Saturday, April 12, 2014

My thoughts on Super Megaforce Silver and Super Megaforce so far

Since Super Megaforce is going on summer break, I figured it was time to do this now that the silver ranger is part of the team as well. Getting right to the point, I'll start with him and then move on to the rest of the show.
Orion: His two-part premier was alright. Personality-wise, they wanted to give him a tragic back-story that oddly makes him feel like a bit like Tyzon from Overdrive at the moment. They did an alright job of keeping his identity secret in the first half of the two parter but sadly they gave it away at the end of the first part. That is something I really think they should have saved for part two. Having the rangers arrive with the enemy already defeated in the first part was a nice touch as it was a decent indicator of his strength despite not seeing him fight on screen during those instances.

As for the rest of the show, it has been meh so far with most of the episodes feeling like rehashed Gokaiger episodes only with bad editing and build up problems. The copy and paste episodes have been ok for the most part except in the case of the Blue Saber Saga episode but I'll get to that one in a minute. To simplify things, I'll only go into detail about the best and worst tribute episodes so far.

Worst tribute episode: That goes to the Blue Saber Saga for now. It earned that title for the simple reason that the script is not only a straight-up copy and paste of the Shinkenger tribute from Gokaiger plot-wise, but it feels like it was written solely with adapting Joe from Gokaiger in mind, not written for Noah's actual character. It was a major out-of-character moment for Noah as he is more of the thinker/nerd character type.
There was no reason for him to get depressed at all after losing the sword fight, nor did he play into his already established character so far. They should have had him try to out-think the monster. I would've cut them some slack if they had at least played up his sword training in more of a strategic manner with him using his nerd side to somewhat predict the attacks, finding a blind-spot in the attack, or have him training so he can calculate the angle of the attacks as a counter-measure. Instead he immediately thinks "Well I lost so I've got to train with a sword more." and all he really learns from the encounter is that he can use more than one sword at once. I know they were somewhat limited in their options thanks to stock footage but I think they would've been able to come up with something more in character for him.

Best tribute episode: Ironically, the best episode so far is a tribute to a PR season that I don't like, that being Jungle Fury. Granted I'm using the word "best" loosely there. It also features the return of Casey who in my opinion is the blandest red ranger in the franchise, next to Troy of course. Now going by all of that I should dislike the episode but it was executed decently. It kept relatively close to Jungle Fury's continuity aspects and the scenes with Emma and Jake training flowed really well. Though Casey was a little too on-the-nose when he guess their animal spirits. Granted they did use the word "spirit" a little too much for my taste but overall it was better done than most of the episodes outside of the season premier.

Main problems: Well one of my problems is the lack of a plot other than "protect the city" and the first half sort of had the same problem. Granted while most of the PR seasons' plots centered around protecting the city, we at least got some sub-plots to help spice things up. With this, it just feels far too episodic with the characters not being interesting enough to make up for it. The rangers also seriously need to tone down the talking during the fights as there is far too much banter going on, even by PR standards. Its a bit distracting constantly hearing bad jokes in the middle of a fight.
The concept of older rangers showing up in the context of adapting the source material does sound like a good idea but it doesn't really make that much sense to me for one simple reason: A lot of the veteran rangers STILL have their powers yet chose to sit back and watch instead of helping the current team. In Gokaiger, they at least had a valid reason for being unable to help during the show since they were basically powerless. To make it more illogical, the Megaforce city is the only city shown being attacked and no other city is hinted at being attacked. It just makes the veterans look bad. When Jayden said "we're watching you.", I wanted to punch him and ask where the veterans were during the attack. I get it, we're meant to assume that they're fighting the Armada in other parts of the world but that hasn't really been shown or even hinted at as of yet. It would've made much more sense from a story telling perspective had the Legend War been done at the end of the Megaforce half instead of saved for the end of Super Megaforce. Other-wise the veterans showing up just feels tacked on for the sake of nostalgia. The fact that they still have their powers while the ranger keys exist also violates a piece of continuity from the MMPR era. That condition being that there can never be two of the same power at one time other-wise it can be very dangerous for the morphing grid. The ranger keys in PR would technically count as duplicate powers. So they just shot themselves in the foot since a lot of the veterans still presumably have their powers.
Pre-Zyu suits showing up: I'll have a post where I go into more detail up later. For now, I'll just say that the suits really have no reason to be in there if they're not going to properly explain why they're there. They've basically blown a hole in their continuity without giving an in-show explanation for it. It just makes the editing department look lazy when they can easily cut out the five second clips they've shown of those suits. It also makes the writers look lazy when all they need to do is write a two-second line saying "These powers are from other planets.". Writing them off as new powers accessible by Super Mega mode can only stretch so far. Granted Zordon did say there were rangers from other planets back in MMPR but here is the problem, most of their target audience today wouldn't know that bit of continuity. People are trying to come up with fan theories to explain why those suits are showing up, and while that is a valiant effort, it is ridiculous for it to be left to the fans to do so. When a company alters a franchise's continuity, the burden of explanation rests squarely on the shoulders of the company, not the fans. I give the Dairanger suits a bit of a pass since they are post-Zyu and they did technically have a presence in the franchise thanks to Kibaranger being used as the MMPR white ranger. I'll be keeping a count of the non-PR suits showing up until we get some sort of explanation.

Overall, it has been a meh show with hints of laziness on the production side so far. However, I can tell they are making some effort here and there which is more than I can say for the first half of the show.

14 comments:

  1. On one level or another, I'm somehow not surprised that Super Megaforce is received as meh quality. *Hires Kamen Rider Sigurd to be a villain SMF along with Gremlin from Wizard and adapting Basco to spice things up.*

    What if some of the Rangers were killed this season? Would it make any difference?

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    1. I don't think killing them off would help for two main reasons:
      1. Before you kill a character off, you have to make them feel for the character which is something that Megaforce and Super Megaforce have failed to do so far. Yeah they could kill off a veteran but it would be in bad taste to me.
      2. I think they are way past the point of killing a character off just for shock value.

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    2. 1. Killing a veteran, hmmm.... I'm sorta half-and-half on that. If they do it right, like have them very exhausted after a battle and get overrun. Then that's alright with me.

      It depends on the veteran if you ask me.
      (Either, I will prepare bottles for their tears)


      2. I think you're right.

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  2. http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/lionsgate-saban-brands-partner-power-701937

    Taylor or anyone on this blog, feel free to sink your teeth into this. I really don't know how to feel about this.

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    1. Heard about it. All I'm gonna say is that if it is indeed an MMPR reboot then it will outright prove that Saban Brands is indeed unwilling to move on from 90's. MMPR at its core is something that could have only happened in 90's and wouldn't really translate well if they tried to modernize it without overall its changing concepts. Once more stuff as been announced, I might do a post about it.

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    2. Honest opinion: I think PR should take a hiatus. (It worked for Kamen Rider, why not PR?)

      //then it will outright prove that Saban Brands is indeed unwilling to move on from 90's.//

      Some of that blame should be placed on the fandom. Seeing they how put MMPR on such a high pedestal and want future series to be like MMPR in tone.

      Well, ask and you shall receive. Samurai and Megaforce were both disappointments.

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    3. In all honesty, I don't think they will even try putting it on a hiatus. Its every tv studio/network's dream. Maximum profit with minimal effort. And yeah, I do blame the MMPR fanboy's for the mentatlity Saban Brands currently has but at some point, the company needs to put its foot down and realize that mentality is going to hurt it in the long run. With being said, I doubt that they'll do either of those things because nostalgia has proven time and time again that it is the easiest way to make money.

      As for megaforce, my issues with that are way too many to count but my biggest issue with it is that they totally phoned in the first half and are making the second half rely far too much on the veterans showing up.

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    4. That is unfortunate, but I think the damage is done. (Even though PR fans want Saban to redeem themselves)

      Personal opinion on the Megaforce cast: Even though some improved, Micchy (especially as a villain, especially since he's the successor to a famous Evil Kamen Rider, you know who) as a comparison seems more likable.

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    5. http://www.kdramastars.com/articles/23522/20140530/power-rangers-movie-michael-bay.htm

      One little wham line:

      "The fans wanted Michael Bay to possibly direct and write the script for Power Rangers. Currently he is promoting and working on his two latest movies; Transformers: Age of Extinction and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles."

      Well, I can say this. The PR fandom's standards must be kinda low.

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    6. Hmmm...odd. I thought that was proven to be a hoax. But yeah, if the ranger fandom wants the movie to be nothing but giant robots and explosions well that proves the fandom is in dire need of a wake-up call. It doesn't matter if they're thinking of mass appeal or not, the fans, Lionsgate, and Saban Brands need to start thinking about the longevity of the franchise. Not some movie that could be all flash and no substance which at this point is what I'm expecting. Well that and nostalgia because that seems to be all Saban Brands cares about.

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    7. I will laugh if the PR reboot does so terrible at the box office, plus the all PR fans crying a lot because of Saban and Lionsgate.

      In addition, five bucks says that the new Godzilla and Pacific Rim sequels (plus new animated series) will overshadow whatever Power Rangers shell out

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    8. http://variety.com/2014/film/news/power-rangers-movie-roberto-orci-ashley-miller-zack-stentz-1201262735/

      Well, looks like the movie has some hope.

      Two writers from X-Men First Class, but..... Orci, I have my doubts about him.

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  3. Am I screwed up if I decide to suggest that Power Rangers should have a villain like Ramsay Snow from Game of Thrones? (Toned down a bit, mind you)

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  4. http://herotaku.com/blog/1/entry-13685-the-power-rangers-reboot-movie-release-date-confirmed/#.U-zJFvldU5Q

    Well, found the confirmation date: July 22, 2016.

    All I can say they're facing some stiff box office competition: Planet of the Apes 3, The Bourne Betrayal and that's it.

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