Dr. K's Waiting Room

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January celebrates two notable dates in science-fiction history: “National Science Fiction Day” on January 2 to coincide with the birth of world renowned sci-fi writer Isaac Asimov, and 12 January being when Arthur C. Clarke’s HAL 9000 was created. Accordingly, I dedicate January to celebrating sci-fi in all its forms.

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Quick Facts:
Despite attracting controversy, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers (1993 to 1995) was a cultural phenomenon that spawned videogames, toys, and this largely maligned feature-film. Rather than repurposing footage from Kyōryū Sentai Zyuranger (1992 to 1993) like the television series, the movie included brand-new costumes for the heroes and a theatrical new villain.

The Review:
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie not only has a mouthful of a title but is technically separate from the ridiculously popular show. While it clearly takes place between the show’s second and third seasons, with the line-up placing Rocky DeSantos as the Red Ranger (Steve Cardenas), Adam Park as the Black Ranger (Johnny Yong Bosch), Aisha Campbell as the Yellow Ranger (Karan Ashley), and fan favourite Tommy Oliver/The White Ranger (Jason David Frank) as the fearless leader, the movie was almost instantly rendered non-canon when the third season retold some of it. Still, I always viewed it as a big-budget expansion of the show, with the awesome new, far more armoured suits and the redesigned command centre simply a big-screen glow-up for what we saw on TV. Angel Grove has been protected by the Power Rangers for some time but the six heroic teenagers are just as giving to the community in their civilian guises as they partake in a charity skydive to raise money for the local observatory, ostensibly to aid researching Ryan’s Comet, which is passing by soon. Billy Cranston/The Blue Ranger (David Yost) and Kimberly Hart/The Pink Ranger (Amy Jo Johnson) join their friends, alongside bungling bullies Farkas “Bulk” Bulkmeier (Paul Schrier) and Eugene “Skull” Skullovitch (Jason Narvy), in completing the dive, amazing youngster Fred Kelman (Jamie Croft) and his strangely unnamed firefighter father (Peter Mochrie), who particularly praise Tommy for his efforts. While roller skating around the city, the titular teens pass by a construction site right as Bulk and Skull land off course, though they miss when the workers unearth a mysterious, ancient egg.

This doesn’t escape the attention of the Power Rangers’ mentor and father-figure, Zordon (Nicholas Bell/ Robert L. Manahan), who immediately orders his robotic assistant, Alpha 5 (Peta-Marie Rixon/Richard Wood), to bring in the Power Rangers to warn them. The egg also attracts the malevolent Rita Repulsa (Julia Cortez/ Barbara Goodson) and her equally malicious lover, Lord Zedd (Mark Ginther/Robert Axelrod), who teleport in to unleash Ivan Ooze (Paul Freeman), a sorcerer so powerful that even Zordon fears his wrath. Sealed away eons ago for his wicked ways, Ivan immediately sets to work avenging himself on his captor, promising Rita and Zedd that he will destroy Zordon’s entire legacy as recompense. Since Ivan is an accomplished shapeshifter, Zordon’s champions are caught off-guard when they arrive at the construction site and end up battling Ivan’s Oozemen (voiced by Neil Kaplan). Initially, the teenagers battle the Oozemen in their base forms, giving us a taste of how far these youngster’s martial arts and choreography has improved over the show. Indeed, I had trouble spotting when or even if the actors were subbed out for stunt workers, which helped the fights to be more tactile and believable even with all the physics defying, cartoonish nonsense. Eventually, the teenagers morph into their amazing big screen suits, which sport some new gadgets to inspire a wave of new toys. Although the Power Rangers triumph over the Oozemen, Ivan infiltrates the command centre, disables Alpha 5, and leaves Zordon close to death, robbing the Power Rangers of their suits, their powers, and their Thunderzords. After somehow trekking to the command centre, the depowered Power Rangers are horrified by the state of their mentor and jump at the chance to save Zordon and regain their powers, regardless of the risk, by braving a seemingly one-way trip to Phaedos, where a legendary “Great Power” sleeps (though none have ever survived the quest to obtain it).

Although the Power Rangers are largely interchangeable, given few chances to showcase even their admittedly one-dimensional personalities (there’s no chance for Billy to be smart and scientific, for example), Tommy stands out thanks to his undeniable charisma. I was impressed by the performances here, however, as the actors are much more comfortable and confident by this point, though there’s still plenty of over-the-top deliveries and exaggerated gestures to mimic the Japanese actors. The movie gives the actors more of the spotlight since they (and/or their stunt doubles) are fully carrying the plot and action rather than recycling Japanese footage, which again helps everything flow much better. While all six are shaken by Zordon’s condition and eager to help, Kimberly is particularly rattled and the group are very aware that time is against them. When wandering around Phaedos, the teens are aided by Dulcea (Gabrielle Fitzpatrick), a formidable warrior and ally of Zordon’s who saves them from Ivan’s Tengu Warriors and partially empowers them with an animal spirit, granting them new (and sadly quite disappointing) colour-coded ninja outfits. While the others are emboldened by this, Adam is disheartened that he’s been lumbered with the frog, though embraces his animal spirt after a pep talk and kiss from Dulcea. While the six quest to fully unlock their “Ninjetti” powers, Angel Grove is splintered by Ivan’s mind-controlling ooze, which infects Fred’s dad and the other adults and turns them into mindless slaves to produce more ooze and dig up Ivan’s Ecto-Morphicons. While the other kids enjoy having the run of the city, Fred urges them (and Bulk and Skull) to help their parents after spying on Ivan’s operation and learning that he’s ordered the adults to march to the construction site and “leap to their doom”.

Rather than offering a non-stop, action-packed, big screen Power Rangers adventure, the movie strips them of their powers and forces them to undergo a journey to replenish their power source. They face a ticking clock to accomplish this thanks to Zordon’s health rapidly deteriorating and Ivan’s plot to unearth his machines and destroy the world but have little in the way of individual character arcs. There is no dissension amongst the Power Rangers and they never argue about anything; they remain steadfast in their determination to stay optimistic and save their mentor. This means characters like Rocky and Aisha largely fade into the background as neither have the same emotional reaction to Zordon’s fate as Kimberly, question their abilities like Adam, or have Tommy’s charisma. In fact, there’s more in-fighting between the villains as Ivan, after leaving Zordon near death, barges into Rita’s Moon base and traps her and Lord Zedd in a snow globe, forcing their minions, Mordant (Jean Paul Bell/Martin G. Metcalf) and Goldar (Kerry Casey/Kerrigan Mahan), to join him. There’s little for these two to do except spout one-liners and bow to Ivan’s whims, and it’s a shame to see Rita and Zedd usurped so easily as they look great here. While Ivan looks ridiculous and is often joined by some horrendous visual effects, Paul Freeman is absolutely hamming it up, cackling maniacally, chewing the scenery, and delivering a performance so over-the-top that would make any seasoned pantomime veteran blush! Rather than exuding power, authority, or terror, Ivan is a theatrical and flamboyant villain who delights in playing dress up and bending others to his will, relishing the chance to avenge himself and fully confident in his ability to do so, to the point of arrogance.

While I love the big-screen paint job given to the Power Rangers’ suits, they’re sadly absent for a big chunk of the film as the team is depowered by Ivan’s attack. The suits are far more detailed and layered, sporting armour, headlights, special visors, and other nifty gadgets for the big screen. When morphed, the team bust out all the crazy, colourful attacks from the show, defying gravity and physics and relying on teamwork to triumph. However, there’s a distinct lack of explosive sparks thanks to Ivan’s goons being made of sludgy ooze and it takes all movie for us to get a kaiju-sized battle (though this benefits the pacing, to be fair). When on Phaedos, the team are attacked by the Tengu Warriors, bird-like monsters that flap about in unconvincing suits but are at least being whisked along by wires and such. Unfortunately, the Ninjetti are a massive downgrade and little more than coloured gi that turn them into rainbow ninjas. While they’re encouraged to receive new spirit animals, the team are still lacking their full power and must battle past rock warriors that are just as visually disappointing as the Tengu Warriors since they flop and flail about the obvious sets and are crushed by polystyrene boulders, chopped in half with dodgy CGI, and dissolved in a nearby stream. Once the guardians are vanquished, the team reach the Great Power and are fully restored, ditching the awful ninja outfits for their armoured suits and fully unlocking their Ninjetti powers. Beyond providing them with new Zords, though, this largely amounts to them spouting the word “Ninjetti” every time they launch an attack or do anything and is clearly an excuse to sell new toys to kids. Still, it’s a great moment to see them back in their suits, even if the sultry Dulcea is unable to aid them since she would face the same rapid decline as Zordon if she left Phaedos.

Although he looks ridiculous, Ivan is a significant threat as he easily disables Zordon, destroys the command centre, and usurps Rita and Zedd, allowing him to force Angel Grove’s adults into unearthing his Ecto-Morphicons. While Fred, Bulk, Skull, and the other kids desperately race to intercept the adults, barely surviving when the Ecto-Morphicons endanger their monorail and Fred commandeering a fire hose to push the zombie-like crowd back, the newly empowered Power Rangers swoop in to battle the Ecto-Morphicons in their all-new Ninjazords. Unfortunately, while the film had been doing a great job of upgrading the show’s practical suits and “Suitmation” aesthetic, it completely drops the ball for the finale by rendering the Ecto-Morphicons and Ninjazords as fully CGI creations (save for some sparse model shots and scenes of the Power Rangers in their cockpits). This was an absolutely atrocious decision as the CGI looks terrible, with the giant machines resembling bad videogame graphics and lose all sense of weight, reality, and appeal since they’re too shiny and too cartoony. It’s a real shame as the finale could’ve been a fun, kaiju-style battle between the mechs but it instead looks embarrassing and laughable. Although the Ninjazords destroy Scorpitron, Ivan bonds with Hornitor and reforms it into a gigantic, unconvincing CGI version of himself. Overwhelmed, the Power Rangers desperately form the Ninja Mega Falconzord but find themselves outmatched by Mecha-Ivan’s pure power. Luckily, the Blue Ranger remembers Ryan’s Comet and suggests luring Mecha-Ivan into the comet’s path. This forces the Ninja Mega Falconzord to get uncomfortably close to the maniacal sorcerer and the Yellow Ranger to amusingly smash a big, red emergency button to deliver a knee to Ivan’s balls and send him hurtling towards the comet, with both being destroyed on impact. Ivan’s death releases his hold on the adults, but the Power Rangers are distraught to find the Zordon has perished. Luckily, Dulcea taught them to overcome any obstacle with their sheer willpower, so they join hands and summon the Great Power to restore Zordon, and the command centre. In the aftermath, Angel Grove rejoices, and Rita and Zedd quickly reclaim their throne from the ambitious Goldar, determined to continue their own plans for conquest.

Final Thoughts:
I swear I remember seeing Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie in the cinema back in the day, but I have no record of that so I must be thinking of when we rented or recorded it on VHS. The Power Rangers were the hottest thing when I was a kid and I was well into it, especially for the show’s first two seasons. After that, and this film, I dropped off and rarely paid much attention beyond videogames and specials and such, but this movie stuck with me despite that. Many of Ivan’s more bombastic lines are very memorable thanks to Paul Freeman’s absolutely glorious performance. The guy is hamming up being under all that make-up and it’s a delight every time he’s onscreen, even when Ivan’s doing wacky shit like whipping up ooze for the adults. Considering how cringey the show could be, I was very impressed by the lead performers, who delivered their lines much more convincingly and had more opportunity to showcase their physicality in the fight scenes since the movie doesn’t recycle any Japanese footage. As great as the new suits look, though, it’s a shame the characters aren’t given more chances to shine individually or as a team. They have a quest and they complete it there’s little character progression or emotional depth beyond them mourning Zordon. Like, why not have Kimberly descend into despair about Zordon to bring her and Tommy closer or have Rocky lash out in anger due to the emotions. I guess that would be too heavy for kids to handle so the film opts for a surface level depiction of this and focuses more on sending a message about believing in yourself. Sadly, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie lacks the same punch as the show since it opts for ugly-ass CGI mechs for the finale, completely losing the Suitmation spirit of the show to try and be bigger and better. This alone is enough to cost the film a star, in my opinion, as the ending completely falls flat because of this god-awful, cartoonish CGI. Otherwise, this is a fairly harmless kids’ adventure that does a great job of bringing the TV show to the big screen, even if it’s not doing much more with the formula and is clearly trying to sell new toys to impressionable kids.

My Rating:

Could Be Better

Did you enjoy Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie as a kid? How do you think it holds up today and what did you think of the CGI Zords? Were you also a fan of the new, armoured costumes and disappointed by the ninja look? Do you agree that Paul Freeman stole the shole or did you find him a little too over the top? Which of the Power Rangers movies and incarnations is your favourite? Let me know your thoughts on Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie down and donate to my Ko-Fi to fund more Power Rangers content.