Over spring break, I watched the new Power Rangers movie. Haim Saban, who made the show, was also involved in the making of the movie, much to my surprise. Considering that I saw bits of the show when I was young, I thought I might as well watch the movie and see how they compared. Despite the dislike from the older generation, the low budget and the low-level special effects that looked like it was from the sixties, the American spinoff of the Japanese tokusatsu show Super Sentai was a hit with the younger generation. The movie was an improvement, in my opinion.

That’s because the trailers for the new film looked very promising. After I saw the movie, I thought the full film itself wasn’t a major improvement, but was still good nonetheless. I noted that the movie kept a few elements from the show; for example, I could easily see that the Rangers’ uniforms were made from plastic, cloth, and possibly a bit of spandex. What surprised me the most, though, was the diversity of the cast. Darce Montgomery as Jason, the Red Ranger; Naomi Scott as Kimberly, the Pink Ranger; RJ Cyler as Billy, the Blue Ranger; Becky G as Trini, the Yellow Ranger; and Ludi Lin as Zack, the Black Ranger.

To be honest, this wasn’t what I was expecting. Not only was the cast’s ethnicity more spread out, their characters’ backgrounds were explored in the movie. A more emotional pull was added, and unlike the original show, the movie reached into who the characters were, instead of simply scratching the surface, as many movies have.

In the movie, I was surprised by a few things. The characters were more realistic, and acted more like how an actual person would react, instead of accepting it almost immediately, just like in the show. Also, unlike the show, the characters had somewhat altered pasts in the movie. However, I thought this made the movie better. Despite the crude humor and the massive change in the design of the Rangers’ equipment and weapons, the movie was okay. Not the best, but it was adequate.

It has been revealed that is has been planned for Power Rangers to have six movies. Of course, many people are expecting Tommy Oliver to be in them, especially after the Power Rangers Twitter account leaked a short clip of the Green Ranger helmet when the movie came out for early viewers. So maybe, just maybe, I’ll go see them when they come out.