Up until today, Lionsgate's feature film take on the Power Rangers franchise was doing a remarkably (and surprisingly) good job of selling me on their vision. The director and the young cast of the title heroes may be relative unknowns to the wider moviegoing audience, but recruiting Elizabeth Banks as the villainous Rita Repulsa, Bryan Cranston as the heroic leader Zordon, and Bill Hader as the voice of robotic assistant Alpha 5 were smart, strategic moves. The biggest surprise for me so far was the fact that I actually like the redesigns for the Rangers' battle suits and the metallic-yet-sexy design of Banks' villainess. So far, we've only glimpsed the fighting machines known as Zords in character posters (for my money, the toy images don't count). Everything we've seen looks pretty good.
And then, today, the concept art for Alpha 5 was released. It's ... disconcerting. Alpha 5 has always had a bit of a strange design what with his flying-saucer-shaped head, lightning bolt chest icon, and his built-in CD drive, but man did they go for broke with this new look. And not in a good way. Now it's worth mentioning that what you're about to see is just concept art; there's a good chance the final character won't look quite this bizarre. There's also a chance that the main design will stick and the finished product will look better once it's in motion. Hader's voice work can certainly save this train wreck, but I for one am hoping that some design changes and tweaks are coming in advance of the film's March 24, 2017 release date.
Take a look at the concept art for Alpha 5 below (via IGN):
So Alpha 5 is now a pot-bellied robo-simian with headlamps protruding from insect-like stalks. What on Edenoi has become of him... Be sure to let us know your thoughts in the comments!
For more on Power Rangers, be sure to check out some of our recent write-ups below:
- ‘Power Rangers’ and ‘Logan’ Reveal New Images of Rita Repulsa and Wolverine
- ‘Power Rangers’ Motion Poster Shows Off the New Costumes
- ‘Power Rangers’: New Images Tease the Gritty Reboot’s Teen Heroes
- ‘Power Rangers’: Director and Cast Talk The “Grounded” Tone and Rita Repulsa
- Max Landis Critiques ‘Power Rangers’ Trailer for Looking a Lot Like ‘Chronicle’