Get ready to smash with the new 'Breakfast Club' (aka 'Power Rangers')

It’s morphin’ time — the Power Rangers reboot quickly morphs into a predictable but enjoyable family adventure.

Based off of the hit TV show “Mighty Morphin Power Rangers,” the movie centers around five teenagers whose lives are forever changed when they stumble upon some mysterious power coins — each of them a different color.

Soon after, they find themselves infused with superhuman strength and other incredible abilities.

However, their newfound powers come with a great task — defend earth from the evil Rita Repulsa (Elizabeth Banks), the former Green Ranger who lost her way.

The movie stays mostly true to the concept of the original series, although there were a few missteps.

One might think this is a coming-of-age story. After all, we’re introduced to some of the Power Rangers in detention, “The Breakfast Club” style.

Jason (Dacre Montgomery), the star quarterback of Angel Grove High School, pulls a stupid prank that lands him in hot water — with the school and the police. And yet he’s supposed to be the leader, the Red Ranger.

Billy (RJ Cyler), the Blue Ranger, lands himself in detention for blowing up his locker. Despite being quite intelligent, a lot of his mannerisms and commentary lends himself to being most of the film’s comic relief.

Kimberly (Naomi Scott), the Pink Ranger, is a popular girl with a mean streak. But after losing some friends, she sets out to change herself for the better.

Zack (Ludi Lin), the Black Ranger, plays the role of the cool boy — wild, crazy and reckless. However, he appears to have a soft streak in him when it’s revealed he’s taking care of his dying mother.

Trini (Becky G.), the Yellow Ranger, is easily the loner of the group. She keeps to herself whenever possible, and it all goes back to some deep underlying issues with her family.

One of the film’s strengths is making its core characters relatable, giving them more depth than in the previous incarnations of the series. From society’s views, they’re all outcasts in some way, and that helps modernizes the film for today’s audiences.

However, they don’t really seem to mature by the end of the film. They learn the power of teamwork, but that’s pretty much it.

Which, to be fair, they’re still teenagers. It’ll take a few sequels to actually see maturity in terms of character development. You can only do so much in a two-hour movie.

Another misstep of the film was how long it took for the real action to take place. It’s understandable that the film took the first half of the movie to set up the story and develop the characters, but it did so at a detriment.

The Rangers’ armored suits — an important mainstay of the series — don’t appear until the last 30 minutes of the movie.

It’s kind of hard to build upon a brand that relies so heavily on the suits when the suits aren’t really even in the film very often.

From then on, the film takes a predictable route in terms of the action-packed battle between the Rangers and Rita Repulsa.

The action was good, but it left a lot to be desired.

A highlight of the film, however, is Banks’ portrayal of the intergalactic villain. It was a smart move on Banks’ part to play Rita in such a campy way — ridiculous and over-the-top — than rather a serious one.

After all, the idea of Power Rangers is already cheesy enough.

With the Rangers tasked with the very serious role of protecting earth, any more seriousness would undermine the whole concept of the film.

Despite the film’s few mistakes, Power Rangers is an entertaining movie for fans of the original series and new fans alike.

It has enough heart, comedy and action to morph your day into an intergalactic smash.

@adamphan_

swerve@dailytarheel.com