Power Rangers Samurai

Power Rangers Samurai joins the long-running franchise that’s known as much for its marketing line of toys, books, and games as it is for the TV series that popularized the characters. Needless to say, the commercial quality of the show is still going strong, and the advent of this incarnation means that a whole new line of merchandise will grace store shelves.

The Power Rangers series has undergone nominal changes over the years, but the basic plot remains the same: Colorfully costumed teens become weapon-wielding superheroes and fight to save the world from the clutches of a myriad of monsters. Amazingly, though, the show hasn’t made great strides to keep technological pace with its TV peers, and it's likely that even kids will notice how the corny special effects and outlandish monsters fail to impress in light of better modern animation. What’s more, the show’s violence makes it tricky to target an age group, since kids old enough to tolerate the battle scenes will be turned off by the silly nature of the content. True, there are some basic messages about teamwork and self-confidence, but most of this is lost amid the action.