I haven't been paying any attention to any of the promo materials, so maybe this wasn't a surprise to everyone else. But I had no idea this was going to be an AU-style movie. As a result, I spent the first 25 minutes completely and utterly confused about what in the sam hell was going on and why they were no longer rangers.
The explanation afterwards helps put things in context, but I don't think this was the way the movie was meant to be seen; anyone who knew these were the ancestors from the get-go probably got more out of the movie overall.
I do have to agree that a movie that doesn't actually feature the characters from the series proper is an odd route to take. We did get the actors (which is always a huge thing to pull off in these reunion movies), but I was expecting a lot more of the characters than what we got. So the whole thing comes as a bit of a curve ball. I do however agree with the point that it's hard to write a reunion movie that develops the OG characters at all (since they're already developed), so that was an efficient work-around to that problem.
The plot was straight-forward, but I have no complaints once the time travel aspect was explained. It was ultimately all window dressing to do a Hurricaneger movie set in a historical era - and it's not the first time we've seen Toei do this. (Tourists, please come visit the scenic Kyoto Studio Park!). The villains are an utter ass-pull, all things considered; but that's always going to be a problem for a reunion movie since most series end with killing off the villains for good. Though I was a bit surprised that they didn't work Wendinu and Furabijou into the movie, as they're the only face actors from the original series that are absent - and they had that gag about coming back in another 10 years.
The highlight of the new characters is without a doubt, Oiranda. Limited character background aside, her actress was very clearly having a ball playing the part. It's not a ham-job, per-se, but she knew what she was getting in to and was living it up.
Action-wise, they made good use of the Toei backlot. It's interesting that they once again opted to shoot a reunion movie with a minimum of transformed action; even counting Edo Red, almost everything is done with the actors and or stand-ins. As with the 10 Year movie, I do feel it makes for a toku movie that's light on the toku, but in this movie they do make up for a bit more with the greater villain presence.
Meanwhile, the new Shurikenger (Tenkai) is nowhere to be found. *shrug* And while this is a very minor nitpick, I thought it odd that the MacGuffin stones were red, blue, yellow, and transparent. Given the obvious symmetry in the color of the stones and the color of the rangers, I would have expected the last stone to be green.
takenoko wrote: ↑Thu Jul 13, 2023 10:43 pmThe Hurricanegers are just standing by and letting those two jobbers get killed. Nice
And that's the part that threw me for the biggest loop, until it was finally explained that these are different people (ancestors) in the past.
I noticed a few scenes back that the bad guy lady is wearing fake skin on the top and it's very distracting
A flesh-color leotard, you mean? I noticed that as well. It's pretty common these days in Toei productions, I feel. The sides of Mele's outfit were the same way. 50/50 on whether it's for modesty reasons, or just to keep the actresses more comfortable. And while she was designed to fit in to the sexy female commander role, they clearly weren't trying to go as far with the skin as say, Malshiina.
Wait, in the middle of beating up the two commanders they decided just to retreat. But why? It's not like they were pushing them back
They weren't exactly winning, so much as they caught the bad-guys off-guard.
I feel like Oboro wasn't in the 10 year anniversary was she?
She was, but just for the trial.
Why'd she put on a mask just to turn into a cgi monster?
The movie was solid up until that point. I don't know who decided they needed a CGI spider fight, but they were incorrect. I have to assume the mask was to hide the use of a stuntie (as usual). There was nothing in those scenes that required a stuntie, but since it's an outdoor lot, they must have filmed the night scenes at night. So I am going to guess Oiranda's actress was not available for those shots?
Oh, they need to stay in morph? That's a good way to get around green-screening. I bet it's a nightmare to juggle green-screening and camera angles between 10 characters played by 5 actors. But... they stayed in morph even in the lab? That means Oboro didn't get to actually interact with the cast?
It would seem not. Keeping the rangers transformed means that they didn't have to do a separate studio day with the entire cast; it's entirely possible the base scenes weren't even filmed around the same time as the rest of the movie (on-location).
Wasn't this gem plot used in Zenkai vs Kirame?
Ahh, yes. Those were those funny-shaped wishing stones rather than colorful jewels. But it is indeed the same basic concept.
takenoko wrote: ↑Sat Aug 05, 2023 8:35 amNever underestimate the indomitable will of Nao
Amen.
Aging works in mysterious ways. Ikki looks older than his big brother now.
I guess I'm not the only one who noticed that. Honestly, they both look kind of the same to me? Am I agist?
No, it's not just you. If it wasn't for the colors, I'd never be able to tell which was which. They look more like brothers now than they ever did before.
Yeah, it seems weird to create a new character only to not give her very much to do? She's literally mini Oboro in terms of plot exposition, but Oboro could have just done that herself? I guess she's eye candy and they did get a joke out of her presence
I had that thought as well. Either she's eye-candy (though that role seems redundant with the princess and the big bad?), or as we didn't see Oboro in the DonBros special, this was the writers' solution to not being able to get Oboro's actress for that production? Either way, there's no getting around the fact that she didn't add much to the story.
