Power Rangers Megaforce: S20E01 - Mega Mission.

It's the twentieth iteration of the Power Rangers, so that isn't a typo or whatever... Anyway, hope you enjoy!


I will admit, I'm not much of a fan of Power Rangers. I loved Time Force to death and RPM was pretty great. Hell I enjoyed most of the ones from my childhood and early teen years because I was too young to know better but then, something changed....

Maybe it was just me growing up, but I remember tuning into an episode of SPD and literally forcing myself to watch it, to give it a chance, finally making it to the end and weeping softly for my lost childhood (that may not have happened and be a slight exaggeration). Although Mystic Force and Operation Overdrive were okay, I found that same reaction again that I had with SPD return with Jungle Fury and Samurai.

With each new iteration I return in the hope of finding another adaptation as awesome or as strong as the two previously mentioned, and I kept getting that same SPD shit. At the best of times Power Rangers is a watered down version of the original Super Sentai with considerably weaker acting but those three, those three were something else, some kind of new breed of horror. Is Megaforce one of those? Or will it go down with RPM and Time Force as one my favourites? Well first, let's get all that other stuff out the way.

Megaforce is an adaptation of a series I actually really hated, Tensou Sentai Goseiger. The combination of Christian religious themes and playing cards made this probably the most stereotyped Japanese production in the history of everything, in some places I just assumed it was a parody so I could laugh at it. So at least with that in mind, this adaptation can't be worse. Also, this series is obviously Power Rangers twentieth anniversary and so it will feature rangers from throughout Power Rangers history.

So, the plot. It's basically Day of The Dumpster again, I honestly don't mind if a Power Rangers series isn't plot heavy, but there is no plot here at all. Aliens are attacking Earth because of reasons, five teens are brought together because they embody the human spirit apparently and then there is some fighting, the end. Oh yeah also, Troy is having dreams of a huge war involving all the Power Rangers.

So, who are our Rangers? Emma, the Pink Ranger, is chosen because she is good at riding her bike and likes the environment. Noah, the Blue Ranger, is a nerd and is destined to become a great scientist or some shit. Jake, the Black Ranger, is basically a jock while also being a loser, rather than a bully. Gia, the Yellow Ranger, is really ho-...I mean she does well under pressure and is really ferocious (?) and finally our Red Ranger is Troy, who is the usual pure of heart but also really strong kinda dude. He also met adversity in his life with skill, whatever the hell that means. Overall if this is what you pick your team on, we're so screwed.

The acting is as usual, pretty damn awful but not nearly as bad as some of the other more recent iterations. I think a big part of the problem is the characterisations, from the moment the theme music plays you know Megaforce wants to relive past Mighty Morphin glory and that only becomes more apparent with the amount of Mighty Morphin references it makes. So each of the characters feel like shittier versions of the teens from that iteration and any gaps they just fill with generic stock archetype traits. When it comes to them voicing their Sentai counterparts they actually do a lot better, their lines are fairly corny but the Rangers always move in such flamboyant, theatrical fashion that it fits and works despite everything. Plus the cast seem to have a lot more chemistry when they are just dubbed voices.

Thankfully the whole gang do a whole lot better when it comes to that obligatory foot soldier fight before their transformation. The fight sequences are well staged and choreographed with each of the character archetypes actually used directly in the combat. It also doesn't feel too jarring when we swap over to original Goseiger footage, Megaforce doesn't feel like it's going through the motions quite as much as versions like Samurai did, it seems to be using the footage to tell its own story like all the best versions of Power Rangers did back when. And the Goseiger action itself is a lot more fun when stripped away from all the Christian bullshit, it really is well staged and I really missed how epic every moment feels in a Power Rangers battle, they can just fire a few lasers and you want to throw your fists in the air and cheer.

Sadly this attempt to make The Megaforce feel like a part of some wider continuity seems more for fanservice sake, to bring back old fans, rather than trying to make any sense of the utter mess that is Power Rangers continuity. Then again, I'm not complaining about how awesome I feel when not one reference goes over my head. Although that probably proves I really do need to get out more... I especially loved the deliberate close-up of the Red Time Force key, it felt like that shot was made especially for me.

What I am grateful for is the return of the Power Rangers metahumour. Time Force for the most part took itself very seriously and trod a thin line through its entire runtime but thanks to some of the best writing and acting in Power Rangers history, it all worked out in the end, the same cannot be said for iterations like Samurai. Am I hitting this home enough yet? Power Rangers is goofy and kind of stupid, and if you don't feel you have the confidence to try and make it anything more, then you may as well embrace it. Which is exactly what Megaforce does and it actually makes a lot of shortcomings much easier to accept in the process. It's about bright colours, giant robots and explosions, doesn't anyone know how to have fun any more?

That isn't to say things aren't being mixed up, either. I rolled my eyes at Troy's shittier version of Jason but I realised as I watched it, Troy really didn't have a lot to say, did he? Normally the Red Ranger gets the most amount of lines, even if it's just them shouting empty 'go team!' lines, Troy didn't get nearly as many. Plus despite Gia being introduced as 'that hot chick who the sporty one fancies', she rocks the most amount of attitude and a leather jacket, giving the possibility that she may well end up the most badass member of the group.

I know the effects have never been great in Power Rangers, it is part of the charm, but come on the CGI on that Alpha ripoff is just awful. Everything else however looks pretty good, in any other context a lot of this would look pretty awful, but under that usual Power Rangers style it all more than functions. Each of the Rangers gets some huge and really flashy special attacks, that are all a lot of fun. The action is bright, colourful and full of glorious explosions.

As with all Power Rangers series, it's normally pretty great when they're using footage from the series they are adapting and then the quality plummets pretty far when they move to a bunch of American martial artists trying to act. Luckily for Megaforce, I didn't like Goseiger in the first place, so I don't care what they change or water down, hell the more changes the better! Although the stuff outside of the Ranger fights isn't fantastic, I didn't find myself doing a dramatic Power Ranger flip for the remote like I did with Samurai, SPD or Jungle Fury. And right now, that is about all I could ask for, I really missed Power Rangers and it's been a long time since there was an iteration I could at least tolerate.

Pros;

• It really helped my enjoyment that they phased out as much of the Goseiger plot as physically possible.
• Legend War, fuck yeah!
• Gia is hot (I'm sorry!).
• Not the worst Power Rangers acting ever (although that doesn't say much).
• Deliberate close-up of the Red Time Force key, fuck yeah!
• Power Rangers metahumour.
• The action is a lot of fun. 
• The Goseiger footage is well used.
• At least we aren't watching Samurai, Jungle Fury or SPD (I'm sorry).

Cons;

• There is basically no plot here.
• As much as you can laugh at it with us, that still doesn't change how stupid all this is.
• The acting is still pretty damn awful.
• With the amount of references and stock writing, it made the whole episode feel pretty weak from a literary standpoint. 
• The continuity is still a mess.

Think About It!

-Locke

What would you rate, 'Mega Mission'?