Power Rangers: A Look Back

The Nostalgia Critic, Doug Walker, is barely older than I am. Which makes relating to him a strange experience. We both were part of the generation of kids so impressed by Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles that today, we have to give the show and movies the benefit of doubt before re-watching them (I couldn't possibly have fonder memories of either, although trying to watch the 3rd film in theaters was a nightmare due to the other patrons' kids: that was a sign right there). Though I assume it's part of his shtick that he'll go far enough to say something like 'this is gonna be awesome(!)' before sitting through them again. Even I'm (definitely a Power Rangers kid, which shows you how scary I used to be as a developing young person) more realistic than that.

Anyway, so Doug wasn't a Power Rangers kid. He even says that when the show first aired, he felt the show would never become a hit. Don't most kids just say "this sucks!" when they see something they don't like and change the channel? Or, was cute little 11-year old Doug sitting in front of the TV in a little jacket and hat and marker-drawn goatee, playing Critic back then too? Aww... I however wasn't so lucky. I had a similar experience in that, when I first saw the show I knew how popular it was and didn't want to have anything to do with it (my younger brother, who I hated bitterly for many years, loved it immediately and that's probably why I went on the warpath against it). But somehow I changed my mind and became obsessed. From '93 to early '96 (which is I believe when the show went into its' Zeo incarnation), I watched every single episode (almost all of them on the very day they premiered), the movie (in the theater and on VHS, religiously, though I actually don't own the DVD as of yet), and I even had to watch the TV special the cast did promoting the movie. I still have the interview they did on Regis & Kathy Lee on tape. OH! I forgot about the video games!! I never owned the ones they did for Sega (I got the first 2 they did for SNES and spent hours playing them every single week), but I played both, as well as the racing game they did for SNES.

Today, I know how bad the show was but I can't bring myself to stop being a geek and say I hate it. So, give Doug credit for not completely freaking out (like he did with Good Burger) and roasting the show as the worst thing he's ever had to sit through. But I can agree with him on almost all of his criticisms. In fact, had he focused more on the show and less on the movie, he could have expanded a lot upon the characters' bland personalities and the show's awful jokes. In the movie, it's less "story" and a lot more "action." As a matter of fact, that's the most unbearable thing about the show. So, since he's doing the movie, the Nostalgia Critic has no choice but to make fun of how bad the costumes and special effects are.

First Thoughts Last: Is The Nostalgia Critic funny? Well, he's definitely smart and very observant. So, based on the cleverness of his observations, he damn well can be. Some of his videos have sent me into hysterics (The Neverending Story 2, Care Bears Movie 2, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: the cartoon). But here, the only thing you'll remember is his "up and down" bit with the Dulcea character. That is not funny, and neither are most of the moments in his videos where he repeats a single word or phrase too many times or screams loudly to overemphasize a point. But, he was right about how much the Rangers procrastinated given that their beloved godhead, Zordon, was... um... DYING!