While Bryan Cranston is known for things like his Emmy-winning role in Breaking Bad, his Golden-Globe nominated performance in Your Honor (a series I love) and his Oscar-nominated showing in Trumbo, the A-lister also took a dip in the superhero genre with 2017’s Power Rangers, now streaming on Netflix.
Before I jumped into MCU’s rabbit hole of movies like Iron Man, Captain America, Black Panther and Avengers, and predating my adventures with Christian Bale’s Dark Knight, I was "morphin" with the Power Rangers. I was all into the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers series of the early 90s and the subsequent two movies of the mid and late 90s. Now once the rangers started becoming samurais and were in space, I trailed off to other pastures. But the original version of the series was the Golden Age in my book.
As such was the case, you can understand my excitement when the original got a reboot with the 2017 movie, Power Rangers. Although critics were incredibly mixed on it (it has a Rotten Tomatoes score of 51%), it managed to become the highest-grossing Power Rangers movie ever and won me over as a fan.
Is the movie a bit campy? Yes. Does it have all the bells and whistles of an Avengers film? No. But my inner child appreciates that the movie was able to capture the essence of what made the original show and movies work, while adding a level of nuance. For example, I can’t say enough how much I love the modern aspects of CGI, as the graphics of the 90s pale in comparison.
I also enjoy that alongside Cranston, you have the Emmy-nominated Elizabeth Banks appearing as the one and only Rita Repulsa, the movie’s villain. Banks adds her signature wit to the role of the big bad, and I appreciate her at times comedic approach. Her version of Rita wasn’t all bluster and doom.
It's also worth noting the fight sequences were in many ways improved from the 90s, and the Billy (RJ Cyler) character felt like less of an outsider.
Overall, Power Rangers may not land with critics among one of the best superhero movies of all time, but if you’re a millennial who is craving some nostalgia, it may fit the bill.
You can now watch Power Rangers on Netflix with a subscription. Check out the trailer directly below.
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