Review: Power Rangers Wild Force

After a chance encounter with the peace keeping Wild Force Power Rangers, a young man named Cole Evans discovers that he is destined to become the Red Wild Force Ranger. Under the tutelage of the powerful Princess Shayla, Cole and the other Rangers are tasked with defeating the ancient Master Org and his horde of heartless creatures before they can destroy the Earth.

Power Rangers Wild Force is the tenth season of the Power Rangers franchise, airing originally during 2002. It stars Ricardo Medina, Jr., Alyson Kiperman, Phillip Jeanmarie, Jessica Rey, Jack Guzman, Phillip Andrew and Ann Marie Crouch.

Without a doubt, Power Rangers Wild Force is one of the most impressive entries into the storied Power Rangers franchise from the Post-Zordon era. It is rich with depth and builds a fascinating mythology around its characters. Taking point from its Super Sentai counterpart Hyakujuu Sentai Gaoranger, it follows the adventures of five fierce warriors who use the powers of ancient animals to do battle against the evil Master Org. The series explores a variety of themes – such as revenge, morality and issues of environmentalism. It is concisely written and is carefully plotted in order to maximize story arcs, thus minimizing the usage of filler episodes. Wild Force is also notable for its relatively small cast of villains, as well as its tight focus on its protagonists. Unlike many of the preceding Power Rangers series, Wild Force takes its time to develop each member of the main cast and maintains a pace that keeps its audience engaged.

Wild Force is not afraid to make its characters unlikeable at times. Taylor is at times over serious and often acts outwardly aggressive when faced with situations that are outside of her control. Likewise, Merrick is cold and distant, especially towards Princess Shayla. Though this may initially make them seem unworthy of sympathy, their portrayals turn out to be the most multi-dimensional and relatable on the show. Despite her mean streak, Taylor is incredibly competent and is arguably the most dedicated member of the team. In fact, given her experience and overall comportment it’s a little puzzling as to why she didn’t remain as the leader of the team once Cole arrived. With Merrick, we understand his behaviour through the exploration of his past and we come to accept his lone wolf behaviour as endearing. That’s not to say the other characters aren’t interesting. Danny is loveable in an awkward kind of way, calling to mind Raita from Choujin Sentai Jetman. Alyssa, meanwhile, is unapologetically sweet and caring. Her boundless optimism and the emotional support she provides the others make her into the unheralded nucleus of the group. There’s also a rather clever narrative with her character, emphasizing the importance of her education and her pursuit of knowledge. Even Max’s dopiness and insecurities make him memorable as a character. Unfortunately, the curse of the dull Red Ranger syndrome continues with Cole. While his love for animals and ability to communicate with them, as well as his strict moral code, help give him depth, he’s still less interesting than the others on the show.

The biggest surprise for me with this series was its adherence to story arcs, which is something previous seasons were rather stingy with. Where other entries relied heavily on filler episodes, Wild Force packs its 40 episodes with development and plot twists. A notable example of this is the Zen-Aku arc, which begins early on in the season. It helps to introduce the mysterious and powerful Org Zen-Aku, as well as the sixth Ranger Merrick. Wild Force is further supplemented by subplots, such as Cole’s search for the truth about his parents’ fate, and character-centric episodes that see our heroes gain new Zords (often by overcoming their fears or by proving themselves). The abundance of multi-part stories and subplots really helped to add a sense of gravity and direction to the series. For the first time, a Power Rangers season actually built up towards its finale and came to a satisfying climax (complete with a decently executed denouement). With Wild Force, it finally seemed like the writers knew where they were going and weren’t simply wandering around aimlessly until the final few episodes.

Power Rangers Wild Force does have its share of flaws. The acting is still questionable (Toxica – I’m looking at you, girl), the CGI is really dated, there are far too many Zords to keep track of and some cheesy sequences (many involving the syrupy Princess Shayla singing). Despite this, it’s hard not to love Wild Force. From a plotting perspective, it’s quite possibly the strongest entry in the Post-Zordon Era. It was the perfect way to close out this particular era, providing fleshed out characters and more engaging storylines. If that weren’t enough, it features not one, but two, Power Ranger team-ups (the two-part “Reinforcements from the Future” and the anniversary episode “Forever Red”). After the lackluster Lost Galaxy and Lightspeed Rescue, Wild Force and its predecessor Time Force proved that the Power Rangers franchise could move beyond a simple monster-of-the-day formula and instead present a legitimately entertaining season-long narrative.