Growing up in the 90’s, one of the things I unavoidably loved was Power Rangers. I watched the TV series religiously, I bought as much of the merchandise as I could afford and I saw its first movie in theaters multiple times. I didn’t care that the production was low-end, the fight scenes were repetitive and the plot was virtually non-existent. I was in love with what I was seeing.
Eventually, though, the time came where I grew out of the franchise. There really were better shows to watch and more important things to do. The thing is, though, that the franchise never actually went away. They’ve continually produced new Power Rangers series in the decades since and a score more movies.
And, like all great things from the past, there was always a niggling desire to go back and relive the things that meant so much to me as a child. That’s why that Power/Rangers fan film became so popular a few years back, the one where the bad guys won and the Rangers were either dead or traitors or coked-up adrenaline junkies. There was a whole generation of newly christened adults out there who wanted a version of Power Rangers than had grown up with them.
Afterwards came the movie reboot, made by the same guy behind Power/Rangers. And while it didn’t crash and burn at the box office, it pretty much killed any lingering hopes of it being a powerhouse blockbuster property in the new century.
While most people just shrugged the loss off as the mismatched tone of the film or the horrendous reviews, others are arguing that it was more a matter of marketing. Dean Israelite, who directed the film, claims that the fact that the movie was rated PG-13, instead of PG, is what sank it at the box office.
In a recent interview, he stated:
“Yes, definitely. Definitely. And not only do I think it, but there’s been market studies on it, and the findings have been that if the movie were rated PG- I don’t want to go into the specific numbers- but if the movie had been rated PG, there would have been more traffic. I think parents were unsure if they could bring their kids to the movie, which surprised me, because the movie is a tame PG-13.
We did a lot of preview screenings, and to me, it felt like a seven-year-old might be scared, but in a good way. They liked that they were scared of Rita, but they still came out of the movie enjoying it, they liked what was going on. I think we really tread that line well, so it was disappointing that parents didn’t know that they could take their kids to it. I’m hoping now, with it coming out on DVD and Blu-ray, and On Demand, that parents will feel more comfortable. That maybe they’ll check it out for themselves and then see that it’s suitable.”
While it probably would have done better with a more family-friendly rating, I don’t believe for a second that it would have saved the film from blockbuster obscurity. When I used to work at a local movie theater, it never mattered what a movie was rated: determined parents happily brought whatever-aged children they had with them to see it. It didn’t matter it was Straight Out of Compton or Fury Road: if the kids wanted to see it, they generally got to.
No, what killed Power Rangers is the fact that it wasn’t that good of a movie decades after it could get away with being the hottest property on the planet. The reviews, not to mention the ticket sales, reflected that fact. The jumbled film’s dark, gritty tone was horribly mismatched against its perennially colorful palette, which in turn kept families with young children from going to the theater for it.
Maybe next time, they should make the movie actually look and feel like a Power Rangers movie.
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