Power Rangers

A combination of nostalgic appeal and franchise potential likely resurrected Power Rangers from the 1990s pop-culture scrap heap. Yet the latest big-screen incarnation of the colorful gang of morphing teenage superheroes seems aimed squarely at a new generation.

This transparent attempt to launch a franchise is visually ambitious, although with that comes a tendency to take itself way too seriously in an effort to justify the big-budget spectacle.

There’s an attempt to connect past and present in the story, which starts with an unlikely friendship between disgraced jock Jason (Dacre Montgomery) and high-tech nerd Billy (R.J. Cyler) formed in detention. At a mining site just outside their suburban California community, they discover some coins that lead to a mysterious portal.

Soon they are joined by fellow outsiders Zack (Ludi Lin), Kimberly (Naomi Scott) and Trini (Becky G) in learning that their respective coins are actually assignments from Zordon (Bryan Cranston), an original Power Ranger who came to Earth millions of years ago and now remains hidden within a giant rock.

He’s recruited the new Rangers to spare the planet from evil Rita Repulsa (Elizabeth Banks), a reincarnated shapeshifting alien who was once Zordon’s nemesis.

Amid the impressive visual effects and cool gadgetry, the culturally diverse collection of young actors achieves an appealing misfit camaraderie, and you can appreciate the effort to bring a more character-based approach to the material, with backstory twists including autistic Billy and lesbian Trini.

The underlying messages of inclusion and anti-bullying get lost amid the ensuing mayhem, as you might expect. However, there’s an amusing early sequence during which the naïve group collectively discovers the extent of their powers and their corresponding mission.

Much of the film’s appeal comes down to whether we want to know the Rangers for the tortured souls beneath the costumes, or if we really just want the obligatory cheesy and cartoonish fight scenes. In essentially devoting an hour to each, the screenplay by John Gatins (Real Steel) awkwardly tries to have it both ways.

As directed by Dean Israelite (Project Almanac), this version of Power Rangers is basically another silly superhero origin story in an already crowded marketplace that doesn’t offer much value for fans of the source material. Meanwhile, for the contemporary neophytes it wants to charm, the film might resemble watching a high-tech anthropomorphic box of crayons.

Rated PG-13, 124 minutes.