Retro Review: Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers: The Movie

Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers: The Movie

Director: Bryan Spicer

Starring: Jason David Frank, Amy Jo Johnson, David Yost, Johnny Yong Bosch, Steve Cardenas, Karan Ashley, Jason Narvy, Paul Schrier, Jamie Croft, Gabrielle Fitzpatrick and Paul Freeman

Rating: PG

Runtime: 91 Minutes

Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers. Is there a more famous kids show of the ’90s? I think every child that grew up in that decade was exposed to the teenagers with attitude at some point. Experiencing that cheesy show with the giant robots and that rocking guitar intro was a rite of passage. The show proved so popular that it even got its own movie in June of 1995. Now, it’s the 25^th anniversary of this glorious slice of 90’s cheese so what better excuse for a review?

The story of the movie isn’t that different from an episode of the show. Rita and Zedd release a monster called Ivan Ooze(Freeman) in an attempt to finally destroy the Power Rangers. Things don’t go according to plan for the supervillains though. Ooze betrays Rita and Zedd before re-igniting his vendetta against the Power Rangers leader, Zordon for imprisoning him. While pursuing his revenge Ivan defeats the rangers and leaves them powerless. In order to stop this madman, the rangers will have to travel to another planet and earn new ninja powers. Of course, the whole thing ends with the rangers piloting a giant mech suit against the equally massive villain.

I’ll say it right away. If you loved the show then you’ll love this movie. Right from the opening skydiving scene, this movie is as silly as it gets. You get to see each of the rangers dive from a plane while shouting catchphrases that sounded silly even back in 1995. All the while the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ music blares in the background while they flip and twirl in mid-air. Even if you’re not a fan of the rangers you’ll likely get a laugh out of this. Of course, we get the random kid sidekick who’s clearly meant to serve as an insert for the children watching. His name is Fred, he’s introduced here and naturally, he’s portrayed as a massive fan of the rangers. The trope isn’t done too badly here though. It just kind of adds to that excessively cheesy feel the movie is going for.

The movie isn’t just music playing as the rangers take part in “hip” activities though. As it progresses you get some delightfully ridiculous action scenes that are bound to please any Power Rangers fan. They’re filled with one-liners and silly sound effects. It’s a laugh. The best part is easily our villain. Paul Freeman hams up his performance as Ivan Ooze so much that it’s impossible not to enjoy it. It’s like Raul Julia as Bison in “Street Fighter” or Arnie as Mr. Freeze in “Batman & Robin”. It’s a shame that Freeman doesn’t have the same notoriety for this role as those other two have for theirs.

One thing fans of the show will notice when watching this movie is the change in production values. The TV show used a lot of existing footage from the Japanese Super Sentai series. It meant a lot of stop-motion using toys and some less expensive costumes. In this movie that’s not the case though. A number of the costumes have been updated, especially the rangers outfits which take on a more metallic look. The toys used for the zords have also been replaced with CGI. This has become commonplace in more recent entries in the Power Rangers franchise but it’s new here. That’s probably the one thing that may bring this movie down. It uses CGI but it’s pretty ugly and dated even for the time. The ninja megazord, in particular, looks horrible but some people may get a laugh from how poorly done it is.

Overall this is just a ridiculous, fun example of 90’s excess. It’s up there with those films I mentioned, “Street Fighter” and “Batman & Robin” in that regard. If you’re a Power Rangers fan or just enjoy those cheesy types of film then odds are you’ll enjoy this movie. Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie will never challenge you intellectually but it’s a top-class popcorn flick. I highly recommend celebrating its 25^th birthday by picking up a copy and giving it a watch.