#but it's so damn rewarding to a see non-skinny love interest

[hirakiyois]

the 911 writers are smart because the only thing that could validate a non-eddie romance for buck in my eyes is the fact that it's a non-skinny woc. like they got me there. this will tide me over spectacularly.

[sawthefaeriequeen]

Superpowered Note Passing!

aka Power Rangers 2017 reaction.

So I wrote all this after seeing the movie a second time a couple weeks ago and it was just laying around on my hard drive so, here. Fangirling preserved in amber, if you will, under the cut

omg this is so many bullet points long. I should be ashamed but I’m not!

1.       So, the opening! Was the dying Yellow rRnger a nod to Thuy Trang passing away? My brother and I had the exact thought at the same time in the theater; we both nudged each other and were like, “Whoa.”

2.       I’d been hearing the Rita as Green Ranger theory batted around for months, and hello, her costume gave it away already. So I wasn’t TOO surprised when she appeared. Zordon as Red was what I didn’t expect...I was like Ooooh, this is gonna be interesting!

3.       I’m still laughing at the transition from the Megazord-y silhouette…to  “MOOOOOOOO.”

4.       A COW, OMG. For serious. A damn cow. And here I thought we’d be introduced to Jason strutting around on a field in jockish glory, which would lead up to his injury.

5.      (I do really like the Jason’s Knee Is Still Busted headcanons I’ve seen, as someone with a bad knee herself.)

6.       Is it just me or does the dude playing Jason’s dad remind me of Austin St. John?

7.       Billy. God, I love him. Everyone loves him. I’m so happy because BILLY!

8.       A+++ character establishing moments for Billy, Jason, and Kimberly in detention. Jason slapping bully Ed Sheeran (who some folks are saying was Skull, but idk) because he wasn’t even worth the fisticuffs! And did my inner 7 y.o. Pink-Ranger-idolizing self do a mental backflip when Kim snips off her hair.

9.       I love love how Jason/Billy easily had the most loving relationship in the movie. Easily. Like, the moment I really knew I was gonna like Jason was when he (nicely!) let Billy down on his offer. And he makes sure Billy knows it’s not because he was ashamed to be seen with him  (which was a move an ~edgier piece of media would’ve pulled) but because of the ankle monitor.

10.   (btw, wtf, was J wearing that ankle monitor the whole time they were becoming Rangers? Because ummm.)

11.   I can’t wait until the DVD comes out so we can have a thousand and one gifs of Jason full-on glomping Billy

12.   Oh, and yes, Billy says the words “I’m on the spectrum,” even clarifies that his brain doesn’t work the way others’ do. And is received with nothing but respect. Others have explained better than me, so I’ll just say that I loved it and kudos to the writers and actor.

13.   I totally dug that the film established Jason and Kimberly as the alphas of the team early on; more on that later. For now I would like to appreciate how it also establishes Kimberly as a Badass who hikes by herself in the mountains and once took a dude’s TOOTH out.

14.   Trini listening to metal + yoga, omg.

15.   The quarry scene and finding the coins! Loved the whole ~aesthetic of that, and how the coins look like gems instead of having the usual embossed dino which I totally did not own and carry around in my pencil case as a kid.

16.   LOL @Billy driving his mom’s van as a getaway LOLOL Zack practically ripping a hole in the van ceiling. Talk about having a Harry Potter-style “cementing your friendship by fighting a mountain troll” moment.

17.   RITA. I love Elizabeth Banks so hard; I knew she’d chew up the scenery as Rita should.

18.   Billy fanclubat their school!!!! Can I join?? I love how he’s so modest and yet proud about knocking down Skull Ed Sheeran.

19.   I wish we’d seen Trini and Zack’s first power-up moments because can you imagine? Super amused though, that one of the first casualties was Kim’s skinny-ass smartphone. Because yeah, no way are those things made to be durable.

20.   The entire cliff-leaping scene is a thing of beauty. How cute is Trini finally cracking a smile when they jump across to her? And all the laughing and the bonding and sfasfd I had no idea how much my Nakama kink would be satisfied by this movie. Oh, and speaking of beauty, the underwater scene with the accompanying music? Wow. It’s all very Crossing the Threshold. I dig it

21.   (the whole movie is VERY much a heroes’ journey story, isn’t it? I think that’s one of the reasons it was so great.)

22.   Non-annoying Alpha! Complicated, cranky dad Zordon! Things I didn’t know I wanted! Also, I thought Zordon having a red glow around his face was cool.  The first time I watched, I wondered why Zordon’s declaration of Jason as leader was so lukewarm…and was pleasantly surprised when there turned out to be A Reason later.

23.   I like how Billy is the first to step on the grid because he’s Billy and he has discovered an unexpected zest for superheroing, then Jason is the last because, to quote Robin Scherbatsky, where’s the poop, Zordon?

24.   TRAINING MONTAGE! With that dang song that’s been stuck in my head since seeing it for the second time, and have I mentioned that I really love the soundtrack? And yes, the note-passing scene, and the donut scene, and Master Billy. Fuckin’ iconic. I also like that we see ‘em getting visible training injuries and that it’s Alpha who shows ‘em the moves and is actually an effective trainer. (Btw, was Alpha always a robot in this universe?)

25.   When Zack takes Mastodon out, I thought for a split second that he was gonna strip it down for parts and sell them or something.  I mean, it’s logical. And anyone notice Alpha doing the classic Ayiyiyi flailing when Mastodon crashes?

26.   Just some things I found notable about the firelight bonding moment  (aside from #1. my 90s heart is reeling with nostalgia because, look it’s Midnight Society! #2 help me, this movie is really committed to tickling my Found Families heartstrings): It’s great that it’s Zack who proposes it cuz he knows he fucked up, and I LOVE that while he does get vulnerable, he does it in his usual sparky Zack way. Hell yes, he loves his mom and he’ll scream it to the horizon! Then there’s the much-publicized Trini scene, which, I like that it wasn’t just about her sexuality (and again, love that it’s Zack who figures whats up ), it was about her being quiet and not fitting in. And I like how it’s the introverted one who poses the question of, are they teammates or are they friends? Basically, “are we really choosing each other?”

27.   (I keep thinking a lesser piece of media like Glee or something would’ve made this scene All About White Boy Leader And His Manpain, which is why when Jason’s turn to talk came, it was kind of refreshing that he says “ehhh, you guys know  who I am” and listens to the others talk instead. Which is way more leader-like then bellyaching about how haaaard it was to be atop  the social ladder or whatever.)

28.   My big complaint about the scene where they take on Rita is that it’s so damn dark. Dark as in, I can’t even see it. I was squinting to see if their makeshift weapons resembled the originals from the show (/nerd) and I couldn’t see a blasted thing. I think we caught a glimpse of Trini’s dagger? A split-second before she buried it in the wall next to Rita’s head, anyway. Oh and there was Zack using an axe in an earlier quarry scene.

29.   Jason’s sword was cool, but I need the rest.

30.   Ah, and yeah...Stand by Me. Freaking Stand by Me. When I heard that they were using that song at a certain affecting moment in the film, I thought it would be a bonding moment. Post-training or something. I half-expected it to come drifting along when they were gathered around the fire, capping off the scene nicely.

31.   BUT NOPE. NOPE. It just had to be used like THAT.  Film, I really hate you. (jk, I love you to death, but ohgodwhy). And we had to watch Kimberly and Jason  (aka basically the rocks of the team) burst into tears and look completely shattered, respectively, and then all of them carrying Billy on their shoulders, BYE.

32.   We should start a band

33.   I legit gasped when I realized Zordon had let Billy live in his place, like

34.   Honestly it would’ve been easy for “I would die for him” to be all schmaltzy but it mainly worked because 1) the actors sold it, 2) It’s Billy, of course they would.

35.   (brb crying for 1000 years over the tight never-let-you-go Billy-Jason hug)

36.   and then

37.   It’s morphin’ time

38.   IT’S MORPHIN TIME

39.   IT’S FLIPPING MORPHIN’ TIME

40.   (I know some were frustrated over “how long it took” to get to morphing, but for me, it was rewarding. There had to be emotional payoff to get to the super-heroing and I think it was the most satisfying thing in the world.)

41.   I’ve read an interview where the director apparently told Dacre Montgomery to have Jason say “it’s morphin’ time” ‘like a prayer’ and yes, yes, that’s the best way to make a cheesy/iconic line work in a reboot like this.

42.   Weigh it with MEANING, ya know? Don’t have it be a throwaway snark quip.

43.   Oh and…the power walk? I saw it in the trailers, I saw versions of it countless times watching the original show when I was seven…and YET. Goosebumps.

44.   Kimberly doing cheerleader moves and lifting her teammates underwater is my favorite thing.

45.   I also love how Zack gets to his Zord first – screams happily while diving for it even. He is way past almost mowing down innocent nuns; it’s time for him to save the world now!

46.   Rita said the line! She said make my monster grow!

47.   GO GO POWER RANGERS theme song playing while the Zords ran  ‘ruining’ the more dignified orchestral score: ��aka the movie saying “let me show you my love for the source material” aka “LOL the kid inside of you is tearing up and yelling, don’t even fucking lie” aka yessss.

48.   (and fuck it, you know what I don’t even care if the Zords were CGI? The suits are real. The people are real. The visors slip upwards and SHOW US our kids’ faces while piloting their big robots, and that’s all that matters)

49.   BILLY IS SO DELIGHTED. And *I* am so delighted that he dropped the movie’s only almost-f-bomb!

50.   I love how Trini aka the so-called outcast, runs around saying she has everyone’s back. Her Zord POUNCES, you guys! Oh, and how cute is her calling Jason “Jay” and Kimberly “Kim” mid-battle?

51.   Jason and Trini attacking Goldar simultaneously on both sides is A+

52.   The movie finally answered my long-burning question “how does Triceratops Zord fight with it’s itty bitty arms” and the answer is: it doesn’t, and the arms are useless to the point that Pterodactyl has to lift it. XD

53.   (well…its arms shoot things I think, but let me enjoy the hilarious irony of the gang’s resident slapper having a Zord with teeny tiny arms)

54.   (seriously though, Sam Scott looks like Austin St. John; why didn’t they just get Austin to play him)

55.   The “hold the line” scene ruined my life and walked all over me and I thank it.

56.   My multi-colored children they’re only babies and they were 100% ready to give their lives

57.   Like don’t even talk to me about Trini screaming when Zack passes out or Kim and Jason pressing hands through the glass or Billy’s little thank you, I just

58.   MEGAZORD RISING LIKE A GOD FROM THE DEPTHS DUN DUN DUNNN

59.   Listen, at first I was upset that we didn’t get to see Megazord’s jigsaw-puzzle forming but in hindsight this was even better, so much better. It’s formation was almost, well, spiritual. Baptism by fire and all that.

60.  Literally fire-forged friendship

61.   as in they formed Megazord through the power of friendship!

62.   they really did!

63.   Or wait I think this Megazord is a her, you know, “MAMAZORD!”

64.   (I love you, Billy!)

65.   “This won’t last! What you have!” See, even Rita knows she was defeated through the power of friendship

66.   I don’t know why it delighted me so much to have Megazord tripping on her first try, but it did.

67.   SLAPPED INTO SPACE!

68.   I know it was an echo of the detention slap but it also made me think of the Rangers kicking Ivan Ooze into the comet in the very first movie

·69.   hai, Jason David Frank and Amy Jo Johnson! (if I ever meet Amy Jo Johnson, I will tell her that baby me ragequit Power Rangers not because I Was Getting Too Old but because she left and what even was the point after)

70.   “This team did what my team could not” AW Zordon you secret!wall-softie

71.   And then Zack and Trini join them in detention not even looking like they’re in trouble but like they’ve come home, and it’s all just too much for my sappy ass

72.   OH WAIT, the finishing touch:

73.   More note-passing and we see that Billy has drawn the lightning bolt, THE iconic lightning bolt—

74.   -and it’s no longer gold but in all of their Ranger colors and I die, I just die

75.   (OH HAI, Tommy teaser! Do I get to say I told you so now?)

76.   Okay I was going to put some wrap-up thoughts on each of the characters and their dynamics (I didn’t even get to talk much about Rita!) but that will probably be for another post because this is already really fricking long

77.   But in conclusion: