New DVD releases this week feature heroes that come in a variety of shapes and sizes.
• “Power Rangers”: None of the numerous incarnations of the colorfully clad super heroes series from Saban Entertainment were known for good acting, writing or special effects. Each one survived on a campy and cheesy quality that translated into mindless entertainment.
Now that the franchise has moved to the big screen, the campy humor has been replaced by an attempt to make the story more like a teen angst production such as “The Hunger Games.” That works when the film focuses on a group of students who become costumed heroes. Where it fails so miserably is with the central villain of Rita Repulsa (Elizabeth Banks).
Banks chews up so much scenery and plays each scene so over the top that she makes the laughable work in the TV shows look like Emmy-caliber acting.
• “Bunnicula”: The animated series based on the best-selling books by Deborah and James Howe looks at what happens when Mina (Kari Wahlgren), a 13-year-old girl, gets a new pet — a vampire rabbit. When Bunnicula isn’t fighting some weird creature, he’s sucking the juice out of vegetables.
Bunnicula (Chris Kattan) makes life miserable for Mina’s cat, Chester (Sean Astin), who must also put up with Harold (Brian Kimmet), a ditzy dog. The show revolves around the trio getting in and out of trouble while the teen is unaware of what is happening.
• “T2 Trainspotting”: It’s rare that there can be a gap of more than two decades between a film and its sequel and the long wait isn’t a problem. “Transpotting” was so original when it was released 21 years ago that the characters ended up being unforgettable.
Even if you don’t know Mark Renton (Ewan McGregor), Spud (Ewen Bremmer), Begbie (Robert Carlyle) and Simon (Jonny Lee Miller), it doesn’t take long to catch on to how this is a story of longtime mates who ended up going in different directions two decades ago. Those who have seen the original will be able to fully appreciate the weird humorous connections between the buddies.
If anything, the sequel shows more maturity than the original. A lot of that is the result of the players being older. Despite their growth, director Danny Boyle keeps taking these four guys back to the oddball elements that originally made them endearing enough to be remembered all these years later.
• “CHIPS”: It’s not often that one person does as many things wrong in a single movie as Dax Shepard has done with this film. Shephard’s script has fewer laughs than a eulogy, the direction looks like he slept late and the crew just rolled cameras, and his performance is lazy, bland and boring.
His idea of a fun script is to have Miami-based FBI agent Frank “Ponch” Poncherello (Michael Pena) get sent to Los Angeles to go undercover with the California Highway Patrol. Poncherello’s partner is Jon Baker (Shepard), a rookie who can ride a motorcycle with great skill but can do little else.
