Sometimes being transported back to 1995 is enough.
Nerdy Up North Podcast
The setup
When an egg in Angel Grove is unearthed, Lord Zedd and Rita Repulsa release the creature inside, Ivan Ooze. Zordon trapped him inside thousands of years ago, so Ivan leaves to seek revenge. Ivan destroys the interior of the Command Center, almost killing Zordon, weakening and slightly fraying Alpha 5, and causing the Power Rangers to lose their powers. The Power Rangers must go on a quest to find new Ninja powers
If you grew up with Power Rangers, your nostalgia of the 90s cultural phenomenon will probably carry you through this movie. If not, you're probably in for a bad time.
Ivan Ooze is easily the standout and Paul Freeman seems to understand exactly what sort of film he is in. It's a shame that much of his antics are just a greatest hits of things other bad guys have done in the TV show. Tommy was the first one to destroy the command centre and take Zordon offline remember!
But even nostalgia cannot completely hide how uneven the film is. There are sections that drag, some moments produce more eye rolls than excitement. It's a kid friendly action movie at the end of the day. You're gonna have a kid sidekick nobody wants that they think children with identify with. The action is a bit too tame to really get invested in.
And they replace a lot of stuff people enjoyed in the show with worse versions. Putties are replaced with crow people and there's no giant men in suits fighting it out pretending to be giant robots. They try and use CGI for this and it's aged really poorly
And it's these kinds of issues that had our parents falling asleep in the cinema after we dragged them there. I remember that they wouldn't even show this movie in the good cinema in my home town, we had to see it in a weird tiny screening room.
Positives
Ivan Ooze; huge nostalgia factor; colourful production design; genuinely fun Ranger moments; an energetic 90s soundtrack.
Negatives
Noticeably dated effects; pacing drags in places; some very cheesy dialogue; nostalgia is doing a considerable amount of work.
Verdict
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie is not secretly a great film. It is, however, a very entertaining time capsule for anyone who spent the 90s shouting morphing calls at their friends.
