Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Once & Always (2023) Movie Review

 Hey everyone, how's it going? I'm doing pretty well. Today I'm going to be reviewing the Power Rangers 30th Anniversary Special, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Once & Always. There won't be too many spoilers, just whatever was in the trailers and just a general overview of my thoughts on the special. So let's get right into it.

This is the best anniversary special that the franchise has had since "Forever Red" aired for the 10th Anniversary during Power Rangers Wild Force back in 2002. What I like most about it is that it's focused directly on the Mighty Morphin team and elements from those seasons, instead of the larger Power Rangers Universe hijacking the current season for an episode or two. Like previous anniversary specials did.

The cast was amazing. It was so good having David Yost and Walter Jones back as Billy and Zack, AND having them back as the Blue Ranger and Black Ranger again. Despite having not played them in almost 30 years, David and Walter just slid back into the roles as if they'd never left them. Even though Catherine Sutherland and Steve Cardenas appeared as Kat and Rocky in the 25th Anniversary episode of Power Rangers Super Ninja Steel, "Dimensions in Danger", they were just kinda there in the background as the focus was on Tommy and the Ninja Steel Rangers, so it was awesome having them front and center alongside Zack and Billy. Same goes for Barbara Goodson, who voices Robo-Rita, as she'd voiced Rita during the first six seasons of the show in the '90s. 

Trini's daughter, Minh, is fantastic! I really hope we see more of her in the future because Charlie Kersh, the actress who plays her, did a great job and she felt like Trini's daughter. Speaking of Trini, despite Thuy Trang having been killed in a car accident back in 2001 her presence is felt throughout this special.

This special nailed the two things that I love about Power Rangers, the morphing sequence and the Dinozords. Finally, after 20 years of using stock footage and a one off Disney era morphing sequence, the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers morphing sequence has been updated and includes the original morphing calls as well, which is awesome. 

This is also the first time that we've seen the Dino Megazord, a.k.a. the original Megazord, in original American footage. Any other time we've seen it in action it's been in Sentai footage, so it's really cool to see it in full, original footage. 

Overall this was a fun, nostalgic, incredible special. It's only an hour long so it's perfect for the 30th Anniversary. If you're a '90s kid who watched Mighty Morphin Power Rangers but didn't continue the series after that, I definitely recommend watching this movie. It's basically the original show, but with a slightly higher budget. But if you're not a fan of Power Rangers and have never seen the show before, this movie is not the place to start. This was made for the fans and as a fan, I appreciate it alot.

That's it for me for today folks, but I'll be back soon with more reviews and posts. So until then have a great evening and I will talk to you all later. Take care.