Power Rangers: Wild Force Review

Ah, Power Rangers. You silly little franchise you. I've been wanting to do a good review and discussion on the latest series, "Dino Charge," but it's once again on break until late summer. So, why not fill the gap with another series? I've been meaning to check "Wild Force" out for a while now. When I was a kid, this show was my jam. Sure, "Time Force" will always be my favorite, but I had all the stuff for "Wild Force." All the action figures. All the Megazord figures. I even had the Lion Blaster. I pretty much was a Ranger (and I still am darn it). So I was a little worried that, so many years later, a cherished part of my childhood wouldn't hold up. Did it? 

Of course it did. While it's not the best of the series and has many different flaws, Power Rangers: Wild Force is a good addition to the franchise for it's many outstanding elements and the different, sort of unique pieces that were involved. It has many of the staples of Power Rangers, like a team of goody-two-shoes, cheesy villains, giant monsters, and a killer score. But beyond that, it has very interesting themes for a kids show: showing compassion to your enemies, treating nature and others with respect, and learning to cooperate under difficult circumstances to understand and undergo a healthy change of pace.

The series revolves around Cole Evans, a boy who was raised in the jungle but upon coming of age, was sent out by his tribe to Turtle Cove to find his lost parents. Simultaneously, we get to meet four of the Wild Force Rangers: Alyssa (White/ Noble Tiger), Danny (Black/ Iron Bison), Max (Blue/ Surging Shark), and their leader Taylor (Yellow/ Soaring Eagle). The four are mentored by Princess Shayla, who lives on the floating island known as the Animerium. When Cole happens upon the group, he is recruited into joining the group as the Red Ranger, the Blazing Lion. Using their powers and their zords, the Wild Zords, they fight the evil Orgs and their archnemesis Master Org to prevent the decay of the Earth. And along the way, hijinks ensue. 

Like learning how to print at your local library, or swinging on vines, or falling in love with a one-off character. Normal people stuff. 

The story itself isn't necessarily that strong, but it's pretty par for the course in a Power Rangers series. It sort of loses its way earlier on as we meet a new villain, Zen-Aku, and strays away from the stuff with Master Org. Then he goes away for a while, and we go into another mini-arc, until we get back into the meat of the series. The story tends to meander, but there is a clear focus of fighting the war against the Orgs. I like to think of the overarching story as a mystery. There are certain moments along the way that hint at something bigger going on with Master Org and how he may relate to Cole, but they never shed light. You'll be able to figure them out pretty easily, but it does take up much of the story for a while. 

What I like is that most of the time, new Zords are brought on because of various story elements. For example: Master Org wants his cronies to find some new animal spirits so that the Rangers can't have them, directing the plot in that direction, which gives way to discovering new Zords. "Jungle Fury" did a similar thing with the whole Jungle Masters-thing, in which a triad of episodes dealt with the three main Rangers learning new skills. It beats the Rangers just getting powers ups because they're cool or something stupid like that. 

Though, the show does take a little while to really get into. The first episode, "Lionheart," is incredibly fast-paced. It plows through Cole's character, establishes the Rangers and their base of operations, goes over the Orgs, introduces our comedic relief, and has tons of bad CGI. The second episode is a bit better, but the reveal of Master Org as the main villain is very underwhelming. There's little build-up and he just sort of appears. It isn't like Ransik, who killed a Power Ranger, or Lord Zedd, who I believe tampered with the Rangers powers when he arrived. The third episode, "Click, Click, Zoom," fixes many of the problems that the characters and action had, and the show goes uphill from there. 

From a fundamentals perspective, the show is already better than most. I love the Wild Force outfits. Much like the original, the helmets bear resemblance to their respective animal. The suits are predominantly the Ranger's color with a cool gold sash running across the chest. There are also four Megazords, but each one of them is unique in design and I never got them mixed up. 

The characters all fun, too. I really enjoyed the Wild Force Rangers more than I thought early on, though that's something I'll also get to in a second. Danny is one who saw the least development, since he always remained supportive. He and Max had a big thing of "Never give up!" since they often fought together and went through the hardships of battles together. Max did get some development. He's often seen as childish and impulsive, though he always says he isn't a kid. In an episode where Taylor has to essentially babysit him and another boy, though, we see him step up in a big way to that he is childish, but it's all in good fun, and he is a mature person. 

Alyssa and Danny have similar characters, but Alyssa stands out more because she's more vocal and has a bigger role in the series. Next to Cole, she's the most compassionate of the group, and is always eager to help. She jumped at the chance to help out Zen-Aku and was usually the one to show Cole around town and how things work...like how to print things at the library. If she was ever really concerned about something, you knew it was serious. She was like the comforting older sister of the group. 

And if she was the comforting older sister, then Taylor was the strict one. I have to admit: the first few episodes did not show her off well. She was mean and quick to judge Cole. She forced him to read the Ranger Handbook, which made me pause and wonder what the heck would be in a Ranger Handbook? Wild Force did not run things the same way as Time Force, and over a decade later, the Dino Charge Rangers are still doing things a little different. Sure, the core values and fundamentals are the same, but it just seemed over-the-top and overtly bossy. But, she did cool down once she realized that Cole was important to the team and that she could work well with him. Out of all the major characters I feel that Taylor was the most developed. In that episode I mentioned earlier about Max and the young boy, she did open up by the end to have more fun. Plus, throughout the series, she relaxes a bit more when it comes to leadership and how things should be done. 

Cole was the heart of the team, the soul by which they fought. He was compassionate and at first didn't understand why they were fighting the Orgs. Some people may see that as stupid and annoying, but he's been raised to be compassionate toward all whom he will come across. It's a pretty neat scene when he tries to sense for the Org's hearts (he can do that, because...animals, I don't know) and finds that they don't have one, they're just evil. He's a good natured person and is a great role model for kids who watch this. There's an even better scene when he has the perfect opportunity to exact revenge on someone, but walks away, saying that he's much better than that. I'm forced to think about modern-day superheroes and, if Cole had been in a movie, would he have still stayed his hand? Think about characters like Batman, Superman, or Iron Man. These people are heroes, but in the public eye, they're kind of killers...and I do consider kids in the public eye. Cole's compassion was a strong point for his character, and even though he got little development, it was always great to see that shine through. 

Despite Taylor and Princess Shayla insisting that Cole was the leader, I always say Cole and Taylor as co-leading. Taylor was the strategist, the one who was strict on how they fought and why, whereas Cole was the soul of the group, able to keep them emotionally in check and keep their spirits lost should they lose their way. Oftentimes, Cole was the one who had to rally them against the seemingly unbeatable foe that was Zen-Aku, and he was also the one who always charged into battle first, even in "Forever Red" amongst a veteran group of Rangers. 

So, I keep mentioning this Zen-Aku guy. Who is he? Well, while Master Org is definitely the main antagonist of the show, Zen-Aku was by far the best Org or villain the team faced during the series. His debut was menacing, rising from a tomb like a monster. He always struck at night early on, and in his first episode: 1) He defeats the Rangers with ease 2) Turns one of their Zords to stone and renders it useless 3) Is totally chilled out about all of it. 

Much like how there was a great mystery with Master Org, there was an even better one with Zen-Aku over the course of his little saga. He was always peaceful, hardly ever striking first unless he was forced to. He helped stray animals in need, and would always play a harmonious tune on his flute-dagger throughout the day. He had a past that he could not remember. All of these things did great wonders for his character in his saga. He appeared twice more after his saga and both times were chilling and awesome. 

Master Org also had two main cronies: Toxica and Jindrax. Early on, they were super annoying. Toxica got better if only because you just get used to it, but Jindrax actually developed. He was the funnier of the two, with quick quips and a funny rivalry with Taylor, and we got to know him a little more to see that he wasn't such a bad guy. Er...Org. Toxica reminded me of Rita Repulsa in all the bad ways: loud, obnoxious, and a witch. 

Probably the biggest theme the series wanted to get across was about nature and protecting the environment. Orgs were resurrected, apparently, by all the pollution that humanity has stirred up lately and this has crippled the planet's ability to fight them off. In some episodes, certain characters go to drastic measures to point this out, even crippling the Rangers themselves. Look, I know that pollution is a thing but I think it would have been smarter if the show stuck with its often-subtle touches of nature. Outside of these heavy-handed episodes, there was a small theme of respecting nature, which does encompass protecting and helping it, but not going to drastic measures to deal with it. And the Rangers do respect nature and all of its beings, helped by Cole significantly. It is a problem, though, when they do whine about the environment. Not because it isn't important, but just the forced tone that they put across. 

But there are two very big highlights of the season that stand out as some of the best in Power Rangers history. One is the two-part crossover with Power Rangers: Time Force, "Reinforcements from the Future." It's probably one the best episodes of the entire show over the course of its 20+ years of running. It features not only the return of all six Time Force Rangers and Circuit, but even manages to bring resolution and closure some of their characters like Jen and Ransik. Plus, the Wild Force Rangers show that they're just as good as a battle-hardened team like Time Force, and the character interaction is phenomenal. For forty minutes straight watching the two episodes I had a huge smile on my face. It was just so much fun! 

The one that most people talk about, though, is "Forever Red." At the time, Power Rangers was celebrating it's 10-year anniversary. To celebrate, they launched a special episode featuring all ten previous Red Rangers (the Quantum Ranger included for the kids) and showed Cole alongside all of them. Much like "Reinforcements from the Future," I absolutely loved it. Sure the ending was a bit sloppy, but it was the same run-time and they packed a lot into it. Those who are really invested in Power Rangers will notice all of the quick remarks made throughout and little shout-outs. Basically, the Machine Empire from Power Rangers Zeo is making one final attack and the Red Rangers unite to stop them. The fights are amazing, showing all the Red Rangers fending off their powerful foes. I especially loved the morphed fights, for many reasons. For one, it was great to see older suits like the Mighty Morphin' or even Turbo suits used alongside the newer ones with the updated effects. Second, the pairings were awesome! They had Cole fighting alongside Jason, which led to some funny banter by Jason about how Cole was a "rookie" and he could sort of teach him while they fought. I was personally happy about another pairing: Tommy and Wes, but mostly from a fan-boy perspective. Tommy is arguably the best Power Ranger of all time, and Wes is my favorite Power Ranger of all time, so to see them fight together was a true joy to behold. 

However, the series is not defined by these moments, only significantly helped by them. "Wild Force" stands on its own just as well without them. The themes of the series help carry it much, the team is just a joy to see in every episode, the fights are good, and it's just a fun ride from start to finish. If you haven't watched Power Rangers in a while, I urge you to check this one out. It has all the goofiness that you remember with a little more heart and special effects injected in. If you're waiting for "Dino Super Charge" to return, like me, I would recommend this to you as well to help tide you over. Power Rangers Wild Force is a series I haven't forgotten since I was a kid, and isn't one I'll be forgetting anytime soon. 

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