POWER RANGERS DINO THUNDER Is Entertaining to Watch
I have finally done it. I have caught up to when I originally left Power Rangers. I watched probably the first ten episodes of Power Rangers Dino Thunder and then, for one reason or another, stopped watching. This has been a trip to watch and finally finish. This is the second dinosaur-themed season and is based on Bakuryū Sentai Abaranger. Let’s get into it.
Like Ninja Storm, Dino Thunder starts off with a three Ranger team. Conner (James Napier) is a soccer jock who becomes the Red Tyranno Ranger, Ethan (Kevin Duhaney) is the computer nerd who becomes the Blue Triceratops Ranger, and Kira (Emma Lahana) is the singer-songwriter who becomes the Yellow Ptera Ranger. These three end up getting detention one day at school (that’s right, we’ve actually returned to high schoolers that we know are high schoolers) and get put in the care of the new paleontology teacher, Tommy Oliver (Jason David Frank). He takes them to a new paleontology museum which ends up being closed, and as they look around for something that looks prehistoric to get out of detention while Dr. Oliver (that’s right, not only is he back, but he is a doctor of paleontology) looks into what’s happening. Well, they then stumble into a weird chamber area and finding three colored gems (one red, one blue, and one yellow). They grab the gems to take back as their items and end up fighting the new minions of the season, Tyrannodrones, and developing powers. Conner finds that he’s super fast, Ethan can harden his skin to become armor, and Kira has a supersonic scream. Anyway, they decide not to show Tommy and keep it a secret. They’re reluctant at first, but eventually decide to tell Tommy and ask for his help. He then gives them their Power Ranger powers. Then the show really starts.
So, there’s quite a bit of cool stuff in this season. First, Tommy’s back. This definitely got me to watch at least the first few episodes as stated earlier. It’s fun to see a previous character Ranger return in more than just a cameo role. Also, we get to see him return in the first scene of the season and it’s pretty awesome to watch him escaping from an exploding island. We also are quickly introduced to the theme song which is pretty fun. It’s not my favorite theme, but it’s decent. I actually quite like the villains too. There are only three main ones (although that changes for a bit partway through), and it’s nice to see more focus in this department. I’ll talk more about them in a bit. The Rangers are given individual powers that are utilized pretty well in the beginning of the season, but I feel like they aren’t used nearly as much in later episodes. However, when they’re used, it’s cool to see. The final cool thing to mention here is the Megazord. It’s not my favorite Megazord, but it does bring back some of that modularity that I loved from Wild Force with the auxiliary Zords. It’s pretty awesome.
OK, let’s talk about episode four, “Legacy of Power.” This episode was a celebration of 500 episodes of Power Rangers. So, how do you do that? Well, you turn it into a clip show of all previous seasons. Tommy goes missing, and while looking for him, the Dino Thunder Rangers stumble upon a file he had about all the previous Power Rangers teams. This episode is a very basic history of the Power Rangers. It really was fun to watch this episode as a way to celebrate 500 episodes of the franchise. We also learn in the episode that Conner has a brother who apparently went to the Wind Ninja Academy in Bayside even though they’re in Reefside. Must not have been too far away. I really only have two nitpicks with this episode. First, it’s stated that the Ninja Rangers paid the ultimate price when they lost their powers. Is it a high price? Yes. It’s not the ultimate price though. Second, Hayley (Ismay Johnston) says that Tommy is the best Ranger. I’m sorry, but I don’t know that I would say that. Extremely popular? Sure. In the most seasons? Definitely. Best? I think that’s a bit more debatable. The episode then leads into “Back in Black” when Tommy becomes the Black Brachio Ranger, becoming the fourth Ranger of the season.
The fifth and final Ranger of the series is Trent Fernandez-Mercer (Jeffrey Parazzo), the White Drago Ranger (although according to Wikipedia, it’s based on the Tupuxuara, so I don’t understand the name at all). Coming into play around episode 11, the White Ranger is an antagonist who is basically pure evil and wants to destroy the Rangers. He doesn’t work for Mesagog, although there are times treaties are made between the two or between the White Ranger and Zeltrax. This lasts until the evil influence of the White Ranger is destroyed in episode 21. However, Zeltrax makes a clone of the evil White Ranger who remains an antagonist for several more episodes. I liked the story of Trent being evil and his Dino Gem corrupting him. I like the fact that he didn’t just become one of Mesagog’s puppet, but rather was a free agent in the game with his own agenda and his own ideas. Definitely one of the better Evil Ranger arcs in my opinion. What’s more is that I appreciate the fact that Trent was introduced a couple episodes before “White Thunder” instead of it being the random new kid that appeared that episode.
Allow me to touch on and clarify a few things at this point that are neither positive nor negative. Tommy used to work with a guy named Anton Mercer. That just sounds like an evil name which is why it shouldn’t surprise us that his alter ego is Mesagog. Now, he doesn’t like Mesagog, but it’s a thing. Anton is also the adoptive father of Trent and there are a few things that play on the estranged father tropes and such. The Rangers also get to know Anton as he subs for Tommy when Tommy becomes encased in amber. There’s also a bit of a potential love triangle with Elsa maybe having a thing for Tommy who doesn’t reciprocate, and Zeltrax liking Elsa. She doesn’t return his affection, leaving him to be jealous of Tommy, although there’s more to it.
You see, Zeltrax used to be a friend of Anton and Tommy’s called “Smitty” who was lost in an accident before being brought back via cybernetics by Mesagog. I greatly enjoyed this story actually. It gave Zeltrax a very understandable personality and motivation. Tommy survived when he didn’t. Elsa was paying more attention to Tommy. Then, his undying loyalty to Mesagog comes naturally as the person who saved him.
One of my favorite things about Power Rangers has become episode 19 of Dino Thunder, “Lost & Found in Translation.” In this episode, the main trio end up stumbling upon a poorly dubbed Japanese show about the Power Rangers, and they watch it while providing commentary. They actually show a large part of “Abare Leaguer Bind” from Abaranger, and it’s so much fun to watch. I might have to take a break from watching Power Rangers and switch over to Sentai because of this episode.
Over the course of the season, a number of power ups become available to the Rangers. First, there’s the Super Dino Mode. This is a more powerful version of their morphed selves, and I love how Conner got his. He was fighting evil Trent, and the fight was going very poorly for him. It was very much a digging deep for more power within type thing, and it felt very natural and rewarding. This is why I’m bothered that no one else has that. The very next episode, Ethan and Kira just have it. Tommy eventually unlocks it, and Trent is probably the closest to having a similar moment, but it’s not as rewarding. Conner also gets the Shield of Triumph that for some reason requires Kira and Ethan’s energy every time for the first several times effectively taking them out of the fight. Finally, Conner gets the Battlizer that gives him stretchy arms for some reason. Yeah. That was weird. Oh, and his weapon is a Dragon Yo-Yo.
Let’s talk weapons now. Ethan’s Tricera Shield is awesome. Kira’s Ptera Grips are cool. Trent’s Drago Sword is pretty sweet if not overpowered, and the Thundermax Blaster/Saber looks fantastic. Tommy’s Brachio Staff bothers me simply because it’s more of a sword in look and use, but instead of a blade it has a tube. Conner’s Tyranno Staff just looks dumb though. I’m not sure if this is my least favorite weapon (I don’t like Cole’s weapon in Wild Force very much), but it’s definitely in competition. It’s a staff with a T-Rex head on one end, and it’s very...dumb.
The crossover episode, “Thunder Storm” is our next destination. Lothor somehow escapes the Abyss of Evil with corrupt Power Discs that he uses to brainwash the Ninja Rangers. Then they’re eventually saved by Cam’s smarts, and they team up with the Dino Thunder Rangers to defeat Lothor and Mesagog. It was a fun episode for sure. Not the best team up episode, but definitely a fun one. I like how Marah and Kapri play the double agent bit perfectly, and it turns out they really are good people now. I also like the fight between Lothor and Mesagog that happens, although I’m really confused. Do all villains just know each other? Both villains seemed to know who the other was from the get-go. That was interesting.
Time for the Bulk and Skull of the season: Cassidy and Devin. She wants to be an ace reporter, and he is just her lackey who crushes on her. They’re an okay duo. They remind me of very early Bulk and Skull if the two hadn’t been bullies. It’s fun to have another goofy duo in the show again. As the season progresses, Cassidy becomes more of a normal person with feelings and not just a brat trying to get the next big scoop. Devin doesn’t change nearly as much, although he does seem to become less of an airhead as the season goes on.
What are some of my pet peeves about this season though? Well, they pretty much all have to do with Tommy. For starters, they bring Tommy back into the series, but then Frank doesn’t appear for a 14 episode stretch. He gets imprisoned in amber and then is permanently morphed throughout that time. Sure, Frank does do voice work for most of those episodes, but why take him out for that long? Is it because there weren’t enough Sentai episodes that had him included? This brings me to pet peeve number two. Having Tommy serve as the team’s mentor is a pretty cool idea. In fact, it reminds me of the trashed plans for Hexagon. I am all for that. However, they really seemed to rush turning him into another Ranger. The main trio were still learning so much about being a Ranger and then, BAM! Tommy’s a Ranger. Let them have more fun as a trio before bringing in the fourth Ranger. This brings me to my third pet peeve. Tommy doesn’t do much. He serves as their mentor, and he occasionally fights. However, Brachiozord isn’t part of a Megazord, and so for the vast majority of the season, once the monster grows, Tommy does nothing except maybe mentor. My final pet peeve is, what happened to Kat? Those two were a couple that canonically get married and have grandchildren. Where is she?
There were two things that bothered me about Dino Thunder that did not revolve around Tommy. First, like Ninja Storm, the audio quality is hit and miss. There are plenty of scenes where the quality of the audio doesn’t match other characters or even just any other scenes. It’s off-putting. Second, I recognize that many of the actors were from New Zealand where the show was being shot to reduce costs. Well, there are a lot of times when these actors would really struggle to maintain an American accent. I wouldn’t have minded having them use their New Zealand accents, and when they could maintain the American accents, they were good. However, there were too many times where the accents couldn’t be maintained, and it felt a little weird.
Villain time. I’ve already talked about Zeltrax, so I’ll skip him here. The foot soldiers this season are the Tyrannodrones who are recycled Stingwingers from Lost Galaxy. They do not look related to dinosaurs in the slightest and are a big letdown. Elsa has the alter ego of Principal Randall. We learn that at some point she was abducted by Mesagog and transformed to be his servant. At least, I think that’s what her story was. She’s eventually turned good again and ends up becoming the principal again and seemingly starts a romance with Anton Mercer.
Anton Mercer and Mesagog are very much a Jekyll and Hyde villain, and it proved to be very interesting. Mesagog was an experiment gone terribly wrong and Anton has been trying to cure himself ever since. Mesagog’s goal is to revert the world to a time when dinosaurs rule. I like his design. He’s very creepy and disturbing. Anton may not be the true villain, but he does have his bad moments like when he tries purchasing the cyber cafe just to make Trent manager and such. The writing team does a decent job of making you believe that Anton knows and is actually the same as Mesagog, just with a mask or something. We eventually learn this is wrong though, and even Anton gets some growth as he learns to let Trent have some dreams. Overall, Anton/Mesagog is an intriguing villain.
The theme for Dino Thunder comes down to trust. At the beginning, the trio have some sort of trust that Tommy can help them and then it becomes this secret that the four have to trust each other with. When Trent comes into the picture and his identity is discovered that creates a whole mess of trust with him lying because he’s evil, but then turning good. Then they have to trust him even though he lies and keeps Anton’s secret about being Mesagog. Not to mention the fact that Ethan and Kira have to constantly trust Conner with their powers for the Shield of Triumph.
Dino Thunder was a great treat to revisit and finally finish. The ending left something to be desired if I’m honest, but there are plenty of highlights throughout the season, including watching some Abaranger. While not my favorite, I do see why it’s near and dear to so many. As a note, I will not be rewatching SPD as I’ve already written about it. That means that I’ll be moving on to the magical time that is Power Rangers Mystic Force. Heaven help me.
Current Power Rangers Ranking:
Power Rangers In Space
Power Rangers Zeo
Power Rangers Time Force
Power Rangers Beast Morphers Season 1
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers Season 3
Power Rangers Lightspeed Rescue
Power Rangers Dino Thunder
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers Season 2
Power Rangers Ninja Storm
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers Season 1
Power Rangers Wild Force
Power Rangers S.P.D.
Power Rangers Turbo
Power Rangers Lost Galaxy