This will probably be the weirdest review i'll ever write, because to be quite honest I cannot believe what I just saw.

While I didn't exactly "grew up" with Power Rangers, my brother did and he used to have a few episodes recorded in VHS and that's how I discovered this franchise. I only really got attached to the first season though, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, after that I just started getting into different stuff I guess. Not to mention they got weirder and weirder with every new season, i've heard the writing and characters got better but never got to see that for myself.

So when this movie was announced, I got curious just to see how badly they were gonna fuck this up. When the first trailer was released I was somewhat surprised at how...average it was. It wasn't good, like at all, but it wasn't bad either it was just sort of mediocre Hollywood blockbuster shlock with generic characters and nonsense action. It's with the second trailer that the movie left me with this horrible impression, and I was so gonna hate this fucking movie. I went in with a really bad attitude, i'll be honest. I was more than ready to tear this film a new asshole...

...I liked it. Yes, I liked this movie...it was good. To tell you the truth, I left the theater completely stunned! I literally cannot believe this!

I think what really kept my interest throughout were the main characters - all of them are really well done. They're very likeable, they're relateable and have backstories to give them some substance...a bit generic but still, more than what I expected. Another thing I was shocked by was how much chemistry they had. These five are most definitely NOT good actors, let me tell you. But believe it or not all of them together formed this really believable team of screwed up teenagers who are looking for meaning in their lives. You got to see them fight together, overcome obstacles and hardships, joke around and deal with terrible stuff...I honestly felt like I had to slap myself in the face to believe it was actually happening and it wasn't just some dream. The characters are very good, and they're the main force of this movie's narrative.

The plot is as lame, cheesy and stupid as a Power Rangers fan would expect. None of it will make any sense whatsoever, so I guess they followed the show well in that regard...but as the movie went on I was expecting a bit more. The movie gladly abandons that "campyness" from the show and creates a light-hearted tone but with some dramatic weight to it. And it fit really well. Some might argue this more dramatic tone might not fit the just-as-dumb plot, and I couldn't really argue against that. There was even product placement in this movie, and pretty shameful one at that...but the movie realizes this and embraces it. The movie can actually draw some laughs with it, which made me forget about it. Really well done in this aspect.

The action and special effets were also way better than I was expecting. The movie has a shit ton of CGI into it, but it looks competent in my opinion. Even the suits looked good, and I was ready to hate the CGI-look they had in the trailers. The action was also well done, although it did have more shaky-cam than it should. It's also sometimes shot a bit too close, which might make it hard to see the action at times, but when shit goes down you see the whole picture and it's very much how I would've imagined a Hollywood big-budget Power Rangers reboot to look like.

Now, there were bad things about this movie. I already mentioned the bare-bones plot, but when talking about the Power Rangers elements I thought Rita Repulsa was TERRIBLE! I have no idea what they were thinking when they wrote her. We all know the over-the-top Rita from the show wouldn't work in today's scene, so they tried to go for a more serious and intimidating version...it didn't work. At all. The very first times you see her, she's fucking hilarious! It seems like she came out of some shitty japanese horror film, seriously this actress chews the scenery up and spits it out. For a supposedly more evil version she's just as campy and goofy as the original.

I really don't know what else to say about this movie...if you like Power Rangers, I think you'll like this movie. Seriously, it both respects its foundation while also giving a new spin to it. To give you some perspective, I was really to hate it...and came out very surprised.

...is this real? Am I in a dream? If I shoot myself, will I wake up? o_O