When Diabolico is defeated, Impus matures into Olympius and takes centre stage for a while. The balance of power shifts frequently throughout the show, with Diabolico, Vypra and Loki in charge first, aided by Jinxer (the show's resident monster-maker) and in the care of Impus - Queen Bansheera's infant child. The villains on the other hand start off very poorly (to the point where they don't even feel central to the story) but develop into something much more interesting. As there was no Sentai footage to reuse for the character, his role is minimal at best and leaves midway through the series only to return in the two-part finale. Ryan had the potential to be an excellent sixth ranger - especially when he is cursed with a snake tattoo that moves slowly up his body every time he morphs, eventually killing him, but his introduction is extremely rushed and thus he falls completely flat. Kelsey was just annoying throughout, but still received better development than Dana or Chad, who mostly stayed in the background only to have their spotlight episodes have them act either completely out of character or include love stories with a mermaid (yeah, seriously). Next came Joel, who's development never really amounted to more than him wanting being in love with Miss Fairweather (a comedic side story which was very hit and miss). While I didn't dislike Carter, I felt the series tried to push the "All-American fire figher/hero" aspect to his character a little too hard to begin with. The range of spotlight they got was varying - with Carter definitely take the most.
However the rangers individual characterisation left a lot more to be desired. While as a team they gelled really well together, as did the inclusion of Captain Mitchell (who I became far more attached to than I initially expected to be) and Miss Fairweather. The series main problems lied with its main cast. Another interesting fact was that while there were such a large number of megazords, they all got their fair share of usage, without one replacing the other once it was introduced (if anything, the Lightspeed Megazord always stayed in centre stage).
The final (and least used) Megazord, is the silly-but-literally named Lifeforce Megazord - a black, combined form only, version of the Lightspeed Solarzord that was so powerful it drained the life force of its pilots.
Sure, it may not look like much (pretty much a giant land crawler thing) the fact it was incorporated was a huge plus in my eyes. While the megazord formation has its flaws (despite its excellent body, the box head looks particularly silly), it wins points by also having a proper combined vehicle form. The third, the Omega Megazord (a name I'm not a huge fan off since it rolls off the tongue quite strangely) is made up of the space-styled Omega zords and by far my favourite megazord in the series. The next is the Super Train Megazord, whose components were the Rail Rescues - the trains that brought the Lightspeed Rescue vehicles to their destinations), which is really impressive - a hulking black machine armed to the teeth with firepower. This megazord could also combine with the Titanium Ranger's zord - the Max Solarzord, a space shuttle that could also transform into a robot mode. The first megazord introduced is the aforementioned Lightspeed Megazord (made up of rescue vehicle zords), which isn't a particularly brilliant design, but still memorable in its own right. The series boasts a huge number of megazords (a grand total of four) each with their own pros and cons. As the series goes on, the scientific progression of Lightspeed is quite apparent, and feels much more logical than the "random new powers appearing just because" moments that previous series' had. For example, early formations of the Lightspeed Megazord involved the zords having to be hoisted into place and the zords were launched to their destination via a high speed train. Since the technology is also man-made, it also starts off a bit more primitive than you'd expect. While the later episodes are more typical Power Rangers fare in terms of monster battles, the initial episodes really highlight these differences - with the rangers spending a reasonable portion of the episodes putting out fires and saving civilians caught in a monster rampage. The Lightspeed Powers are completely manmade and the team operates as a rescue service just as much as they are super heroes. The first thing to note about Lightspeed Rescue is that it has a very different style and aesthetic to the series' that preceded it.
0 kommentar(er)
