TV Review: “Power Rangers RPM” Bright Beginnings For A Dark End

I have been watching Super Sentai regularly for 10 years now. (Wow, I didn’t even realize it’s been that long now!) I have had put up with cute robots, talking dinosaur mechas, a singing plant, and Gaoranger! It takes a lot for me to not like a Sentai series, and Engine Sentai Go-Onger seemed to take all the bad elements from previous Sentai series and removed what I actually liked! I for one did not want an American adaptation of Go-Onger seeing how the past Power Rangers series were just inferior to the original source since Power Rangers Lost Galaxy. The hour premiere of Power Rangers RPM not only proved me wrong, it has restored my faith in Power Rangers that was lost as it got moved to New Zealand.

Our newest series starts in the barren wasteland that was outside the city of Corinth as the planet was taken over by a deadly computer virus called Venjix. General Truman sends his two sons outside the dome to defeat the attack of the Grinders, but only one son comes back alive. They seal the dome to Corinth as the General comes up with a plan to defend the surviving humans. A year later, we see that there are too humans that are outside the dome, a person who cannot remember his own name who goes by Dillon and Ziggy, for some unknown reason he has left the dome and needs Dillon’s help to get back in. The two drive into the dome and taking out Venjix’s Grinders and attack posts.

Once they get into the dome, they get saved by Truman’s new team of Power Rangers. As the three summon their Zords, the Grinders have a lock on Summer, the Yellow Ranger. Dillon uses the remaining gas in his car to crash into the Grinders’ weapon to save the Rangers so they can defeat the giant monster. Dillon and Ziggy are soon arrested as they find out that Dillon is made up of half of Venjix’s technology. The Rangers’ leader, Dr. K, informs them that Venjix is getting stronger and they will need a Black Ranger. Summer goes to the prison as Dillon is being interrogated with the intent of having him be the newest Ranger.

This series starts much different from other Power Rangers series. Its not just a city in California in danger, Venjix has taken over the entire planet in 3 years since it was created. It is also a major change from Go-Onger where that series was about aliens trying to pollute the world so they can inhabit it as the Mechas came to Earth to select the heroes to defend it. My favorite series has always been Power Rangers Lost Galaxy as that series took the nature driven series Gingaman and shipped them into a space colony trying to find a new world. The tone of this series is a much more serious tone from most Power Rangers series. The Grinders are even getting destroyed in pieces, which is much more violent in Power Rangers standards. One of my favorite scenes in the premiere is when Dillon fights the Grinders and all we see is a flower as he takes the robots apart. We even get a Law and Order type of title card at the end of the episode. A major change was greatly needed for this series to adapt to the Western audience and the writers and producers have greatly over exceeded expectations.

These two episodes, surprisingly, are not really about the Power Rangers. We only see the spandex heroes for about 10 minutes; the rest of time is really spent on Dillon and Ziggy. So far we only have 3 Rangers, which we really don’t have a proper introduction to them. We know that Flynn is a mechanic and Scott is General Truman’s surviving son from the beginning. Not much is known of Summer so far, and we see empty suits of Black and Green Rangers. From the opening (which is probably my only huge negative of this series), we can surmise who the Black Ranger will be in the future. The Green Ranger is not shown at all in the opening however, but if you want to know who it will be you can scroll down past this article as we have a picture of it from the RPM trailer. (Thanks Chad!)

Our villain this series is a pillar with a blinking red light. It has that mysterious feel about him as it is a computer virus that took over the world. The Ranger’s leader is also in that similar boat, as Dr. K is a complete rip of L from Death Note. All we see of her is a computer screen that says the letter K on it. It’s not really clear if she is also a computer or just a person behind a screen. Hopefully this character will get more established later on and what is her exact role on the whole Venjix computer virus take over.

With a new group of people working on the series, I am pleased that they fixed my major complaint I had that started from Operation Overdrive; all of the Sentai scenes are pan and scan causing the screen not be distorted when trying to fit all the Rangers on the screen. It’s actually a shame that the series with its level of destruction is not filmed in HD. I am really pleased that they are not trying to make a direct translation like past Power Rangers series. Surprisingly, we don’t get the Black and Green Rangers in the premiere as they were introduced in the second episode of Go-Onger. Usually Power Rangers goes through the introductory events fast since the episode count is much lower. This doesn’t worry me yet, since the story and plots have nothing to do with Go-Onger so far. One thing I am surprised that is left in the Zord scenes is that the Blue Ranger’s Zord has the text “Go-Onger” still in tact and there are no attempts to block it out or over lay it with “Power Rangers” like the Bandai toy. I’m guessing this was more of a cost issue since it would have to be done throughout the series.

Unfortunately, as we reported here, this is the last Power Rangers series as a new season will not be shot in New Zealand. The series has gone through a lot, and I think it is only fitting it has returned to premiere on Saturday mornings on ABC Kids again. (Hopefully football season won’t interrupt this season too bad like Wild Force and Ninja Storm) This premiere has definitely been the best premiere since Power Rangers Time Force, and hopefully it will stay on this momentum. For me, the series ended with Power Rangers Wild Force, but this is a great revival that actually getting me excited for next week!