Warning: possible spoilers ahead for Power Rangers! You've been warned!
Dean Israelite's Power Rangers is an origin story in the truest sense. The superhero reboot takes its time turning the five central characters into heroes, and part of that involves waiting to have them properly suit up as the Rangers -- with them not actually becoming Power Rangers until the final act of the movie. I recently spoke to Power Rangers screenwriter John Gatins about the decision to keep them out of the brand new suits, and he explained that it was a balancing act of making sure that they felt like real kids before they felt like superheroes. Gatins said:
There's always a kind of balance, especially in a movie like this where, you know, we kind of had to tell five origin stories in one movie and it was a challenge. It was something that we felt was important because it was an opportunity to tell stories of teenagers that hopefully kind of reflects 2017. We wanted teenagers to be able to see themselves in the movie and we thought that was kind of important, and also it's like we live in a world with so many flying capes and whatever that I think, for my tastes, I wanted the personal stories to invest us before it became really about heroic maneuvers, but yeah it was a challenge.
There's an easy case to be made that keeping that Rangers out of the suits was the right decision for the movie. Power Rangers does a very good job of fleshing out the arcs of the characters, and the dynamic between the teenage heroes- and much of that has to do with the decreased emphasis on action. By doing this, the film never feels overly bloated with spectacle or action sequences and actually ends up showcasing quite a bit more heart than we're used to seeing from this genre. Sure, it's not quite as thrilling as the average comic book movie for most of its runtime, but it definitely allows us to develop stronger connections to these young heroes as the story progresses.
The real question is whether or not future movies will follow up on this idea. These characters have now become fully-fledged heroes, so there's no reason to keep them out of the suits for the bulk of a sequel. We will just have to wait and see whether or not the franchise maintains its commitment to the characters now that all of its cards have been laid out on the table.
Dean Israelite's Power Rangers is now in theaters. Make sure to check it out! For more information related to the rest of this year's major movie debuts, take a look at our 2017 movie premiere guide and fill out your movie going calendars accordingly!
