‘Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Once & Always’ Review – A Campy And Nostalgic Morphenomenal Adventure

If you grew up in the 90s, the chances are very high that you’re familiar with the pop culture juggernaut that was Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. The series followed a group of teenagers selected by an interdimensional being to form a team of superheroes dedicated to protecting the world from the forces of an evil.

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Once & Always revisits some of those heroes thirty years later, when the return of an old enemy with nefarious plans threatens to destroy their legacy of power, forever.

The special opens on a picturesque California hillside as one of the original teenagers with attitude, Billy Cranston (David Yost), faces off against a newly revived Rita Repulsa and her army of Putty Patrollers. It’s not long before he’s forced to morph into the Blue Power Ranger, and the rest of his team arrives to help. The situation takes a tragic turn when Trini Kwan (portrayed by the dearly departed Thuy Trang), the original Yellow Power Ranger, is hit with a blast that destroys her. A year later, Robo Rita returns ready to enact a plan that will destroy the Power Rangers legacy forever. It’ll be up to Billy, Zack (Walter Jones), Kat (Catherine Sutherland), and Rocky (Steve Cardenas), to save the day.

As someone who grew up watching the original series, getting to revisit this group of characters was such a joy. Yes, the special effects and the acting leave a lot to be desired, but that’s part of the charm of the original series. Like many, I was an adult when I discovered that what we in America know as Mighty Morhpin Power Rangers was an adaptation of the sixteenth season of the popular Japanese Super Sentai franchise, Kyōryū Sentai Zyuranger. Footage was filmed with American actors and intercut with footage from the Japanese series when they were in battle. The Netflix special leans into the cheesy and campy nature that has always been a staple of the series.

Walter Jones and David Yost easily step back into the characters they originated when the series debuted in 1993. Jones’s character, Zack, is a former Congressman who has taken on the task of raising Trini’s teenage daughter, Minh (Charlie Kersh), who is eager to avenge her mother’s death. Billy is the leader of the Ranger team and runs a company known as Cranston Tech. Although Jones and Yost aren’t the best actors, they do a decent enough job in their roles. Jones believably portrays adult trying to properly guide a teenager under his care through her grief.

Yost’s Billy is surprisingly the most complex character of the special. We learn that his obsession with locating any remnants of Zordon, the original Rangers’ mentor who sacrificed his lifeforce to purify the cosmos during the finale of 1998’s Power Ranger In Space series, inadvertently summons Rita’s evil essence. This summoning results in Rita’s essence possessing Alpha 8, and thus, creates Robo Rita. Naturally, this makes Billy feel even more responsible for Trini’s death. Making amends with Trini’s daughter, Minh, and leading the team to victory become his motivation to make things right. If you’re familiar with the original series, you know that Billy was the super nerd of the group and ill-prepared to be a warrior. Seeing the character as a flawed, but brilliant hero thirty years later in an extraordinary amount of character development. Kudos to Yost for making it believable.

Sutherland and Cardenas both do a decent enough job of returning to their characters as well. Kat and Rocky were part of the second iteration of Rangers, and while they might not get as much love as their predecessors, Amy Jo Johnson and Austin St. John, they are just as great and it was nice to catch up with them. The series confirms a long-held fan theory that Kat married Tommy Oliver, the original Green Ranger, and we discover the two now have a son.

Charlie Kersh takes on the role of Trini’s daughter, Minh, and does a good job portraying the vengeful daughter eager to avenge her mother. Her arc of learning to honor her mother through her compassion and desire to do good is a nice arc to help balance the darkness of her storyline. If there are more specials, I’d be interested in seeing Minh evolve into a leader and perhaps lead her own Ranger team.

Karan Ashley and Johnny Yong Bosch make cameos as beloved former Rangers, Aisha and Adam. Although they don’t get much to do here, the door is left open for them to return in the future. There are also several easter eggs fans will appreciate like hints at the current lives of the original series’ resident bullies, Bulk and Skull (Paul Schrier and Jason Narvy); the return of the supersonic, flying Volkswagen Beetle, RADBUG; and Tommy and Kat’s son, JJ, becoming a canonical character after his debut in the Boom Studios graphic novel, Soul Of The Dragon. 

And finally, the special ends by paying tribute to fallen Rangers, Thuy Trang and Jason David Frank. Trang tragically passed away in 2001, and Frank, in 2022.  Gone, but not forgotten, old school fans will hold these two actors and their characters in our hearts forever. Hopefully, if the specials continue, we’ll see other Rangers return for one more adventure as well.

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Once & Forever is a nostalgic and campy return to the characters of the original series.

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Once & Forever is currently streaming on Netflix.