Power Rangers Dino Charge First Impressions

After watching the first two episodes of Dino Charge, I have to say that I am pleasantly surprised. I wasn't really expecting that much from the show after last 4 years. Anyway, lets get down to business. Note: this will include both episodes since it was technically a two part premier.

I actually enjoy the theme song this time around despite it using some lines of the remixes from the last few years. It has this slightly ancient vibe to it in the beginning of the song. The song actually synched up rather well with the opening, especially that clip of Koda punching Fury.

First Episode: 

The first episode opens up with a space battle between Keeper's and Sledge's ships. The CGI used for the battle and the inside of Sledge's ship could have been used better. I was waiting for him to walk right through the green screen when they showed the command deck. Sledge's design leaves a lot to be desired since it is essentially just a green body suit with foam armor on it. Despite his design, the show does a relatively decent job of show how strong Sledge is. You don't actually see him fight in the episode but there is a scene of him just cataloging prisoners in his ships prison block and carrying wanted posters.

Keeper is the mentor of the season and well, his design is alright. He looks like an older, wiser ET that turned orange. However, with only 3-5 minutes of screen time in this episode, I can honestly say that he has already done more than the last two mentors. He seems to have some degree of fighting skills given that he fought Fury for a brief bit after sending out the energems.

One of the surprising things is that the monster of the week actually went right for the kill the moment he knocked the energems away from Shelby and Tyler. He only failed because he was about a second too late. In an interesting choice, only Tyler and Shelby actually morph and fight during this episode. The fight scene that followed could've used some work. It feels out of synch due to all the wireworks and it didn't feel like it flowed naturally. The CGI for the T-Rex zord...yeah there was no way I could take that seriously when it attacked the monster of the week.

Second Episode: 

Riley's introduction is a rather odd choice in terms of skill set. He is a rancher but also a fencer which doesn't really mesh convincingly with KyoryuGreen's reverse grip sword-style in the footage used later in the episode. In an unmorphed fight scene, Riley manages to beat out Fury in a sword fight to protect the green energem. Chase and Koda are revealed to already have their powers. I'm actually a bit surprised about Koda's lines. I half-expected him to speak fluently despite being a caveman. Sort of glad they went with the fractured dialogue. Though the caveman thing wasn't actually mentioned in the show but I think they'll probably give his backstory soon. The morphed fight is sadly Kyoryuger stock footage from their premier.

Final Thoughts: I definitely needed this. I went into this expecting Megaforce levels of cash-in and honestly, I'm pleasantly surprised. While not a perfect start, I can at least say it looks like they're trying with this one so I'm relatively happy. Its rather refreshing after the last four years and I'm looking forward to seeing where they'll go with this.