Power Rangers (2017): Review

***Some slight spoilers but nothing more then basic content of television show**

Ever since I first saw the preview for the new Power Rangers movie I was excited to see it. It is a combination of a big budget action movie which I love and Mighty Morphin Power Ranger television show which is a show that I watched a lot of the original series growing up. Although I used to watch the television show a lot as a child it has been a while since I watched it and I am not familiar with many of the different variations. I like that it is a reboot but that it keeps the same names of the characters. This movie went for a lot and I am sorry to say it didn't really meet the expectations of what it was going for but it was still enjoyable. It would have been nice if the plot flowed a little better but the movie tried a bit too much to go for a serious movie.



Power Rangers is a reboot of the 1993 television show where five teenagers; Jason, played by Dacre Montgomery; Kimberly, played by Naomi Scott; Billy, played by RJ Cyler; Zack, played by Ludi Lin; and Trini, played by Becky Z, are recruited by an alien entity Zordon, played by Bryan Cranson, to become Power Rangers to save the world for Rita Repulsa, played by Elizabeth Banks. In this version, Zordon is the original Red Ranger who was fighting Rita on Earth during the time of the dinosaurs.  He sacrifices himself and buries the morphers that are the where power of the rangers come from and are responsible for selecting the next power rangers. When Rita is returned to power, the teenagers find the buried morphers which give them strength and abilities to become the new team of Power Rangers. They have to work together to connect as a team and train in order to become the team they need to be in order to take on Rita. They are assisted by Alpha 5, voiced by Bill Hader, and Zordon who has been incorporated into the computer of the space ship.

This movie really, really tired to pull me in for an emotional connection with the characters and what they are going though. I wish that the movie didn't really do this and just went with the story as it is a about kids that find crystals and an alien ship that turn them into superhero's where they use Zords (robots shaped like dinosaurs). The first half of the movie kept trying to be a serious big budget movie but then for the last act it incorporated some of the camp of the television show but this didn't go along the same felling of the beginning and middle of the movie. I wish that it was just more camp all the way around and just went for it. It just didn't feel like the movie knew what kind of movie it wanted to be.

 

There was over acting galore and there was some chemistry between the characters but it really felt forced. How the Rangers get thrown together and how they are all misunderstood by everyone around them doesn't feel genuine. The only story I connected with and thought worked was for Zack. Almost all of the interactions between the team besides the around the fire scene was just weird. I enjoyed Elizabeth Banks as Rita but would have liked her outfit to more her classic red then the green they movie went with but I understand why this change was made. She was OTT but in a good way and although she was silly I enjoyed it.

 

Overall this movie was fine but there wasn't anything really memorable about it. As I am writing this I am struggling to remember specifics about the movie. This means that there was nothing that I hated or really didn't like about the movie but it means there was nothing special about it. I would have preferred if it went more tween, family, campy film with the movie but I know that it is hard to do that now days with movies where the main characters fight.

My Rating: 2-

Beauty and the Beast (2017): Review

 

Unless you have been living under a rock you are aware that Disney has released a live action remake of their 1991 classic Beauty and the Beast. This movie will satisfy those of you who are avid Disney fans and who have been excited about this movie coming out. It was a good remake, however it is hard for anything to be unique in a remake like this of such a loved movie. Coming out of the movie all I really wanted to do was go home and re-watch the 1991 animated version which is exactly what I did as soon as I got home.




Beauty and the Beast stars Emma Watson as Belle, a young woman who doesn't really fit into the small French town where she lives with her father Maurice, played by Kevin Kline. One day, while her father is going to a fair to sell some clocks, he is forced down a different path and ends up at an enchanted castle where a young prince has been turned into a Beast, played by Dan Stevens, by an enchantress. The Beast and his servants are under this enchantment until either he discovers love and is loved in returned, where the spell will be lifted, or until the last petal falls, where they will be cursed forever.  Discovering that her father has been taken prisoner in the castle, Belle takes his place.  Meanwhile,  a local man Gaston, played by Luke Evans, has decided that since he is the best man in the town he wants to marry Belle, the pretties girl in the town. When she doesn't want him he does what he has to in order to try win her hand and will go destroy anything in his path. Also staring Josh Gad as LaFou; Ewan McGregor as Lumiere; Ian McKellen as Cogsworth; Emma Thompson as Mrs. Potts; Audra McDonald as Madame Garderobe (the wardrobe); Stanley Tucci as Maestro Cadenza (the piano); and Gugu Mbatha-Raw as Plumette.

The one thing that this movie has is a very good cast overall, I liked that casting of everyone and could tell that the majority of the cast were enjoying what they were doing in this movie. Although it didn't do anything unique, overall you could see that the movie was made because it wanted do justice to the animated classic.There were moments through that were forced and didn't flow well between classic lines or songs and what was different. This movie was not close enough nor different enough from the 1991 version to really shine on its own. There were moments where I really wanted the nostalgia and for it to just be a live action version of a specific scene or if it was different to make it unique or special in some way. Besides the Disney magic there was nothing special about this movie. Overall enjoyable but nothing really special. I did really like the fleshed out the backstories of Belle and the Beast. This part is handled very well, weaving in some details but not derailing from what was happening.

Emma Watson really tried as Belle and I was impressed with her singing but she never really melded into the character, I can notice her acting throughout and she always seems to act the same way in all of her movies just with different accents.  I really enjoyed Gastan and LaFou and really think these two do did the best in bringing their characters to life. While watching them I didn't think that they were just trying to do there best to be the characters, they were actually the characters. The rest of the cast (not CGI'ed) were good but al the accents were different from each other. I did enjoy the chemistry between everyone and think that the moments between Belle and her father were great.



The production value of this movie was fantastic and I could see all the money that was put into making it, my problem was with the choices in how things looked. The CGI was done well but the characters just looked weird. I don't think any of the main enchanted characters looked like better or real life versions of their 1991 counterparts, especially Mrs. Potts and Lumiere. I could handle Lumiere and Cogsworth better than Ms. Potts but didn't like them when they were stationary object. Mrs. Potts just looked weird all the time and I found watching her distracting due to this weirdness. I did like Chip and some out the second tier characters, such as the butler coat rack and Plumette.

The most distracting thing in this movie for me was the Beast. I know that they were going with making him more appealing and wanting Luke Evans to be seen as a hottie, but I could thin of when I was watching him was that he belonged in Narnia. He was very much a mythical Narnia character with his overall look and especially his voice that I didn't see Beast at all in him. I had this thought way too much during this movie. Also his overall behavior wasn't brooding or in anyway unappealing or standoffish. He came across more as intellectual and aloof then beastlike. Sure he was selfish before he was turned into a beast but as a beast there wasn't anything specifically unappealing about him except that he was suppose to be unappealing and described as a beast.

 

The cinematography, set design, and costuming was wonderful. Everything was thought about and effort was put into all the details. It was a beautify movie to watch and all of this production worked very well together. I loved all of the set pieces and enjoyed how the village, countryside, forest, and castle were done. The effort put into these were not wasted.



Overall. the movie has enjoyable bits and some not my preference bits but it was good and it will be something that I will watch again. I will not be surprised when it is a hit for kids and Disney fans alike but I would have preferred for there to be a different style to it. If you have been looking forward to this coming out you will enjoy it.

My Rating: 2