Power Rangers: Once and Always

It’s one of the darkest days in Ranger history when one of its greatest heroes, Trini Kwan, falls to protect her best friend, Billy Cranston.  One Year Later, the original Rangers reunite only to find a familiar menace waiting for them: a reborn Rita Repulsa.  With Rangers around the world being captured as part of Rita’s new evil plan, Billy must gather who he can for a counterattack.  Among those chosen few is Trini’s daughter, Minh, who’s desire for revenge outweighs the need for justice.  Generations old and new unite for a new battle.  Once more, It’s Morphin Time.

The 30^th Anniversary of the Power Rangers franchise is upon us and there’s been a lot of hype around the return of legendary favorites who will eventually cross paths with the current generation of Rangers in the forthcoming Power Rangers: Cosmic Fury.  Once and Always acts as both a slight Prelude to that season but more so functions as its own celebration of the past.  It’s a chance to see much missed familiar faces triumphantly return, a chance to see some classic (if still a bit cheesy) Ranger action, and probably most important, a chance to honor those no longer with us.  The end result is an emotionally charged if not still uneven special episode.  It works for sure but yeah…it could be better.
 
With the return of so many OG cast members, it’s impossible to not address the sad absence of Trini Kwan, who’s actress, Thuy Trang, passed away in 2001.  It’s Trini’s heroic sacrifice that fuels the main plotline of Once and Always.  Not only does it open the door for her daughter, Minh to step into her shoes but also provides some much needed and heavy character development for Billy and Zack.  Despite not being in a Power Rangers series for…yeesh it’s been a while for both guys, David Yost and Walter Jones step back into the roles that made them famous with ease and they bring their A game, especially when it comes to remembering their beloved cast member and friend.  It’s not that Power Rangers isn’t capable of tough truths and tears but when it comes from a pair of the original five in the way that it does, it helps make Once and Always that much more special.  Billy and Zack also play nice parental figures to Minh, trying to balance raising a teenager with attitude while also making sure her desire for revenge doesn’t stop her from living up to her potential.  And I just have to say, damn is it good to see Billy and Zack back in action again (Zack’s hip hop kido techniques are as awesome as ever).
 
Minh is a nice addition to the cast, embodying her Mom’s protective nature while also still being a kid with an understandable chip on her shoulder she needs to sort out.  I’m curious if there are plans for Minh beyond this special and Cosmic Fury.  I’d like to see her maybe lead her own future show really.  Beyond her, Billy and Zack, Once and Always sees the return of several original cast members from Mighty Morphin Power Rangers including Catherine Sutherland, Steve Cardenas, Karan Ashley and Johnny Yong Bosch as Kat Hillard, Rocky Santos, Aisha Campbell and Adam Park respectively.  Of the four, Kat and Rocky make up the core team of five rangers jumping into battle.  Aisha and Adam, sadly, sit out all of the action and their appearance is basically a teaser for whatever is coming in Cosmic Fury.  Don’t get me wrong, the line up of Billy, Zack, Kat and Rocky is a nice way to mix in reps from all three seasons of MMPR but keeping out Aisha and especially Adam feels like a cheat (it’s Ichigo Kurosaki man, USE HIM!!!).  There’s also the return of Barbara Goodson as the voice of Robo Rita and she continues to excel as the cackling and twisted menace who first fought the Rangers 30 years ago.
 
From a production standpoint, this is very much an extended episode of any Power Rangers series.  From the sets to the choreography, these a sense of glee that comes from these callbacks to how things were done back in the 90s, complete with cheesy one liners and voice overs.  That said, this is still supposed to be a milestone special for the franchise.  You’d think a little more money couldve been thrown into it to make it look a bit better.  I’m not expecting movie production quality but still.  Same goes for the visual effects, particularly in the final battle.  It’ll be up to the viewer to decide which Ranger feature had the worst CGI: Once and Always or the original Mighty Morphin Power Rangers Movie from 1995.  I mean when the Super Sentai CG used in recent shows looks miles better, that’s a bit of a problem.  Also, I understand that some original cast members couldn’t or just didn’t want to come back for the special.  But it feels awkward having stunt doubles around and only a few archive audio grunts and one small bit of dialogue to make up for their absence.  Also, the tease of other Rangers from the franchise, including a couple of personal favorites of mine, feels hollow and is another reminder that Once and Always is fine but could have been much bigger and more impressive.
 
Fans of the original series will have a good time catching up with old friends and reminiscing about absent friends with Power Rangers: Once and Always.  It’s beyond great to see Billy and Zack again (and the others too though their time and importance to the story is underutilized) and Minh has the potential for her own greatness in the franchise.  It just feels like there wasn’t a lot of bigger opportunities taken to make this the mega event possible and at times it just feels like an extended prologue for what’s to come in the series that falls under the 30^th Anniversary umbrella.  Still, in the end its harmless 50 minutes for fun and some tears.  If nothing else, it’s good to see some of the former teenagers with attitude shout that magical phrase once more and kick some ass together.  Once a Ranger, Always a Ranger.
 
7/10