Saban Brings Back Power Rangers Costumes in a Big Way

By Shrey Sankalp

Let's be real for a second here - we'd all be lying if we said Power Rangers was never a part of our childhoods. As one of the defining products of the '90s, Power Rangers found much favor with us, and there's hardly a person among us who didn't either have a Power Rangers costume, or want one.
And why would there be?
There's just something so basically fun in watching a show about heroes in campy costumes and their quest to protect the world from villains in equally campy costumes.

*Go Go Power Rangers! plays in the background*

Of course, as time passed and the kind of entertainment we consumed evolved, Power Rangers found itself being sidelined in favor of a new breed of hero, one with a less sparks-prone costume and a much 'heavier' backstory.
You'd assume the franchise would move on too, or continue catering to a niche audience, but oh no, it wasn't going to hang up the instantly recognizable Power Rangers costume so easily, so now we have Saban's Power Rangers, a film that hopes to combine the camp of the original show and the sensibilities of a modern blockbuster to create a brand palpable to both purists and newcomers alike.

...so does it?
Le me put it this way: this Halloween, you're going to be seeing a lot of Power Rangers costumes.
A lot.
And most of those costumes are going to be Power Rangers costumes based on the designs seen in the movie.
Of course, this begs the question: what exactly does the film get so right? Let's dive right in.

1. The Film Isn't a Slave to Nostalgia

In recent reboots and cinematic adaptations, there's been a very unhealthy tendency to very overtly manipulate its plot contrivances and direction to evoke nostalgia.
Of course, when done right, this approach has its substantial merits, but when done just for the sake of doing it, audiences know they are being manipulated and outright reject the film.
This is something the makers of the film clearly thought long and hard about, because the film foregoes evoking nostalgia (save for a few places) and settles for being its own thing. Yes, you still get the teenagers with attitude, you still get fan favorites Zordon and Alpha 5 (whose launch will certainly make for an interesting costume) and you still get the trademark Power Rangers costume, but all of it serves a context, and it's not just there for the sake of being there. When you're in the theater watching the film, these things do stand out, and you will be all the happier that the film is genuinely trying to be its own thing while being a Power Rangers movie, and isn't just settling for some new takes on old one-liners and an updated version of the costumed brawls of the show.

2. The Film Has its Priorities Sorted

The film tackles its source material in a realistic and believable manner surprisingly well.

The worst crime a film can commit is not having a clear vision of what it's trying to be.
Fortunately, Saban's Power Rangers does not suffer from this complaint. The film knows its priorities, and they are to present a modern and realistic take on a fundamentally campy affair, and present us with a genuinely likable cast of characters that we can get behind.
Going by the amount of cheers the film got at my screening when the cast finally got the Power Rangers costume, I would say the film got both of those things right to a very large extent.
I'll get to the characters in a bit, but I must address the fears most purists had about the film's modern take on the source material.
When the film released the first photo of the Power Rangers costumes, a lot of people were worried it would end up looking like a me-too blockbuster with how radically different the costumes looked with their CGI heavy designs and Iron Man costume inspired designs.
I would argue that was a very smart choice, because why not update the most instantly recognizable thing about Power Rangers? As much as I love the traditional spandex Power Rangers costume with its tendency to spontaneously burst into sparkles at the slightest hint of contact, it wasn't very realistic, and the film updates it by providing a battle ready armor that frankly makes more sense when morphed into than a spandex costume.
The entire film's take on the franchise can be summed up by the costume metaphor, really. Nostalgia is nice, but sometimes you need to take practical decisions, and it's these such practical decisions that keep the film presentable to the modern audience.

3. The Film Invests in the Characters

It's hard not to like these people.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: the best of costumes go to waste when the characters inside said costumes are nothing more than a hollow template. Saban's Power Rangers clearly knows this all too well, especially when the show it is based off of has had stellar casts over countless seasons. Every character in the film has been given their own distinct personality, their own personal demons to battle, and their own personal qualities to make them endearing to the audience.
Over the course of the film's first 90 minutes, as we watch the cast bond together in a take inspired from the cult classic The Breakfast Club, we really feel for them, and we want them to be able to morph into their costumes, and not just because we want to see them wearing the Power Rangers costume: it's because we're genuinely rooting for them.
Even characters like Zordon and Alpha 5 are given room to grow and breathe in the limited screen time they receive, and that's something that deserves a mention. An emphasis on character work is always preferred over an emphasis on CGIed world ending battles, and thank God the film knows that.

4. The Film is a Visual Treat When it Needs to Be

Power Rangers has always had its stylistic flourishes, most notably on the costumes our heroes and villains wear, and it is heartening to see the film has not toned them down in its efforts to be a more modern and gritty take on the lore.
The traditional Power Rangers costume has received a modern update and it works in the film's context, as I mentioned above, but no update is as appreciated as the one to Rita Repulsa's costume.
Gone is the stout witch with the pointy hat, and in her place, Elizabeth Banks' iteration receives a costume clearly inspired by the costumes reserved for ghosts in horror movies, and again, it works surprisingly well in the film's context. Probably the most challenging aspects of the film's visual works were the creation of Goldar and the traditional zords (and of course, the megazord),  and while they are sometimes tested by the limits of today's CGI, they are still pleasant to watch and definitely feel like their own thing instead of just coming across as a Transformers ripoff.

When you factor in the aforementioned points, you get a sense that the filmmakers were really committed to getting this reboot right, and I would strongly argue they did.
The film does have its missteps here and there, but really, which film doesn't? I have no doubts younger audiences will be all too happy to lap up what the film has to offer and they'll be clamoring for Power Rangers costumes by the time the film ends.
And you know what, not just the younger audiences, I'm confident the older audience will be willing to part with a few dollars for the new costumes too - and not just out of nostalgia.
Any film that can evoke that feeling today for real, deserves a standing ovation, and we at Wonder Costumes are all to happy to oblige.
And we'll have the costumes for you when you decide to.