• Composed by Brian Tyler
• Varèse Sarabande / 2017 / 78m

A reboot of the popular 1990s superhero series for kids, Power Rangers is directed by Dean Israelite and is actually the third movie featuring these characters, some time after the second one.  Reviews have been predictably mixed and the box office probably not strong enough to launch the planned series (apparently five sequels had already been mapped out).  The film would seem to be perfect territory for Brian Tyler, whose most flat-out entertaining scores have come from his first two Marvel movies and perhaps in particular Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, which would seem to be particularly relevant here.  It’s a bit of a surprise then that the score opens not with the kind of wall of sound theme which graced all three of those scores, but instead an initially guitar-led anthem which recalls the composer’s Battle: LA.  It’s a good theme though and especially when the orchestra is dialled up (and the drum kit joins) later on it’s very entertaining.

It gets a great all-action workout early on in the terrific second cue “Seek Those Who Are Worthy” so all seems perfectly set up for another belting action score from the composer, but rather surprisingly it all seems to fizzle out a bit after that.  There’s nothing inherently wrong with it, there just isn’t the manic energy or ridiculously maxed-out orchestrations that are hallmarks of this composer at his best.  The theme is a good one but there’s only so much Tyler can do with it and it seems to be going through the same territory quite frequently on the very long album – two or three other themes being used to offer a bit more colour would have helped immeasurably.  The theme from the tv series is heard a couple of times, and there is some great retro synth work here and there (I’d love to have heard more of that), but there’s a slightly stale feel to proceedings.  Fans of Tyler (like me) will certainly not regret adding it to their collections, and there is some very entertaining material, but it’s unlikely to offer nearly as much replay value as several of his other scores written in this style.

Rating: ***

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