Another really good season and an epic conclusion to the Saban Era

gavin-thelordofthefu-48-460297

Now, some of you are wondering, what does this title mean? Well, I just want to say that even though ABC Kids later owned Power Rangers Wild Force in Sept. 2002 before the season ended, this became the last Power Rangers season made by Saban before Disney did the last few episodes before they distributed Ninja Storm and ended their rights with RPM in 2009, resulted in a six year deal while Saban and Fox concluded their ten year deal from 1993-2002. Anyway, on to the review.

Power Rangers Wild Force did really blow me away and while it's not nearly as good as the first three seasons of Mighty Morphin' and Power Rangers In Space, which is still the best season in my opinion, it's another good season. Here are the list of the things that made it worth while I can get to the two problems.

THE STORY: It's very similar to Power Rangers Lost Galaxy with humans living with ancient animals on a fight between good and evil, but more jungle-themed. While it does patronize the "humans are evil" problem in one of the episodes, it makes up for it with some very complex characterization, some strong writing, and has an emotional resonance.

THE ACTING: Sadly this is one of the two problems with this show. It is that corny. It's not the characters. It's just that the dialog made it unbearable. I don't mean to rush to what I think about the acting, but that's all I have to say about it.

THE MUSIC/VISUALS: The music score is really excellent. It fits the jungle theme really well and does have some strong action writing. Also, the Wild Force theme song is just awesome. It's fast-paced, energetic, and has a rock beat to it, which the some of the previous theme songs in Power Rangers had. The scenery is beautiful; the look of the jungle command center is beautiful and has some decent CGI effects on the animal Zords.

THE CHARACTERS: Despite the corny acting, at least the characters are likable and they're developed really well. Elisa, Taylor, Max, Danny, and Merrick are really good and the villains are much better than I thought. Toxica and Jindrax, despite their silly moments, do have their sinister moments as they serve Master Org, who is by far one of the best Power Rangers villains since Lord Zedd. Then, there's Cole Evans, who is by far the second problem of the show. He does have his empathetic moments, but his hamminess really overshadows it, which makes him the weakest Red Ranger, sadly.

Before I end this review, there are some other stuff that I really need to mention. The two crossovers and the two-part finale "The End of the Power Rangers.

Power Rangers Wild Force VS Time Force (Reinforcements from the Future): This is another Power Rangers team-up done perfectly and it's certainly up there with "To The Tenth Power" from the Power Rangers Lost Galaxy/In Space crossover and an improvement over Trakeena's Revenge (which was also a good team-up, but suffered from it's lack of development for the Galaxy Rangers and not enough interactions between them). It managed to tie up loose ends left in Time Force, but not only that. It gives some time to make the two groups interact with each other. The pacing is brisk and never drags; the writing is exquisite and the action is just freaking awesome!

Forever Red: Another great team-up. Although the writing could've used a lot more work and the ending feeling anti-climatic, it makes up for it with some great interactions between the Red Wild Force ranger and the previous Red Rangers and some great action to make it stand out.

The End of the Power Rangers: Man, what an epic conclusion! It sets up the end of Wild Force perfectly. The pacing is well done, the writing is great, and some gives some development. Then, came the speech, which was an epic way for the Wild Force rangers to resolve their final battle against Master Org, showing that when humans and animals work together, good will prevail. And when the characters parted their ways after the end of their journey, it makes you teary-eyed as much as the destruction of the Megazords in Part 1.

Overall, Power Rangers Wild Force is another good season and an epic conclusion to the Saban-Era from the early 90s to the early 2000s. Recommended to those who haven't seen it yet.

score 8/10

gavin-thelordofthefu-48-460297 6 March 2015

Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw3197238/