The Power Rangers franchise has maintained a nearly consistent presence on TV since Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers hit the airwaves, but this spring the original teenagers with attitude were re-envisioned on the big screen for a new generation. After a month in theaters, Power Rangers has performed admirably, and while not 100% guaranteed yet, it looks like this may be kicking off a whole series of cinematic adventures. However, Walter Jones, the original Black Ranger, took some issue with how this rebooted version of Zack didn't show off the same kind of fighting style as his version of the character did back in the 1990s. He said:
I was a little disappointed that they changed the characters around a little bit because I wanted Zack to be with his kido because Hip Hop Kido was a really important element of who I was on Power Rangers. I think if they would have added that then there could have been some parkour and there could have been so many other elements to that character that it would have been awesome.
Walter Jones recently attended the C2E2 convention with his Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers costar Davis Yost, a.k.a. Billy Cranston the Blue Ranger, and while they talked about the new Power Rangers movie (via ComicBook.com), Jones expressed his dissatisfaction with how Ludi Lin's version of Zack the Black Ranger didn't take on the bad guys using the Hip Hop Kido fighting style. This was one of the main ways Zack shined in the original TV series, but alas, somewhere down the line when the mythology was being reinterpreted, this aspect was tossed out. Jones also didn't like how the dancing element of Zack's character was shifted to RJ Cyler's version of Billy for the movie.
Warning: spoilers for _Power Rangers_are ahead!
To be fair, when it came to personal combat, Power Rangers didn't offer much. Sure, the Rangers were training to fight in the Command Center after they were unable to morph, but upon transforming into their heroic selves, they only spent a few minutes punching and kicking Rita Repulsa's Putties. The rest of the climactic battle was spent in their Zords, as they had to stop Goldar from obtaining the Zeo Crystal. If more Power Rangers movies follow, perhaps we'll see more in the way of martial arts and seeing the Rangers battle an adversary on the ground before they jump into their robotic beasts. As for Zack, if it's any consolation to Jones, at least Ludi Lin's iteration still rocked that cocky attitude that his TV predecessor did.
Power Rangers is still playing in theaters, and if there's any news regarding a sequel, we'll be sure to keep you updated on that front. In the meantime, check out what other big blockbusters are coming later this year.
