REVIEW: Power Rangers Cosmic Fury
“Cosmic Fury is a concentrated blast of everything you loved about Dino Fury, while stripping away some of the things that bogged the previous two seasons.”
It’s been over thirteen months since Hasbro first officially announced Power Rangers Cosmic Fury on National Power Rangers Day 2022. Who could forget the infamous accidental 1:00am tweet during the last Power Morphicon before the cast left to film in New Zealand again?
Since then, a fervent anticipation for this season has gripped the fanbase, ready to pounce on every scrap of behind the scenes information, tweets from executive producer Simon Bennett, trickles of official information from Hasbro press or unofficial leaks.
Now that Cosmic Fury is here, does it live up to the hype? For me, the answer is yes… mostly.
Overall, I enjoyed Power Rangers Dino Fury Seasons 1 and 2. The main characters were all very endearing, even secondary characters like Jane, J-Borg, Tarrick and Pop Pop, among others. All of that was possible thanks to the hard work of the creative team; writers and actors whose comrade and passion shined a little more than past seasons.
Both Dino Fury seasons also included past season cameos (like Kelson Henderson’s Mick Kanic, Campbell Cooley’s Scrozzle or Lord Zedd in Dino Fury season two), easter eggs and references (J-Borg is a Hartford Robotics android, a nod to Operation Overdrive) for long time fans. Cosmic Fury is a concentrated blast of everything you loved about Dino Fury, while stripping away some of the things that bogged the previous two seasons.
CAST (Left to Right): Jordon Fite (Aiyon); Tessa Rao (Izzy Garcia); Kai Moya (Ollie Akana); Hunter Deno (Amelia Jones); Russell Curry (Zayto); and Chance Perez (Javi Garcia). Not pictured: Jacqueline Joe (Fern) and David Yost (Mighty Morphin Blue Ranger/Billy Cranston).
This third season only works based on the solid foundation built on the shoulders of the previous two. Since all of the main cast has been established over the past forty-four episodes, this leaves room to introduce new villains of the season Bajillia Naire and her daughter Squillia Shar Livia Naire of Squid Ink, Inc. Bajillia and Squillia are very fun characters that are a not-so-subtle commentary on contemporary corporate and influencer culture and are the perfect villains to scheme alongside Lord Zedd.
From the various trailers, press releases and articles, Mick Kanic (Ninja Steel, Dino Fury) and Billy Cranston do indeed return for this season. Without spoiling anything, both have many great moments throughout the season. Especially Billy, who feels like a better representation of the character than in MMPR: Once & Always. Granted, Billy was in a stressful situation after the loss of Trini and obsession to pursue Robo Rita for a year. However, in Cosmic Fury, Billy feels like the natural 30-year extension from the genius we knew from Mighty Morphin Power Rangers and Zeo.
Stripped away from the previous two seasons, and the past ten years frankly, are the more heavy handed “lesson of the week” morals and are replaced with multi-episode conflicts that build and resolve naturally for many characters and pairings to varying degrees of success. Conversations and resolutions are fleshed out and the dialogue feels less stilted. Also gone are the wacky hi-jinks B-plots from characters like Jane and J-Borg… mostly. They are still in the show, and funny as ever, but only as much as the story allows in the season-long crisis. And the crisis is about as universe ending in Power Rangers as it gets, It might sound dire as a final(?) season of the current status quo… but there are still empowering, funny and heartwarming moments throughout Cosmic Fury.
From Power Rangers Cosmic Fury Episode 3 “Off Grid”. Hunter Deno as Amelia in Power Rangers Cosmic Fury. Cr. NETFLIX © 2023
The first three episodes of Cosmic Fury are the perfect beginning to the season, with the first episode (“Lightning Strikes”) starting literally moments after season two’s cliffhanger ending. The Netflix bingeing format works for Cosmic Fury, as the season has a clear beginning (Episodes 1-3), middle (Episodes 4-6) and end (Episodes 7-10). My advice would be to skip the intros in your first watchthrough if you want to go in as spoiler-free as possible to capture the excitement of the surprises and twists in store (if that’s even possible at this point…). Also, watch in those previously listed blocks if you need a break between arcs this weekend.
By the end, Cosmic Fury actually made me wish for just a couple more episodes to spend with this team. Or at the very least, some extended scenes, like a full team roll call in the style of the one seen in Episode 4 “Team Work”. This is just a small gripe after four complete watchthroughs of the season over the course of the month. When watching Cosmic Fury for my first time… I was hooked. It made me feel as excited as I was thirty years ago watching Mighty Morphin Power Rangers.
From Power Rangers Cosmic Fury Episode 4 “Team Work”. (L-R) Tessa Rao as Izzy, Jordon Fite as Aiyon, Hunter Deno as Amelia, and Chance Perez as Javi in Power Rangers Cosmic Fury. Cr. NETFLIX © 2023
With Power Rangers officially ending production in New Zealand after twenty years, I want to thank all of the cast and crew who kept the power going throughout that time. Power Rangers Cosmic Fury is the culmination of writing, direction, cinematography, stunts, prop, costume and set design when the restrictions of network television feel like they are gone (or at least… previous corporate mandates).
Overall, Cosmic Fury is a tight ten-episode series that cuts the fat from a traditional Power Rangers season, but still keeps the charm, action and wild production history unique to the franchise as a whole and is a fitting end(?) to this thirty-year saga.
I give Power Rangers Cosmic Fury an 8/10.
A huge thank you to the team at Hasbro, eOne and Netflix for providing RCPH with a press screener earlier this month. Power Rangers: Cosmic Fury premieres globally on Netflix this Friday, September 29th. Stay tuned for our upcoming (spoiler full) podcast reviews for the first and second halves of the series.
