Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Once & Always Early Review

There has arguably been no bigger fixture in the childhood of 90s kids than the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers television series than ran for 156 episodes over 3 seasons from 1993-1999. Giving birth to countless spinoff series and films that continue to this day and entertaining countless more generations of young audiences, the franchise shows no signs of stopping anytime soon. Nearly 30 years after the debut of the series that started it all, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Once & Always is a reunion special that sees most of the original cast return (behind the scenes circumstances involving Austin St. John and Amy Jo Johnson and the untimely deaths of Thuy Trang and Jason David Frank explain their absences) in what amounted to an extended episode. Bringing back much of the vibe of the original series for better or worse, it is sure to bring on feelings of nostalgia especially for those who grew up with the original series. The only question is whether or not the special will still hold up after so much time. While it was never going to blow viewers away in terms of dialog or special effects, there’s something endearing about its sense of authenticity. 

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Once & Always sees the rangers take on a new version of Rita Repulsa (Barbara Goodson). Despite looking different, her mission was still to take over the world. Inadvertently released and armed with her monsters and her army of putties, it was up to Zack (Walter Jones) and Billy (David Yost) to save the others before it was too late. However, Rita was not the only one graced with upgrades as her trusted monsters also got an evil refresh. Faced with a crisis of worldwide proportion, Zack and Billy enlisted the help of Rocky (Steve Cardenas) and Kat (Catherine Sutherland) to take her down. That being said, taking her and her minions down proved to be a challenge though it wasn’t one they couldn’t overcome. Meanwhile. Zack and Billy had the added burden of tending to Trini’s daughter Minh (Charlie Kersh). Besides moments of teenage angst and trying to follow in her mother’s footsteps, the point of her arc was merely moving her along to her inevitable destination.

Where most viewers will feel the nostalgia wave is once the special reaches its climax. The sheer ridiculousness and the over-the-top nature of it all will make viewers feel right at home as it checks all the right boxes. Maybe it doesn’t quite hit the same way as the television series as the age of the cast shows at times mostly during the many action sequences but is still entertaining in spite of that. Though the ending was of course predictable, it leaves the door open for more.

When it came to the performances, they were as good as the material allowed which admittedly wasn’t that much. Featuring a cast of original characters and later incarnations, the energy was different though by no fault of the actors who were simply victims of circumstance. Leaning on original cast members in Jones and Yost as Zack and Billy, they can only do so much with the runway they had to work with. There wasn’t much in the way of character development to be had as characters came off as thin therefore provides less of a reason to be excited for them and whatever they did. While nostalgia is one thing, there still has to be a connection there and Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Once & Always lacked a strong enough one.

At the end of the day, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Once & Always for the most part succeeds on nostalgia though that could only go so far. Feeling like an episode of the original series, fans will find plenty of fun here. However, for everyone else, it is unlikely to move them in any way.

still courtesy of Netflix

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Keith Noakes

The EIC of the coincidentally-named keithlovesmovies.com. A Canadian who prefers to get out of the cold and into the warmth of a movie theatre.