Power Rangers is less than two weeks away and already fans are barely able to contain their excitement. In anticipation of the film, Twitch is currently streaming every episode of the show. Meanwhile, a new TV spot has given us our best look yet at the fully-formed Megazord. We also learned yesterday from director Dean Israelite that the movie will in fact have a post-credits scene, which could very well set up a sequel. While the movie might still flop, all signs are pointing towards the beginning of a new franchise for Lionsgate.
Though there are sure to be a number of classic moments from the franchise that we’ll never see on screen, the new movie will also be fleshing out the mythos of the Rangers in a number of ways. Part of that is down to the design of the film itself. We’ve already seen how different villains like Rita Repulsa and Goldar will look in the film. That more alien and organic design will also be carrying over to everyone from Alpha 5 to the Zords themselves. We’ve had a pretty good look at the updated Zords so far, in everything from TV spots to posters. Now, we’ve got a little more insight into the concepts behind their redesign.
During an interview with Collider, Israelite discussed how the new look for the Zords came about, and how the film will expand their backstory.
“The idea is the Zords are machines that take on the form of the most powerful organisms of the planet they’re on. When these Zords came to Earth, dinosaurs reigned supreme and so they took on the image and the spirit of these dinosaurs – that’s the mythology that we’ve put into the movie. But in the concept that we’ve created they’re meant to be inspired by those animals – not an actual, literal, version of it, and so we decided we wanted to take certain liberties, too.”
Israelite went on to talk about trying to craft a unique aesthetic for the movie, in order to separate it from things like Transformers and Star Wars. In doing so, he and the crew tried to craft an organic look for everything, as opposed to simply designing mechanized monsters. In focusing on the more alien elements of the Zords, some liberties had to be taken with the final look of the dinosaur-inspired robots to make them function in a more pragmatic way.
“The other component of it is almost more of a practical component. We look at these renderings and we create a 3D space and we look at how they should move, and you learn a lot from that. And the mastodon is so big that we realized that with added legs it would just move better in a CG environment, and we’d be able to make it a more nimble machine. So it felt kind of like practical; if you were an alien creating this machine, you would want those added limbs.”
Of course, Israelite isn’t using ‘practical’ in the usual sense when it comes to movies. Unlike Fury Road or The Fast and the Furious franchise, Power Rangers won’t be telling their story using very many practical effects. But though the Zords will be all CGI, Israelite’s comments tease the idea that from an alien design point, the giant robots will move in a way that makes sense. Part of that was redesigning the Zords to look like mechanized creatures that could actually run, jump, and fight.
And while we’ve known for some time that the film’s aesthetic would have a more otherworldly bent, all this talk of alien design and an updated mythology make it seem as though the movie might dive into the history of the Power Rangers in new and exciting ways. Over the years, the various TV shows have expanded the lore of the Rangers, but the new film may mark the most concise and cohesive origin yet for the Rangers and their mighty Zords. Whether that holds true or not, we’ll know in a couple of weeks once Power Rangers lands in theaters.