Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie

With absolutely as little time devoted to character or plot development as possible, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie may not be Battleship Potemkin, but it does deliver the cheesy sci-fi goods for fans of the colorful television show, even if it's not likely to win any new converts. The plot finds the Power Rangers stripped of their powers when old enemy Ivan Ooze (Raiders of the Lost Ark's Paul Freeman, unrecognizable under a pound of latex) returns to destroy their headquarters and cripple their mentor, Zordon. While Ooze plots to take over the world by turning parents into mindless zombies via little bottle of goo, the Rangers travel to a distant planet in order to obtain “the great power” from Dulcea, a scantily clad Red Sonja wannabe, who also finds time to train them in the art of Ninjetti (read: Ninja), so that our heroes can hop in some cool new robots and save the earth from total destruction. The best thing about Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie is that there is almost always something neat on the screen: If our heroes aren't kung-fu fighting some slimy monster or piloting giant robots, they're off Rollerblading or skydiving to pass the time between the action. Speaking of action, it's in this department that the film offers a marked improvement over its small screen counterpart, with the Hong Kong influenced fight sequences and computer generated special effects sure to wow the kids -- with plenty of abysmal bad jokes uttered along with nearly every single kick, punch, and explosion, which keeps the tone appropriately light and comic bookish. In the acting department, our heroes range from “Nice try” to “Not trying at all,” but they do manage to keep straight faces throughout the whole affair, and their silly performances only serve to heighten the picture's camp sensibilities. In short, despite some obvious flaws, this movie is fast-paced fun. A note to concerned parents: While this reviewer has never really bought into the controversy surrounding the Power Rangers, those folks who have should know that there is no shortage of martial arts fighting, robot bashing, and kiddie titillation on display here, so if you believe that such material will negatively influence your youngsters, then do what you must.