Power/Rangers (2015)

A dark twist to a classic power rangers TV show. In this, the power rangers upon growing up tried to live their own lives but were pulled back in to fight. Brutal, violent, intense, and disturbing yet I love this short movie. Had a big production feel to it. The fighting scenes are AWESOME! Great plot and actors. It's amazing because I usually think other movies are too violent - I guess this blows me away.

I would not call myself a fan of the "Power Rangers", but I saw an episode here and there back when they were on television and fairly famous. So I was curious what this 13-minute movie by Joseph Kahn would look like. I was pretty much disappointed.. This is an action movie with some science-fiction references, but there are no Power Rangers in it. And James Van Der Beek as a badass character? I am not sure. He gave it his best, but it was obvious he was just copying other performances and doe snot have the grit for the character in my opinion. The only other famous cast member is Katee Sackhoff. There is a major twist around her character in the end, but it cannot make up for the not really entertaining 10 minutes before it. Joseph Kahn is one of the most lauded music video directors right now, so maybe this short film is part of his transition to "real" movies. We shall see. "Power/Rangers" sadly is not worth watching.

Yeah, I grew up watching the Power Rangers franchise and I enjoyed it, for the record my favorites are "Power Rangers in Space, "Time Force", and "Lost Galaxy". I personally never expecting anything like this to come or ever happen at all, but I'm glad someone finally had the guts to do it. Fan films are usually hit or miss with me but I'm proud to say this film is a hit.I love the fact that it has this dark gritty vibe to it, it's like if someone decided to do a revival of the franchise and go this mature route. The film in a way is sort of a superhero mystery story almost like Alen Moore's "Watchman", just like in that graphic novel/movie we realize something has happened and we're just trying to put all the pieces together figuring out why.The cinematography and effects are great, I really liked seeing some of that footage at the beginning as we see rough footage that keeps coming off and on a few of the Rangers are shooting guns at something, further note their firing bullets not lasers. And were just struggling to see what the hell their shooting at, sort of like in the film "Aliens" with the space marines and their point of view cameras recordings. We then see briefly a Zord and some monster their fighting and just seeing both those things move and fight was awesome.There are some great if short action sequences that I felt were well choreographed. From a battle with Zack/Black Rainger whom we see has became sort of Billy Blanks like celeb. Liked seeing the morph effect which I thought was beautifully done. But the battle was really cool we even got to see some blood effects and kills which is surreal. It's true the Rangers have killed but they were mainly monsters, aliens, robots, and mutants here these are human beings and we're seeing the violence go up the notch of an R rated film.And I really liked the one on one between both Tommy and Rocky which is awesome and also surreal since both use to be red rangers so you can say a fan's prayer has been answered if you ever wanted to see different versions of the red ranger go one on one.Really liked the characterization and acting, their all playing it serious and straight. Russ Bain is solid as Tommy, I really liked seeing a really dark gritty version of Tommy whom has now became a shell of a man. But the two that stand out the most are seeing James Van Der Beek as Rocky and Katee Sackhoff as Kimberly/Pink Rainger. It's interesting seeing the more adult versions of these two characters, from Rocky unfortunately selling out which I never thought would happen I personally like the character despite not a favorite, but the way it was handled in the film it felt plausible, let alone I like the concept of a Rainger turning traitor which hasn't really been done before in the franchise.Kimberly here we see her not as her cheerful energetic self but more mature and tough as she is constantly determined to find a way out of her predicament and make the machine empire pay. I really liked the back and forth dialog between both characters which is great, I really liked that Rocky actually has a point or two in his dislike for the former organization he worked for, that they were all kids that we're pulled into the job without a choice of saying yes or no. When you think about it, it's true, in a way it's sort of a statement about most of those super team stories where most heroes/superheroes are just in not by choice or even the choice to quit if they want to.After this film, I'd love to see a sequel or see a dark take on some of the other Power Rainger series and characters, like the three series I just mentioned, it could be on one or even all somehow mixed as one movie. Or better yet, for the upcoming silver screen Power Raingers film, take the direction of this short and go with it. Just some thought.Overall, if your a long time fan of the franchise like I am and you remember the old series then I recommend watching. Thought if your a recent fan, I would recommend seeing the old Power Raingers series before seeing this short. This short shows that the Power Rangers still have the power.Rating: 4 stars

Let me tell you I had a nephew who loved the Power Rangers I am a fan of the originals myself. With that being said this short was amazing! It was gritty and had big movie production feel to it. I saw here in one of the reviews that it has since been removed? Why in the world EVERYONE loved it in the comments it had with the short. I would love to see this as a full on production movie, with Hollywood revamping movie after movie THIS was refreshing to see. I hope everyone gets to see this short.So apparently I don't have enough here so blah blah and I love vampires and good books.