The lowest common denominator arrives as a shapeless, unemotional and tedious blockbuster called Power Rangers. Directed by Dean Israelite, this childish concept achieves new depths of stupidity. By now, the origin tale be it X-Men (so many of those) or Superman has rendered most blockbusters inactive during the first pass. Action takes a back-seat to time-wasting strategies in which the chosen few make that important leap. While Spider-Man with Tobey Maguire might have skirted round these slippery bases through comedy and good casting, such assets escape Power Rangers.

Think The Breakfast Club minus any notable faces, and that’s where five teenagers first meet. It’ll be a while before they discover those coloured coins… even longer before the penny drops. When the film looks set to party at long last, the small-minded chaos seems only minimal. The whole sorry mess resembles discarded footage from those wonderfully bad Transformers movies, the ones Michael Bay phoned in. Attaching the original song to Power Rangers was an obvious ploy, made to reassure long-standing fans. 

Overall, this film might bore youngsters. Only those with fond recollections of the series might think otherwise. Meanwhile, stuck in the thankless role of a talking mural screensaver, Bryan Cranston adds currency this undeserving spectacle cannot cash. Devoid of visual storytelling and far too reliant upon dialogue for audio mapping, Power Rangers smacks you in the ear and calls it music. This only serves to sell itself and the paying masses short. In the long run, any legacy feels dubious in the extreme or egotistical at best. Give me Guyver: Dark Hero any day. (Capsule review.)

(Released by Lionsgate and rated "PG-13" for sci-fi violence, action and destruction, language and some crude humor.)