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The Shocking Decision To Give The Power Rangers Personalities In The New Movie

Published Fri, 12 Aug 2016 08:15:53 -0500

Last updated Tue, 16 Aug 2016 14:22:35 -0500

Peter S. Svensson reports for Bleeding Cool.

These aren't the Power Rangers you grew up with in the nineties. I got the chance to speak with the cast of the upcoming Power Rangers film reboot, and heard their take on being color-coded superheroes, and living up to the expectations of hardcore fans.

These "teenagers with attitude" felt like they genuinely were a team, as they entered the room with a level of energy and friendship that you don't always get from young actors. They joked. They leapt at chances to shower praise on each other. They genuinely got along. A good sign already.

They talked about the characters they played, and how different yet similar this project is to the original 90s media sensation: Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. As they spoke, something became very clear. These characters have personalities, some of which are going to shock fans of the classic series. As much as I am a fan of the original MMPR, the characters were less people than they were cliches. Jason, the Red Ranger was the leader! Kimberly, the Pink Ranger, was the valley girl! Billy, the Blue Ranger, was a nerd! Zack, the Black Ranger was the fun one! Trini, the Yellow Ranger was the wise one? In contrast, the new movie's versions of the characters are…well, characters. The cast emphasized how they had depth, they weren't just one-dimensional stereotypes. This film is aimed at a more mature audience than the original show was, and the characters are deeper and more fleshed out as a result.

Dacre Montgomery emphasized that his character Jason, the Red Ranger, isn't the star of the film. "I feel it's an ensemble piece. I feel like I'm a leader, that we all came together. We taught each other as characters on screen just the same as we did off-screen as actors. […] For me Red is part of the team."

Becky G spoke about how her character of Trini, the Yellow Ranger, is a loner, on the path to self-discovery, and with these new friends learns about who she truly is. The journey that Trini takes in the film was compelling to Becky G, who had a similar journey in making her first transition from the world of being a music star towards acting. Trini becomes wary of opening up to her fellow rangers for fear that if she becomes friends with them, it will hurt more when she inevitably loses them as she always has in the past due to a family that continues to travel and move. Indeed, rather than the wise Trini of the show, the film seems to be giving Becky G's character a more in-your-face aggressive attitude. (A change this long time fan approves of.) "She's just a bad ass." said Becky G.

Naomi Scott, playing Kimberly in the film, explained that her take on Kimberly goes beyond being the girly girl. "The movie definitely wants to break down those stereotypes." Scott explained. "Kimberly is incredibly strong in terms of actually finding her identity. She's figuring out 'Am I just that popular girl? Actually, no, that's not really me.' It speaks to a generation that likes to label everyone, especially in high school." She continued to explain that she feels Kimberly can be girly and really strong and sassy, because in real life people are more than just simple cliches. As a woman working in Hollywood, she's read many scripts where the female characters had nothing to them beyond being women, and she chose to do this film because that wasn't the case. She got to play a 17 year-old girl who is intelligent, makes mistakes, and has strong scenes with other female characters.

RJ Cyler continued to add that his character Billy, the Blue Ranger isn't "the smart one", but that all of the Rangers are smart. Each of them approaches problem solving differently, but it isn't a case of his character being a genius while everyone else struggles to add. He emphasized that he was making his character of Billy different than how original actor David Yost portrayed him. (The two have met, and posed for photos together.) He believes that even the greatest geniuses have dumb moments, which is part of being human.

Ludi Lin, Black Ranger Zack, mentioned that his character had depth beyond the superficial being the fun loving one, the class clown. "The message of this movie is to break down stereotypes," he explained. His take on Zack is more than being fun-loving and adventurous, but that he's hiding a lot of issues under the surface, things that teenagers have to deal with in real life. He was a bit of a class clown in real life, but explained that many class clowns are hiding a lot of depth and sensitivity behind their actions.

Filming a large superhero film was a big change of pace for these young actors, none of whom had ever done anything on this scale before. The pressure helped them bond as a team off-camera. Ludi Lin felt that the pressure of having to live up to the expectations of the fans encouraged him to do better. "I thrive on those challenges." stated Lin. He explained that when a shoot hits the 16 or 18 hour mark, RJ keeps everyone's spirits up. The cast joked that the only pressure that can ever defeat RJ is the pressure from the tight costumes they wear as Rangers.

Dacre Montgomery, fresh out of acting school in Australia, made it his goal to learn as much as he could on set, talking to everyone he could. "You always knew everyone's life story!" joked Becky G. She explained that the process of touring as a music star prepared her for the intensity of filming a movie.

The visual effects are impressive, far more so than the cheap effects of the original series, which took much of the action footage from a Japanese superhero series, Zyuranger. Naomi Scott explained that this reboot doesn't just have more realism in how it treats the characters as fully fleshed out people, but that the aesthetics are more carefully designed as well. She specifically pointed out the director of photography's work in making visual art out of the film, how the use of handheld cameras makes the viewer feel like they are in the midst of the action. Dacre Montgomery agreed, pointing out that there's some visual references to the original series in how the landscapes are filmed to evoke the original California filming location of the series.

Ludi added that the film has a complete aesthetic, one that the original series couldn't have because it had to accommodate the Japanese footage and work around it. Here, everything in the film is planned from the beginning and created for it specifically. The costumes they wear are practical effects, with CGI used to polish it up. "Like the icing on the cake." Ludi Lin explained.

RJ Cyler stated that the film isn't inherently better than the original TV series, just that it has a better budget and access to modern technology. "It keeps the essence of what Power Rangers was, which was the togetherness, and the unity between these five kids. This time around there's more depth to the characters, more layers. It's much more modern and relevant to now." stated Becky G. "It's fun, it's light-hearted, but it carries so much weight. So much heart to the film."

While there are some visual elements that harken to the darker style of DC and Marvel superhero films, this is not a dark and gritty remake. It is more serious than the original show was, aimed at both a young audience and the adults who grew up watching Power Rangers, but it still has humor, and still is something that grandparents can feel safe taking their children to watch. "You've got to have comedy." said Dacre Montgomery. Becky G explained that the cast and crew were very aware that Power Rangers has young fans, and that the film needed to appeal to both the original fans and a younger generation who have yet to be introduced to Power Rangers. "It's a family movie. You can bring your grandma to watch this film, you can bring your three year-old nephew to watch this film, and he'll leave a fan of the Power Rangers."

The cast had three weeks of martial arts training before filming in Vancouver, and thanked the stunt performers who taught them their moves and made sure to keep them safe. "This person is not your opponent, they're your partner." said Becky G. Each of them had their own style of fighting that matched their characters' personalities. Jason is the labeled as the popular kid, the sort who always gets the girl, but not only does he not, he seeks out relationships with the other social groups on campus. So his fighting style is a reflection of what he learns from others, and his emotional state as his character arc progresses. Billy as someone who tries to avoid confrontation is a reluctant fighter, hoping to resolve everything peacefully. Zack's style flows with spins and kicks, combining the techniques of Asian martial arts with a more aggressive wild child approach. Kimberly has a clean style, very feline in nature, while Trini, true to her personality in the film, is an aggressive brawler who would punch her way through problems.

"Trini is not afraid to punch you in the face." explained Becky G.

The film is set to premiere March 24^th, 2017.

Peter S. Svensson is off running the Official Power Morphicon, the Power Rangers convention in Pasadena, California this weekend. He might be a bit of a fan.