After retiring from being a Power Ranger, Tommy Oliver becomes a professor of paleontology. He begins experimenting with the integration of recovered dinosaur DNA and cybernetics, because that just sounds like such a great idea that couldn't possibly go horribly wrong. His experiment ends in a very predictable disaster, creating an evil mutant named Mesogog who wants to revive the dinosaurs and destroy humanity in the process. Earth's only hope lies with three teenagers with attitude, who will join Dr. Oliver in becoming a new team of Dino Thunder Power Rangers!
Let's get this out of the way first: Tommy Oliver is back! As I mentioned back when I reviewed the original series, he is pretty much the most iconic and popular Ranger of all time, and his return is a big part of why this particular series is so beloved. Indeed, Dino Thunder has gotten a lot of praise from basically everybody and is often cited as one of, if not THE best series of the franchise. But does it deserve it?
I'll start by saying that Dino Thunder definitely feels like a worthy spiritual successor to Mighty Morphin'. In fact, I'll go one step further: Dino Thunder is what Mighty Morphin' should have been. The teenagers with attitude actually have real attitude problems and flaws. The villains never once get humiliated by ten-year-olds with water balloons. Dino Thunder perfectly captures the feel of the original series, only far more polished and basically just better in every way.
There are also a few really cool episodes, like "Fighting Spirit" where a comatose Tommy meets and battles against each of his previous Ranger personas.
Of course, this is still Power Rangers, so there are also a lot of really corny episodes, like "Game On" where the Blue Ranger gets trapped in a computer game. Still, even in these episodes the show manages to maintain a certain level of dignity. Dino Thunder can get campy, but it never gets STUPID.
All of that being said, the show has its flaws too. I mentioned in my review of Ninja Storm that the sixth ranger storylines from that show felt too rushed. While Dino Thunder's sixth ranger story takes more time, it ends up feeling just as forced. With apologies and a SPOILER WARNING beforehand, the character who becomes the white ranger finds his dino gem purely by accident and becomes evil because it was experimented on by the villains. He then has his "evil encoding" get destroyed, also purely by accident, at which point he instantly turns good and is very easily forgiven.
That right there is the biggest flaw of this series, and it isn't just with regards to the white ranger. Most of the time plot points just "happen" with little or no foreshadowing. They never really feel earned at all, and oh yeah, spoiler again - the series finale is a huge letdown compared to other finales. At least it ties up all the loose ends and gives us closure on character arcs, but it doesn't manage to feel very climactic or epic at all.
Coming in off of Wild Force and Ninja Storm I thought this would be the series to make me start enjoying Power Rangers again. Instead, this was the second time I legitimately considered breaking my promise to review the entire series and giving up.
To be fair, unlike the first time this happened (that being Alien Rangers) it's not because Dino Thunder is bad. I think it was more just series fatigue. Power Rangers is NOT the kind of show that you binge watch on Netflix, and I did take a several month hiatus at this point before coming back to finish this series and then go through the rest of the Disney series after it.
When I did come back I didn't find the show nearly as grating as the first time... but I also didn't find it particularly engaging. More polished than Mighty Morphin', sure, but it's not like that's hard to pull off. Honestly, if it weren't for Tommy Oliver I would probably have found this series to be entirely forgettable.
MEDIOCRE
| PROS: | CONS: |
| + Good blend of campy and serious. | - Major plot points just happen and never feel earned. |
| + Fewer Rangers means we get a lot of time with each one. | - As creepy as Mesogog is, he's still kind of a joke whose plans always instantly fail. |
| + Tommy Oliver is back. |
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