change when they accidentally discover objects of energy called the Power Coins and are chosen by the inter-dimensional being Zordon and his robotic assistant Alpha 5 to save the Earth.
Unfortunately discovering the Power Coins brings the alien sorceress Rita Repulsa to the Earth to retrieve an ancient artifact known the Zeo Crystal, a gem of untold power and can even manipulate life and the source of the Ranger’s powers so it’s up to the Rangers to unite and stop her.
Several new plot elements and twists have been added to the film to give it its own continuity. Zordon and Rita’s histories have been revised as it has been revealed they were once the Red and Green Rangers themselves millions of years ago on prehistoric Earth but Rita turned evil and created the monster Goldar. In the original Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers series Goldar was the bumbling henchman of Rita but he has been given a new origin.
Goldar attempted to steal the Zeo Crystal but a protective field around vaporized Goldar and scattered his esscence across the globe so Rita is trying to bring back her creation and make another attempt for the crystal.
The graphics and costumes have been upgraded giving them a more alien like appearance as suits of armour that grow on the Rangers and the Zords have been redesigned too. The Zords are giant robotic vehicles the Rangers use to fight. There are five Zords for each of the Rangers. All five Zord merge together as one to form all powerful Megazord.
- Zack – Mastadon
- Kimberly – Pterodactyl
- Billy – Triceratops
- Trini – Sabre Toothed Tiger
- Jason – Tyrannosaurus
The new and improved Zords have a more bio-mechanical and organic feel to them as they more resemble cyborgs than actual machines. The Megazord has also been redesigned in CGI to resemble a more humanoid and organic appearance.
Rumours currently circulate about the possibility of the evil Green Ranger (a popular story arc in the 90’s series) appearing at the end of the movie and Rita’s boss Lord Zedd appearing too as he was a popular villain in the series. Zedd desires the Zeo Crystal for its power and it burned off half of his face when he attempted to take it by force.
There are also rumours about the future films in the series that could see the Rangers take on their Thunder and Ninja powers and the possibility of seeing the Zeo, Turbo and Space powers being born but its all just speculation for now.
So Power Rangers comes out on March 24, 2017. I know I’ll be going to see this darker version.