Power Rangers Mystic Force......."What's Wrong With It?" [Thoughts and Discussions]

[Sentaifan'07 Xman]

Alright, well after a quick re-watch of Mahou Sentai Magiranger and it's respective Power Rangers counterpart, I've probably reached to a conclusion that a lot of people really don't seem to talk about Mystic Force that much. But, to be fair....it actually does have some good elements such as the setting and the background, the idea of it giving out more of a "Lord of the Rings/The Hobbit"-vibe than it does as a "Harry Potter"-vibe, and yes...episodes like "Strangers Within" and "Dark Wish" are some of the absolute best well-written story arcs that the show has to offer and, I guess the ranger suits aren't really that bad. But, with that being said, there's actually somethings that are really overshadowing the pros of this show instead of overshadowing the cons. So let's explore this topic and find out what it means. "Power Rangers Mystic Force.....What's Wrong With It?"

1) The Mystic Rangers Aren't the Main Characters!!!

The main problem with this show is that there are at least five characters that really interesting to watch such as the four Mystic Rangers; Xander, Vida, Madison, and Chip and of course, Udonna's niece, Claire. Now why is it that it's a problem you may ask?!?!? Well, it's just that this show doesn't really seem to care all that much about the Mystic Rangers. It just feels a bit more schizophrenic about who should be the main focus characters and who should be the supporting characters. The show is at its' best when it really does seem focus more on the interaction with the rangers in episodes such as "Strangers Within", or the "Dark Wish" trilogy. But, that's as close as we got. The majority of the show seems to focus so heavily on all of these side prevalence characters and Udonna, who is trying to find her family who were lost during the Mystic War. And it treats the four Mystic Rangers like they're the sidekicks of the show, when in reality....they are actually the stars of the show. I mean, they're on the front cover of the DVD cases for crying out loud!!!!

2) The Season is yet Another Red Ranger-Centric Season!!!!!

Probably the biggest complaint that people had with this season is that it focuses so heavily on the Red Ranger, Nick Russell. And....I have to be honest, people. Nick Russell is a terrible Red Ranger. Now, I'm not saying that making a Power Rangers season or a Sentai season that focuses so heavily on the Red Ranger is a good or a bad thing, but, it's just that if there's going to be a season that focuses so much on the Red Ranger...you gotta make the character not only feel like an important character, but most importantly....he has to do something useful for his character arc to actually get to some kind of resolutions at the end or nearly halfway through the show. But, with Nick?!?!?! He doesn't really do anything useful for his character arc. Even as the show has made him to be the "second coming of Jesus Christ", he still come off as like an arrogant, bland, whiny douchebag who rides a motorcycle. And what's even sad about this character is that he really doesn't seem to care about anything, even the responsibilities that were being given to him....he just treats everybody like crap for no reason. Simply because, "he doesn't belong" or whatever.

3) The Villains Are Terribly Wasted and Pointless!!!!

Now, I'm not sure what was going on with the production history of Mystic Force or why there really wasn't much to work with for the villains, but aside from Imperious, the rest of the villains of the show are just terribly wasted and proven to be utterly pointless. I mean, there was a lot of potential for Necrolai's character of being a villain, but, she was just poorly-executed as being the "queen of all vampires" and a mother to her own daughter. Koragg was just an idiot blabbering on and on and on about the basic constructs of honor instead of just actually doing something honorable. "SHOW DON'T TELL!!!!" *sigh!* The Ten Terrors.......boooorrrring!!!!!

4) The Finale Was Just Too Rushed!!!!

Now, I would have to heavily agree with Linkara on his History of Power Rangers review on this season when have to say this, but the finale, Mystic Fate was just six episodes ideas mushed together into a rushed two-part finale. I understand that Disney at that time had to slash the budget because they probably didn't want to go over budget and the fact that didn't like the tone of violence in the show, but it's just that this show could've been better if it had lasted for at least 38 episodes like what Ninja Storm, Dino Thunder and SPD did in the past. And the inclusion of the Mystic Mother in the first part didn't really amount to anything but just pointless fanservice since the actress who played the Mystic Mother, Machiko Soga (Heavenly Arch Saint, Maigel from Magiranger/Bandora the Witch from Zyuranger/Rita Repulsa from MMPR season one) passed away some time before the actual finale just aired at that time. But, it would've been more consistent if Disney was even aware of who Barbara Goodson was and why this would have been an important part of the finale, or if they had actually established that this character actually existed earlier in the show or build up a certain hype for the character. But, that's just it. So yeah....thanks for bringing Rita Repulsa back, Disney, but not her actual voice.

5) The Relationship Between The Mystic Realm and the Residence of Briarwood was Never Really Resolved!!!!

Now, this is just a minor complaint that I've had with this season is that the relationship between Briarwood and the Mystic Realm wasn't resolved at all. It was only hinted before in the first episodes, but was never mentioned again until the finale. *sigh!* Once again....another wasted potential on being more consitent with the actual plot of this show. It would've been much nicer if they actually did explore more tensions between both worlds and then it would actually feel more like an actual Power Rangers season that had the elements of magic and mysticism. But not the exact opposite.

Alright, I think I've covered enough problems with this season. But, overall Mystic Force should've been better, if only Disney at that time actually did cared more about marketing and profiting the franchise for boys as they did with the Disney princess and Disney fairies franchises for girls. Instead of acting all cheap and idiotic about being "too embarassed to be affiliated with Power Rangers."

Now I want to hear from you guys, do you believe that Power Rangers Mystic Force could've done better or not? Let me know what you think.....

 

[Galaxy]

Honestly, all the core rangers in Mystic Force sucked. The only reason I made it though Mystic Force is because I wanted to know what was going to happen with Udonna, Claire, Leanbow, etc. The Rangers were just written poorly, and their personalities were bland. One liked music, one was the red ranger, one was the nice ranger, one was basically suit filler (yellow ranger)and one was Xander. Even for Power Rangers they were noticeably bland, generic characters (although in hindsight they are far from the most bland or generic nowadays). They really could have had a lot less screen time and it only would have improved the show. The only fix would to have had totally different writers in charge of the show. As it is, MF only approached being good when the Rangers weren't the focus, at least in my opinion. I cared about Udonna and Leanbow's history, but I honestly can't think of any time I cared about anything involving the main 5 characters, outside of when Nick's story connected with Udonna's.

 

[Shogun_Master]

My honest issues with the show have changed. Generally, at the time this show aired, I was starting to go through depression. Although I still watched the show, I ceased to really care about or enjoy it. I did tape several episodes of Mystic Force-RPM, but something with the taping speed made everything slow down in a way I couldn't quite tell & the action was no longer entertaining. Between that & how poorly written the vast majority of this series was, I kind of forgot a lot of the good parts of these shows & really only liked them at all because they were Power Rangers.

But, a lot of things have changed since 2006. I bought the DVDs & got a clearer perspective, plus I've spent the last 5 years learning how to be a writer & generally look at shows like this from the perspective of both a writer & director. I still have issues, but they are different.

First off, I have no problems with the characters. I can clearly tell they were poorly conceived, but all the actors are good enough at injecting real personality that the writers took advantage of that they almost all became more or less real & interesting characters by the finale. The things I will agree on-

• The writers had no idea how to properly use characters like Koragg, Necrolai, Scalpin, The Master, Magimother, etc
• Nick's story was so cliched & rushed, it wasn't even worth doing in the first place
• I won't say the finale was rushed, but part II was a complete & utter mess with no dramatic tension, or even a story for that matter, whatsoever.

But, I think a lot of things could've been resolved by both rearranging the sentai footage/ sentai related storylines so they were resolved in a suitable manner in a suitable amount of time. Doing so would've completely allowed them to take better advantage of some of the things they'd tried to do with the other characters & dropped. It would've also helped the drama & story to flow more naturally because the story wouldn't have been entirely focused around a plot element that was practically worthless in its ability to carry a 32 episode series that was being spread out beyond its limits. They could've easily still done the "personal life lessons" for characters while building personality & giving them story arcs, a la "Stranger Within." (And, I honestly think they should've kept Vida a vampire for a larger part of the series instead of just making it a one off, but hey...) But, the first half of the show was honestly pretty decent, & there were several worthy episodes scattered throughout the remaining 15-20 episodes.

PS: Although I don't believe the finale to be rushed for the above stated reason, I think you may be right about what happened to it. They didn't know their show was being compounded until the last minute, so they just had to hurry up and wrap things up as quickly as possible.

 

[kamil88]

I actually prefer them, over Magiranger, at least they don't keep babble about family all the times. Nick become whiny at second part of series, i agree with that, and i agree that both Vita and Madison were very bland, but, maybe it was Disney fault for reducing show to just 32 episodes? At least side characters were likeable.

 

[Sentaifan'07 Xman]

Although I don't believe the finale to be rushed for the above stated reason, I think you may be right about what happened to it. They didn't know their show was being compounded until the last minute, so they just had to hurry up and wrap things up as quickly as possible.

Yeah, that is a huge downside about this season. It would've been better if it was extended to at least a three-part finale.:disappoin

I actually prefer them, over Magiranger, at least they don't keep babble about family all the times. Nick become whiny at second part of series, i agree with that, and i agree that both Vita and Madison were very bland, but, maybe it was Disney fault for reducing show to just 32 episodes? At least side characters were likeable.

Uhmm....well, I would have to disagree with on some part on your thoughts. Although, I will admit that yes, Magiranger was kind of harping too much on the whole "we're a family" part, but...at the very least. It still managed to tell a more coherent story. Not to mentioned the fact that Smoky's backstory was actually the most saddest moment that you would ever imagined. I mean, I'd rather take the traumatic story of a stray magical cat that had no family at all over a magical cat-like genie that was forced into exile because some jealous king said so and that everybody else was paying too much attention to a baby dragon. That and the villains from Magiranger are a lot more sympathetic and more realistic characters than the actual heroes themselves. I mean seriously!!!! Among all of the villains that the Ozu siblings fought, I think Dagon, Sleipnir and Wyvern were like the most sympathetic ones of all. Meemy was a sneaky bastard and Cyclops was really bad-ass. He kinda reminds me a lot of Xigbar from Kingdom Hearts II.

*Sigh!* I just wished that the villains from Mystic Force were given better roles to work with. I mean, Imperious was by far the most compelling villain of all and I'd wish that he was given more screen-time. Necrolai and Koragg had potential, but they were terribly wasted. But, I guess the only side characters of Mystic Force that were obviously likeable were Claire, Phineas, and Toby. That's it.

Honestly, all the core rangers in Mystic Force sucked. The only reason I made it though Mystic Force is because I wanted to know what was going to happen with Udonna, Claire, Leanbow, etc. The Rangers were just written poorly, and their personalities were bland. One liked music, one was the red ranger, one was the nice ranger, one was basically suit filler (yellow ranger)and one was Xander. Even for Power Rangers they were noticeably bland, generic characters (although in hindsight they are far from the most bland or generic nowadays). They really could have had a lot less screen time and it only would have improved the show. The only fix would to have had totally different writers in charge of the show. As it is, MF only approached being good when the Rangers weren't the focus, at least in my opinion. I cared about Udonna and Leanbow's history, but I honestly can't think of any time I cared about anything involving the main 5 characters, outside of when Nick's story connected with Udonna's.

Then why couldn't Disney just make a movie adaptation that was focused so much on those characters instead?! I mean, really!!! If Disney actually gave a damn about Power Rangers back then, they could've given Udonna, Leanbow, Claire, Phineas, or Toby their own standalone movies or something. Seriously, if people cared so much about Udonna, Leanbow, Phineas or Claire, why can't they have their own solo movies instead of just overshadowing the main plot of Mystic Force?! Or better yet.....why not take out the four Mystic Rangers and replaced them with the side characters on the front DVD cover instead?!?! I'm just sayin'!!!