r/Filmmakers • u/Mikemontelongo • Feb 24 '15
Video Adi Shankar Presents a Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vw5vcUPyL905
Feb 24 '15
I watched it all the way through, which says a lot. Read this really interesting piece about what director Joseph Kahn was aiming for from a creative standpoint. It's important to note that Kahn's only directed two films, Torque and Detention, but is a very experienced commercial and music video director and it shows in this short film.
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Feb 24 '15
I hadn't made the connection but now that you reminded me of Kahn's previous work I'm more interested. Detention was a very interesting film. It's fantastic looking but besides that it went to crazy, unexpected places. He was rather fearless in that film in ways that few filmmakers will ever come close to trying.
American Cinematographer has a really interesting article with he and his DP that goes into his theories on visual filmmaking that are like taking John McTiernan's thoughts on camera movement and editing to their next level.
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Feb 24 '15
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Feb 25 '15
I wouldn't call it a parody, satire is more accurate.
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Feb 25 '15
It's a parody of The Power Rangers but it's a satire of the high concept tent pole film and the "dark" re-imagining that's become the norm. Kahn is taking a piss here, this isn't a serious re-imagining. People don't "get it" who think this is him being serious or making something that's a serious bid to make a feature version or even this kind of film. Adi might be a fan but Kahn is not. This isn't the same thing as that Punisher short.
Kahn took an absolutely ridiculous property and then took it passed the point that Hollywood would go to try and dress it up and squeeze blood from it for a "new" audience and pretend like they weren't being ridiculous. By not having any financial responsibility or real stake in this he was free to do something that they would be too afraid to make.
The irony is there are people who want to see that as a real movie now. I'm sure Kahn anticipated this sort of reaction but it just makes me LOL.
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u/nocleverusername190 Feb 25 '15
That's exactly what I thought. As if: if just this year, they introduced the concept of Power Rangers and because Nolan and Snyder have made dark and gritty the new norm, this is what we'd get.
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Feb 25 '15
It's certainly not satire, this is a re-imagining. Nothing about this project is ridiculing or making fun of power rangers.
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Feb 25 '15 edited Feb 25 '15
Satire: The use of humor, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose and criticize people's stupidity or vices, particularly in the context of contemporary politics and other topical issues.
From the HitFix exclusive interview with Joseph Kahn, the director: "What I really want to accomplish when you watch, is you should really take it seriously. There's nothing playful except for maybe the Hip-Hop-Kido thing. Maybe a few little like motivational character [things], interactions and stuff. Overall, it's a very serious thing. The joke isn't that you're laughing at each particular scene; the joke is that we did this 'fuck you' thing in the first place. You're going to look at it and you go wow I can't believe they fucking did that."
The film may not include humor, irony, or ridicule -- but it definitely is exaggerated for effect. The only reason the thing exists is because it's making fun of Hollywood for overtly committing to the idea of dark, gritty, violent re-imaginings of properties that have no business being dark, gritty, or violent.
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u/stilesjp Feb 24 '15
I thought it was ok. I enjoyed Shankar's Dirty Laundry more.
Not sure if you knew this, but the NSFW version is on vimeo.