(ESP-ENG) Power Rangers [2023] - Nostalgia as a success!

Hello friends, good vibes to all.

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Lately and I don't know if it's just my perception, but many production companies are appealing to nostalgia as a tool for the birth of "new" projects. It's happening with Harry Potter and its new series, the Mario Bros movie, there is talk of another series based on Twilight and there are many more; nostalgia as a hook to attract people. If you ask me it is not bad as long as what we end up seeing is coherent and with a minimum of quality and to better describe this I will use two examples: the Cobra Kai series, based on the Karate Kid universe and this special that the people of Netflix took out of the pack.

As a person who lived his youth in the 90's I remember perfectly when this series aired, but the first, the original and the truth is that they have been one of the things that I have liked and hooked me the most in my life and that after 30 years back on the air with part of the original cast is something that undoubtedly hits the sentimental fiber of what was that time. I confess that I didn't catch many references since the only Power Rangers I saw were the ones from 1993, maybe a couple of seasons after them but that's as far as it went, although this was not an impediment to understand this movie almost in its entirety. Lots of references, almost the same special effects of those times but the same spark that made this show so successful. Without further ado, let's talk a little about what was this return of the protectors of the world.

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Time has passed, quite a lot of time, and it seems that an old villain has decided to make her comeback. Rita Repulsa, the archenemy of the Power Rangers, has returned but this time in a robot body with the same intentions as always. What is her purpose? - To catch as many Rangers as she can to create a machine with a specific objective. But to stop it we will first see David Frost as the blue Ranger and Walter Emanuel Jones as the black Ranger, who are two of the original cast. In the meantime, when the fight starts, Rita traps several of them, forcing other Rangers from other eras to come to the rescue to lend a hand, thus creating a pretty good crossover.

Steve Cardenas and Catherine Sunderland as the red and pink Rangers respectively jump onto the screen to put on the suits that will allow them to face Rita and all her plans. It is here where the plot begins, which is nothing more than creating a plan that will allow them to put an end to Rita's threat. We will see fights, the typical ones with Rita's henchmen that fall apart when they are hit hard, as well as those monsters that look like a bad costume from a children's party. But you know what? - In the 90's it was the best there was on TV, but you could still notice that everything looked a little fake and yet we were still faithful in front of the TV.

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Let's see. When the idea came out that they wanted to do something related to Power Rangers I immediately didn't marry the idea until I found out that part of the original cast would be in it, that's when I remembered how good Cobra Kai is and imagined that this would be something similar and it was, pure and simple nostalgia. It's a pretty acceptable story because even the main plot seemed interesting to me, that is, Rita's plan is something that in the papers is good, to give you a hint it's something that has to do with the metaverse, something that is very fashionable nowadays. But there is also a sentimental part since in this special there is a tribute to Thuy Trang who was the original Yellow Ranger and who died more than 20 years ago, that touch to give continuity to the story was very good.

While we are talking about the other characters, the original Pink Ranger Amy Jo Johnson did not want to be in this movie, she did not feel like wearing the suit with the age she is, the red one who was the leader of that group Austin St. John could not go out because he had some problems with justice of which he was acquitted but by the time this was filmed it did not give him the opportunity to record anything even though his desire was there. And finally we have Tommy or his real name Jason David Frank who took his own life last year and was the green Ranger. The absence of all of them did not detract from the absolute vividness of this special, on the contrary, in the story they play a little with their absences to justify them so that they are not inexplicable.

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As for the effects, which for me are an important part of everything and have always been the subject of funny comments, is what I said before, it is what it is. From my perspective it seemed like I was watching a 90's episode, except for certain improvements, but in general terms the essence was maintained, I don't know if consciously but it's something you see and you know that it's not that it's badly done but that's just the way it is. And I also think that this special is made for the fans, for those of us who grew up with this on television, so I don't know if someone who has never seen anything of this universe will enjoy it as much. As you can see the formula with nostalgia is repeated, all these projects are based both on the new generations to see what once was and to seek to keep the old fans: Mario Bros is another clear example of this and that is something that the critics do not understand.

All the main characters are never out of their line of acting, in fact it is something that they maintain with respect to their characters of 30 years ago. We see bad jokes, performances often a bit fake but I will not be critical with that, we must take into account that most of these actors do not have a career made or marked as to have certain tables on top. What we see is more than fine and acceptable. Many also maintain a certain physical condition or at least they were prepared for this and that is appreciated because the scenes where we see the fights, despite all that has been said, are within what one would expect.

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In short, a special that I personally liked a lot because it evoked a very cool time in my life, because it brought back good memories and because in the end it is what I expected. There are many surprises that I didn't want to say in the review to surprise you a little. I give it a 7.5/10 because it delivered in full, no more, no less. It has a running time of just under an hour and is obviously available on Netflix. If you were a fan and ever liked the Power Rangers I highly recommend you to watch this special, if not I also invite you to do so because it is a good way to connect with the past. I leave you the trailer below.

Well my people that's all for today, I hope you liked it.
¡A hug to everyone, see you next time!