One of the best guilty pleasure films of 2017 was Saban’s Power Rangers. Starring a pre-Stranger Things Dacre Montgomery and a pre-Charlie’s Angels Naomi Scott, the film was a critical failure and a commercial flop; these two facts, however, don’t change the fact that it’s a fun film that might rely too heavily on the superhero origin formula but is still wildly enjoyable. Think Breakfast Club meets, well, Power Rangers.
Unfortunately, the film’s cast will not don the armor again. In a Reddit AMA, as reported by io9, Montgomery confirmed that while the Power Rangers franchise might ride again, he and his co-stars would not be a part of it. “I think there is a movie in the works but it’s not with me and the cast. So yes but not with us,” he wrote.
I’ve got to say, I’m a little bummed that we’ll never see this particular cast ride again. The actors had excellent chemistry together, and the film was left on a pseudo-cliffhanger with the possible introduction of “greatest Power Ranger of all time” Tommy Oliver. There was plenty of franchise potential there, but between bad reviews and audiences not showing up, Hollywood seems to have seen no reason to continue with that particular storyline.
A real bright spot was that 2017 film cast was fairly inclusive. Outside of Montgomery and Scott, the film also starred RJ Cyler, Becky G., and Ludi Lin, giving us a line-up of Rangers who weren’t all white with one token character of color. Inclusivity doesn’t always equal quality, but it sure makes things more enjoyable, and the actors were clearly having a blast in their roles. The enthusiasm made their scenes far more fun to watch than Elizabeth Banks hamming it up as Rita Repulsa.
So now we’re facing another reboot of a property that failed as a reboot only two years before. Instead of possibly letting the brand rest, which might be for the best, Hasbro is plotting yet another attempt to sell toys. The Hollywood machine loves reboots, even if the property being rebooted is only a couple years old. Just think about how many Spider-Man movies we’ve seen in the past eighteen years.
It makes sense that Hasbro wants a reboot, but it’s still somewhat disappointing for fans of the 2017 film. But there are toys to be sold, so of course Hasbro will get on a reboot as fast as possible to make sure they can get that money. For those of us who liked the original cast, we’ll always have fanfiction.
(via io9, image: Lionsgate)
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