It seems like only yesterday that blockbusters were something to be expected in the summer, but the release window for each year’s progressively more competitive box office gross seems to widen as time goes on. For some years now, March has been a month where studios begin the onslaught of big budget entertainment (January and February still being considered the dumping-ground season).
Last year, March brought us the divisive (but very profitable) Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. This year, it brings us a film that is likely to be just as polarizing. I’m talking, of course, about the Power Rangers movie.
Power Rangers looks to combine many elements of other successful films in the hopes that it can replicate a formula that is beginning to wear out its welcome. The Chronicle connection is still apparent in this trailer, but there are glimpses of the crude humor and wonton mass destruction of the Transformers franchise as well. The small city-big threat look is reminiscent of the first Thor film, and the action seems to take some cues from the style of Pacific Rim. Throw in Bryan Cranston, Bill Hader and Elizabeth Banks classing up the joint, and you’ve got yourself something that looks like real movie.
All of this being said, the movie is aiming squarely at teenage boys, and it looks like it’s hitting that mark pretty damn well. There’s nothing blatantly offensive about this footage and, at times, it has the look of something that could be a decent action film for kids still waiting for their next spoonful of Guardians of the Galaxy.
Power Rangers morphs into theaters on March 24, 2017.
