Review - Power Rangers Dino Fury (2021-2022)

        Hey guys, Chuck here, and last week, I spent a lot of time watching the most recent Power Rangers series, Power Rangers Dino Fury, on Netflix. And, I have to say, it's easily one of the best written Power Rangers series I've seen in a long time. But, I'm getting ahead of myself. I'm going to do my best to break down Power Rangers Dino Fury. However, for a more comprehensive deep dive into it, head over to see the review Linkara made for Dino Fury on his YouTube channel. 

        Alright, so Power Rangers Dino Fury is set in the town of Pine Ridge, and we're introduced to Amelia Jones, a young woman working for an online media company called BuzzBlast (obviously a nod to BuzzFeed), and Ollie Alana, a tech and science enthusiast who doesn't believe in the paranormal and supernatural the way Amelia does. One day, Amelia spots Ollie and his mother checking out a famous landmark called Dinohenge, when Ollie and his mother are accosted by Park Warden Garcia. Ollie's mother goes with the Park Warden, while Amelia and Ollie witness an armored warrior entering a chamber hidden beneath Dinohenge. This is Void Knight, the villain of the first season, and he's poking around the chamber looking for creatures called Sporix. Despite the efforts of Solon, a cyborg dinosaur, and both Amelia and Ollie, as well as a Red Ranger, the Sporix get loose, and Void Knight returns to his base at an abandoned research facility called Area 62. The Red Ranger introduces himself as Zayto, one of the Knights of Rafkon, and he agrees to train Amelia and Ollie as the Pink and Blue Rangers. 

        We also learn that 65 million years ago, the Sporix were unleashed on the planet Rafkon, and many Rafkonians became nomadic, waiting for their planet to heal. Zayto landed on Earth and was placed in stasis, while his fellow Rafkonian Knights, who were made Dino Fury Power Rangers by the Morphin Masters, all seemingly fell in battle. However, with Ollie and Amelia, Zayto sees a potential second chance to end the Sporix threat for good. And, some time later, two step-siblings, Javi and Izzy Garcia, also join up as the Black and Green Rangers, respectively, after finding the black and green Dino Keys. Yeah, the various powers and Zords are accessed this time around by Dino Keys, and it's pretty cool. Something else that the Rangers do is set up a hotline for people to call in the event of a Sporix attack. The number was, at one point, actually functional and had recorded messages from the cast. It's currently defunct, but that's a really fun way to get the fans involved. 

       Now, of course, Void Knight has his crew as well, consisting of the likes of Boomtower, Slyther, and Mucus. There are also a whole slew of recurring Sporix Beasts, all of which keep coming back even after the Rangers have defeated them. And when the Sporix Beasts are destroyed, they are turned back into the Sporix. And it becomes a race to see who can recover all of the Sporix first, between the Rangers and Void Knight and his crew. Now, they could have played into a cliche of Void Knight seeking the Sporix for power. However, they decide to make his goals more noble, something different for a villain in Power Rangers. The reason that Void Knight is seeking the Sporix is to power a machine that can heal his wife, who was placed in stasis after sustaining an injury years before. And we learn that Void Knight is a humanoid alien called Tarrick, while his wife is named Santaura. 

        Oh, and I should mention the characters of Jane and J-Borg. Jane is the head of BuzzBlast, and J-Borg is a robotic assistant that helps her with everything that she does throughout the series. And let me say, these two have a lot of hilarious moments between them both. I especially loved a moment in the series where they were captains of opposing teams in a game of capture the flag which utilized Nerf guns. And there are some other fun moments as well, but I won't list them all here. 

         Some time later, a sixth Ranger, the Dino Fury Gold Ranger, is revealed. Aiyon, a fellow Knight of Rafkon, joins the Rangers after being sent by one of the Morphin Masters, Master Green, to fight a returning foe. And who is that returning foe? Lord Zedd. Yeah, that's right. Lord Zedd is back, having been revived as a clone by Reaghoul, and is unfortunately loyal to Reaghoul due to a control collar. However, the collar is destroyed and Zedd flees, seeking his staff and a new crew. Now, as big of a spoiler it was when I learned that Lord Zedd, my all-time favorite Power Rangers villain, was back, I still enjoyed his appearance. Andrew Laing did an excellent job voicing the iconic villain, taking the role over for the late Robert Axelrod. It's also at this time that we learn that Rafkonians created the Sporix, and although Aiyon disagreed with using them, citing how dangerous the Sporix were, Zayto stood by the leadership of Rafkon in using the Sporix, leading to Rafkon's demise. 

        Anyway, the first season progresses to a point in which Ollie's mother discovers a connection between the Rangers and Dinohenge, as the statues of Dinohenge are a conduit that connects to the Morphing Grid. And, of course she learns that Ollie and his friends are, in fact, the Power Rangers. Unfortunately, Void Knight attempts to use the power of the Grid to save his wife. Luckily, his plan is stopped, and Void Knight disappears. Green Master restores the statues of Dinohenge, saying the Rangers' fight isn't over. 

        After a holiday special (which was a thing for Nickelodeon), season two kicks off with the Rangers continuing to face more Sporix Beasts, and Void Knight eventually returns and collects enough Sporix to power his machine and revive Santaura. And, we learn that she's more of a threat than he was. You see, it turns out that Tarrick and Santaura had a child, one who was lost to them and they presumed had died. Blaming humanity, Santaura wants to make humankind suffer as her act of revenge, eventually using Sporix energy to transform herself into Void Queen. Tarrick, as Void Knight, tries to remain loyal, but his more noble nature eventually gives out, and he decides to instead help the Rangers against her new Sporix Beasts, giving the source of his armor, the Dino Knight Morpher and key, to Zayto. Eventually, she recaptures Tarrick and uses Sporix energy to turn him into Void King. 

        The series goes on with more Sporix Beasts, and the return of Lord Zedd, who seeks a generator located on the planet Rafkon. The Rangers try to stop him, but are unsuccessful. Zedd gets the generator, and Rafkon grows unstable and is destroyed. Green Master eventually stops Zedd, after the Rangers put up a fantastic effort, and her allies Red and Blue Master save her, taking the crystalized Zedd with them. Green Master also gives the Rangers a new weapon, the Dino Master Saber, a sword that can unleash an ultimate attack...but at the cost of the user's life. 

        Now, something that is really great about Dino Fury is that the Rangers all have character arcs that are fleshed out, follow through the whole of the series, and are well written. For example, there's Izzy's arc involving her sports, as well as her relationship with fellow athlete and classmate Fern. Yeah, Izzy and Fern are the first LGBT+ couple in the history of Power Rangers, and the writer's did a good job with them, allowing their relationship to feel natural, and not make it such a big deal. Kudos. There's also a romance that develops between Amelia and Ollie. It's another one that develops gradually, and it's pretty nice. 

       Another arc involves Javi and his father. Initially, Warden Garcia is less than enthusiastic regarding Javi's music career, but eventually he does support his son and it's pretty fun. The connections between the entire Garcia family, at the same time, is really fun, with Javi, Warden Garcia, Izzy, and her mother all having really fun family moments. 

       However, one of my favorite story arcs involves Amelia and the big mystery of her parents. You see, when she was young, Amelia's parents disappeared under mysterious circumstances, fueling her belief in the supernatural and the paranormal. Her adoptive grandfather, whom she calls Pop-Pop, is reluctant to talk about her parents or his time as a janitor at Area 62. Hmm, I wonder if there's a connection with another storyline. 

       The acting with the six Rangers is pretty good. Both Russell Curry and Jordan Fite do a decent job as Zayto and Aiyon, and their primary arc deals with Rafkon, and seeking other Rafkonians in the universe. Both Chance Perez and Kai Moya do relatively well as Javi and Ollie,. with the former being the more entertaining. However, my two favorites are Tessa Rao as Izzy and Hunter Deno as Amelia. Seriously, both of these ladies are fantastic actresses and were definitely a great addition to the cast. 

       I also thoroughly enjoyed both Jared Turner and Siobhan Marshall as Tarrick/Void King and Santaura/Void Queen. They definitely have great chemistry together, and this probably has to do with the fact that both starred in the comedy series The Almighty Johnsons together. Also, the idea of two individuals seeking revenge against humanity for a tragedy that happened to them is definitely different, and makes their motivations understandable. 

       Anyway, the second season comes to an end with a three part finale, which starts with The Invasion. In this episode, we meet Rafkonians being led by Orria. Orria explains that the Rafkonians heard Zayto's message, and initially ignored it having doubts over the possibility of a Knight of Rafkon, let alone two, having survived for 65 million years. Unfortunately, after Zedd destroyed Rafkon, Orria gave another shot at Zayto's message, and she leads her Rafkonian warriors to Earth with the plan being to supplant humankind and colonize Earth. Unfortunately, Zayto and Aiyon are unwilling to play along with this, but word gets out that multiple Sporix Beasts were unleashed by Void Queen, and the Rangers and Rafkonians needing to team up to stop the Sporix from destroying Earth the way they did to Rafkon. 

        During a standoff against a Sporix Beast, Pop-Pop is injured defending Orria, and he learns that Amelia is the Pink Ranger. Taking him to the Ranger base to heal, Amelia is told the truth that Pop-Pop had been keeping from her: when he was a janitor at Area 62, he met two aliens who were trapped and unable to escape, begging him to save their infant daughter, who turned out to be Amelia. This is picked up in the following episode, The Truth, where Amelia looks into his memories and sees he's telling the truth, and she suddenly sprouts antennae like those of the Rafkonians, meaning her parents were from Rafkon. Unfortunately, Pop-Pop doesn't know much else, but any info will be in files in a safe in Area 62. On top of that, Void Queen has taken over BuzzBlast, and is creating a massive cocoon of Sporix, which will eventually hatch in a destructive blast. So, while the Rangers and Rafkonians fight the Sporix, Amelia heads to Area 62, where she is cornered by Slyther. Luckily, the other Rangers arrive to help. After dispatching Slyther, the Rangers look around, only to be cornered by Void King. After tackling him to save her friends, Amelia sees into Tarrick's memories. Apparently, Tarrick and Santaura landed on Earth, and were taken to Area 62 to be studied, and their daughter was handed to Pop-Pop to get to safety. Meaning that Amelia's parents are none other than Tarrick and Santaura. The memory viewing goes both ways, and Void King realizes the truth, and Amelia reveals how she always kept looking for her parents. Letting go of his anger, Tarrick is released of the Sporix energy and reverts back to normal. 

       In the final episode, The Nemesis, the Rangers and Tarrick head to BuzzBlast to deal with the cocoon. Tarrick uses the Dino Knight Morpher to turn into Void Knight one final time, and he transports the cocoon into the desert to hatch safely. The Rangers follow, and we see the Nemesis Beast, a massive Sporix Beast that acts as a kind-of organic Zord piloted by Void Queen. Using their own Zords, the Rangers try to get Amelia as close to Void Queen as possible, hopeful that what she was able to do with her memory sharing ability that restored Tarrick back to normal will do the same for Santaura. The Zords put up a good fight, as do the Rangers, and Amelia tries to reach Santaura, but to no avail. So, Zayto makes the sacrifice and uses the ultimate attack with the Dino Master Saber that takes down the Nemesis Beast. Void Queen is still obsessed with revenge, but Amelia is able to reveal the truth to her, showing her desire for revenge was for a reason that didn't apply. The Nemesis Beast is destroyed, and the Sporix energy released from Santaura, restoring her to normal, and giving her, Tarrick, and Amelia a long overdue family reunion. The three Morphin Masters arrive and collect all of the inert Sporix, taking them for safekeeping, but assure the Rangers that Zayto is one with the Morphing Grid, and thus will always be with them. 

          Six months later, and the Rafkonians are preparing to make a new home in Area 62, with Pop-Pop helping with the renovations. Santaura is pregnant with Amelia's baby sister, and of course she, Tarrick, and Amelia are a happy family. Aiyon has opened up an eatery selling Rafkonian cuisine flavored for a human pallette. Izzy is graduated from high school. Mucus and Slyther have taken human form and are performing in a magic act. And Jane and J-Borg are getting ready to open a new BuzzBlast office in Angel Grove. The Rangers are called back to base, however, as a spectral figure has appeared. The Morphin Masters reconstituted Zayto to physical form and sent him with a new mission for the team: Lord Zedd has escaped. 

        So, honestly, I loved Dino Fury. It easily had some of the best writing in Power Rangers since Power Rangers in Space or maybe even Power Rangers Time Force. I think that the second season is honestly better than the first season, and I loved how they set up the connection between Amelia's story and Tarrick and Santaura's story, but still made the full reveal a genuine surprise. The idea that the main villains were out for revenge, only to be set free of their desire for vengeance upon learning their daughter still lives, is definitely different for Power Rangers, and again, big props to the acting from Hunter Deno, Jared Turner, and Siobhan Marshall for genuinely making that whole scenario work. Honestly, I really want to see more scenes with these three in the upcoming season, Power Rangers Cosmic Fury. Oh yeah, that's right. This cast of Rangers isn't done yet, as they're all set to return in the thirtieth overall season, and the third for this cast, Power Rangers Cosmic Fury. And, they're getting new Rangers suits which look awesome. 

       But, if I can be honest, I'm very confident with the creative team that Hasbro, the current owners of the Power Rangers franchise, assembled to work on Power Rangers Dino Fury. I'm giving the series a rating of 5/5, and I highly recommend checking it out on Netflix. This is Chuck signing off, and I'll see you guys next time.