When I first saw the trailer for Netflix's 30th-anniversary special of the original "Mighty Morphin Power Rangers," it kicked my inner child into overdrive. I can only guess what some of the more ... life-experienced critics I write with in this section consider nostalgic. But for me, few things are more nostalgic than the original Power Rangers.
"Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Once & Always" calls back to the very first thing I can remember being a fan of. Before "Pokemon" swallowed my life in the late '90s, "Mighty Morphin Power Rangers" debuted in August 1993.
The series followed a group of teenagers who gained special powers (and suits), making them Power Rangers. And with the help of an ancient being named Zordon, they defended Angel Grove, Calif., (and eventually Earth) from an evil witch named Rita Repulsa.
I can remember racing home from pre-K and begging my babysitter, Dez, to turn on the TV so I could catch whatever episode of Power Rangers was airing after school. During recess, my friends and I would have to play Power Rangers ourselves, each picking one of the colors as our own and fighting to keep the playground safe from our imagined threats. And we always saved the day right as the bell rang.
"Mighty Morphin Power Rangers" was a perfect time capsule for the '90s. Extreme attitudes, martial arts, giant transforming robots, and the corniest action/dialogue imaginable all came together to form the perfect after-school special. And by "perfect," I mean, perfect for capturing the attention of kids (and selling lots of toys).
Eventually, the Rangers moved on to other stories and whole new series. I fell off the bandwagon somewhere as "Power Rangers Zeo" was getting started, moving on to things like Pokemon and Sailor Moon. But "Once & Always" felt like a welcome return right off the bat.
The reunion brings back original cast members like David Yost, the Blue Ranger, Walter Jones as the Black Ranger, and more I won't spoil. "Once & Always" opens with the Rangers battling their arch nemesis, Rita, now in an evil robot body. As Rita is about to kill the Blue Ranger, the Yellow Ranger, Trini, dives in front of the blast, giving her life to protect him.
It's a bittersweet moment for longtime fans who know the original Yellow Ranger, Thuy Trang, died in 2001. Fortunately, when you have a series about people who spend half of the run time in colorful costumes, complete with helmets that cover their faces, someone else can tag in wearing the costume to bring the character back to life.
This is also what the reunion special did with the Green Ranger, whose original actor, Jason David Frank, died in 2022. Their suits appear in a few scenes.
After the death of the Yellow Ranger, her daughter, Minh (Charlie Kersh), is informed of the tragedy and seeks revenge. Following a one-year time skip, Rita reappears and starts capturing the Power Rangers, shrinking them down into action figures and sucking their powers to fuel her mysterious machine.
She wants to travel back in time and team up with her younger self to destroy the Rangers and rule the galaxy. Standing in her way? Some of the original Power Rangers, with Minh stepping in to fill her mother's legacy as the new Yellow Ranger.
"Once & Always" perfectly captures the vibe of the original series. The dialogue is cheesy, the story is melodramatic, the villains are outrageous, and I love it all. Netflix's new special truly is a love letter to the original fans, albeit with some updated CGI that matches the hammed-up levels of silliness, while bringing everything into 2023.
I doubt anyone will call this continuation a masterpiece. But that's not the point. The original series was a mess. Go back and look at prior episodes, you'll see duct tape on low-budget costumes, mixed-in editing of people in suits that are clearly not the main cast, jokes that felt dated the moment they came into existence, and enough '90s moral quandaries to make School House Rock look hip and fresh.
But for '90s kids like me, it was all we wanted and more, bright colors, karate, mechanics and radical teenagers saving the world.
Director Charlie Haskell and writers Becca Barnes and Alwyn Dale knew what the assignment entailed. Celebrate everything kids like me grew up obsessed with, just 30 years later. Honor the legacy of those Rangers not alive to appear on the screen today. Let us be kids again and have fun, complete with the original theme song I proudly played on my air guitar, standing in front of the couch while "Once & Always" opened.
For fans of the original "Mighty Morphin Power Rangers" series, "Once & Always" is required viewing. And at 50 minutes, the show certainly doesn't overstay its welcome. It's available on Netflix now.