At last, we’ve got our very first look at the ragtag group of teenagers who will be facing off against Rita Repulsa on the silver screen in 2017. These teens have a heck of a lot more attitude than the ones you might remember from the original series, as this teaser proves.
Back in the day, to become a Power Ranger, you had to be a teenager with attitude–or, in Zordon’s words, the recruitment process called for “overbearing and overemotional humans.” That means teenagers, duh! But the original show was so campy that the “attitude” that those kids displayed didn’t come across as particularly threatening.
This new Power Rangers movie has a lot more of a grim exterior, as evidenced by the scenes we see here, featuring the teens getting up to no good at school. Well, except for RJ Cyler’s Blue Ranger, who is clearly “the nerd” of the group, and also the voice of reason when all the cool kids want to go do dangerous stuff.
At the very end of the teaser, we get our first glimpse at the kids transforming into their Power Ranger selves, and the suits they’re going to wear (which I’ve already stated I’m not into–but whatever, that’s not the most important thing to me). We also get a very brief glimpse of Elizabeth Banks as Rita Repulsa, who looks and sounds really scary in her one scene–not scary in a campy way, either, but genuinely scary. Overall, the whole teaser has a very dark and serious tone, with very little evidence of the fun-loving whimsy of the original show. There are only a couple of jokes here, mostly delivered by RJ Cyler’s character.
All that said, though, I’m actually okay with it if the Power Rangers reboot wants to go in a totally different direction than the original series. I’m not a big fan of “gritty reboots” in general, but this isn’t necessarily for me, and I know that. As Teresa said in her own recent defense of reboots, with which I agree: “Reboots and remakes aren’t created for already-existing fans of the franchise,” and instead, are for “potential new fans.” If existing fans happen to like it too, great! If not, that’s okay. That can be frustrating to hear for us fans of the original Power Rangers, but what really matters about this movie is whether today’s youngsters think it speaks to them. This new movie will be for a whole new generation of teenagers with attitude.
What do you think about the teaser so far? Do you think it’s a good reflection of what kids today might be into? What are you hoping to see in this version? And doesn’t Kimberly’s haircut in the trailer look so cool??? At least we know the Pink Ranger will still be a freakin’ bad-ass, right?
(via io9, image via YouTube screencap)
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