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POWER RANGERS DINO FURY (2021-23)
Adapted from Kishiryu Sentai Ryusoulger and Uchu Sentai Kyuranger
Hasbro Era
It began in the 1990's when the Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers exploded onto the scene with their Dinozords. The most popular Ranger of that team would return in the 2000's to mentor a new generation with Power Rangers Dino Thunder. We travelled to another dimension in the 2010's to see the battles of the Power Rangers Dino Charge. Which brings us to the 2020's with Power Rangers Dino Fury. It's very clear the franchise loves dinosaurs, and it feels very fitting that the continuity that started over 30 years ago has seemed to have reached its conclusion...for real this time. In terms of execution, they went out on a high note and delivered the best entry in the franchise since Dino Charge and even exceeds that.
I should start by pointing out that I probably technically should be doing separate posts for Dino Fury and its third season, Cosmic Fury. Much like Mighty Morphin' did, this series goes past its own source material from Super Sentai and incorporates elements from an additional Sentai. The difference though is that while Mighty Morphin' built upon each season with how they mixed their Sentai roots, Cosmic Fury does feel like its own entity, especially since the villains Dino Fury started with were dealt with and a mostly new batch were introduced as the main threat. However, since I grouped all of Mighty Morphin' together back when I ranked every season up to Megaforce, I'm choosing to do the same when talking about Dino Fury and Cosmic Fury. Not only do characters and plotlines carry over, but the dinosaur motif for the Ranger outfits remains despite the change in the zords. So I may use Dino Fury as a whole unless specified.
And before I get into the meat of the series, I need to be picky about a few creative choices.
* "Dino Knights" (and by extension "Cosmic Knights") was right there when coming up with a team name since those were the main motifs for Ryusoulger. Apparently, that was an initial choice but Hasbro saw "Dino Fury" as more marketable.
* The theme song for Dino Fury is just as lazy as Beast Morphers', but thankfully more effort was put into Cosmic Fury where it feels like a more proper Power Rangers theme.
* The morphing call (if you can call it that) is the most boring one I can remember. They were basically just announcing their actions for the process. Granted, flipping their power orb into their Cosmic Fury morphers was a cool move.
And before I get into the meat of the series, I need to be picky about a few creative choices.
* "Dino Knights" (and by extension "Cosmic Knights") was right there when coming up with a team name since those were the main motifs for Ryusoulger. Apparently, that was an initial choice but Hasbro saw "Dino Fury" as more marketable.
* The theme song for Dino Fury is just as lazy as Beast Morphers', but thankfully more effort was put into Cosmic Fury where it feels like a more proper Power Rangers theme.
* The morphing call (if you can call it that) is the most boring one I can remember. They were basically just announcing their actions for the process. Granted, flipping their power orb into their Cosmic Fury morphers was a cool move.
The team building method was very similar to In Space (and I'll be making a lot of comparisons to that season in this post). We have an alien Red Ranger (Zayto) who's joined by Earthlings who take up the Ranger powers from his lost teammates and then later by a sixth Ranger from the previous team (Gold Ranger Aiyon) who was believed to be lost. Along with the aliens getting used to Earth customs, the other Rangers have good characters that bounce well off of each other. Pink Ranger Amelia Jones (I think someone on the writing staff was a Doctor Who fan) is openminded to the supernatural and paranormal while Blue Ranger Ollie is very scientific and always tries to find a logical explanation to situations; and in true "opposites attract", the two eventually become a couple and it happens naturally. The Garcia siblings also contrast in their interests with Black Ranger Javi being a musician and Green Ranger Izzy being a track star.
In Cosmic Fury, we see Amelia promoted to Red Ranger, the first female to wear the color in a main character capacity. While there were moments as the Pink Ranger that showed her leadership potential, Amelia really stepped up to keep the team motivated after Zayto goes missing in space and the Dino Fury powers are destroyed. With the creation of the Cosmic Fury powers, the Morphing Grid makes her red, a decision everyone assures her is earned.
In one episode of Dino Fury and a majority of Cosmic Fury, Ollie is turned evil/corrupted into working with the villains. Ollie's actor Kai Moya does a good job in playing a bad guy, with his initial superiority complex working well to make it feel natural compared to other times in the franchise where Rangers would get put under an evil spell and it would be so over the top (with some exceptions). Seriously, if Ollie hadn't joined the Rangers, he may have gone full Lex Luthor.
In Cosmic Fury, we see Amelia promoted to Red Ranger, the first female to wear the color in a main character capacity. While there were moments as the Pink Ranger that showed her leadership potential, Amelia really stepped up to keep the team motivated after Zayto goes missing in space and the Dino Fury powers are destroyed. With the creation of the Cosmic Fury powers, the Morphing Grid makes her red, a decision everyone assures her is earned.
In one episode of Dino Fury and a majority of Cosmic Fury, Ollie is turned evil/corrupted into working with the villains. Ollie's actor Kai Moya does a good job in playing a bad guy, with his initial superiority complex working well to make it feel natural compared to other times in the franchise where Rangers would get put under an evil spell and it would be so over the top (with some exceptions). Seriously, if Ollie hadn't joined the Rangers, he may have gone full Lex Luthor.
While all the Rangers are enjoyable to watch, I'd say my favorite is Javi. From his first appearance, he just has this natural likability and sincerity that reminded me of Adam.
Like Beast Morphers, Dino Fury has a lot of callbacks to Power Rangers history, with appearances by characters from past seasons, easter eggs, and direct clips/flashbacks. The most prominent example is Billy returning as the Mighty Morphin' Blue Ranger in a main character spot for Cosmic Fury. Compared to how Beast Morphers felt bogged down by this though, I think it makes more sense for Dino Fury to do this given its status as the final entry in the series and celebrating the 30th anniversary. And while many tropes the franchise is known for are present, the writing for Dino Fury is done so well that you can overlook them. There's a good balance of fun and drama with plenty of feel-good moments between the characters.
Much like with In Space and RPM, Dino Fury was being treated as the end of the series before it became official so it had a little extra effort put in. The move to Netflix beginning with season two helped with this, lifting some restrictions they may have had on a cable channel like Nickelodeon. It's still family friendly, but I found some of the language and violent imagery a little suggestive compared to what we've seen before with Power Rangers. The biggest example of this is Javi losing an arm activating the Cosmic Fury Zords while under fire from the enemy. We've seen Rangers die and come back (hell, it happens to Zayto twice), but seeing a Ranger maimed like that was pretty shocking.
While Dino Fury has a traditional Power Rangers tone, Cosmic Fury takes things in a darker direction much like In Space did to what came before, particularly in the beginning with the villains having the Rangers on the run after destroying their powers. It especially does well in capturing the tone of In Space's two-part finale "Countdown to Destruction", something Megaforce tried and failed to do. And on that note, when a character from the past says something along the lines of being honored to work with the Dino Fury Rangers, it doesn't feel forced.
While Dino Fury has a traditional Power Rangers tone, Cosmic Fury takes things in a darker direction much like In Space did to what came before, particularly in the beginning with the villains having the Rangers on the run after destroying their powers. It especially does well in capturing the tone of In Space's two-part finale "Countdown to Destruction", something Megaforce tried and failed to do. And on that note, when a character from the past says something along the lines of being honored to work with the Dino Fury Rangers, it doesn't feel forced.
It's worth noting these are probably the most progressive years for the franchise. We have a character with an intellectual disability in Javi and Izzy's cousin Lily, who has CHARGE syndrome. I really liked that they don't make a big deal about it; she's happy with who she is and always wanting to help her family and others. And of course, we have a major milestone with our first LGBTQ+ Ranger in Izzy, with her girlfriend Fern joining the team in Cosmic Fury as the Orange Ranger. Their relationship feels as organic as other prominent ones in the franchise; love is love, people.
The main source of comedic relief are the Rangers' boss at the Buzzfeed like company they work/hang out at, Jane, and her android assistant J-Borg. Most of the time, their antics don't play much into the main plot, similar to Bulk and Spike's bits in Samurai. They actually kind of reminded me of the Mads from Mystery Science Theater 3000. That being said though, I like that Jane isn't a mean boss or an idiot where the slapstick feels deserved. She's genuinely a good if silly boss who knows how to run a business and wants everyone to have fun too.
The main villain at the beginning of the series is Tarrick, the Void Knight. His motivation is very much like Mr. Freeze, wanting to revive his cryogenically frozen wife Santaura using the power of the Sporix beasts (the name for the monsters of the day); it's actually kind of cool to see a villain not motivated by power or revenge. Though he does succeed in reviving her, Santaura's ambition outshines Tarrick's as she wants to destroy humanity for the pain they've endured on Earth. She uses more Sporix energy to transform into the Void Queen and brainwashes Tarrick to obey her after he attempts to work with the Rangers to stop her violent crusade. There's also a twist in their identities that I won't spoil here. You can see it coming if you're paying attention to the clues but I like that it's not telegraphed, being done in a way where the reveal moment is still impactful.
Along with robot generals the Voids build to aid them, they're also assisted by a Sporix beast named Mucus through the series. She reminds me a bit of Harley Quinn when she first appeared in Batman: The Animated Series, silly but wanting to earn her boss's respect. She was a fun character to me.
Much like Venjix in Beast Morphers, we have the return of another main villain from the past in a prominent capacity: Lord Zedd. After having his evil essence resurrected by a Sporix beast and placed under its control, Zedd breaks free and escapes to plot. He would return for a multi-episode arc in season two and become the main villain for Cosmic Fury. Bringing Zedd back was a great move in my opinion, especially when you see the significance of the first American-made villain being the series' final boss. The threat of Zedd is sold well, that despite all the villains that came after him, he's still a force to be reckoned with. Zedd's original voice actor, Robert Axelrod, unfortunately passed away in 2019, so Zedd's voice would be provided by Andrew Laing in Dino Fury and Fred Tatasciore in Cosmic Fury. While it would be impossible to match Axelrod's menacing tone, both Laing and Tatasciore give their all in trying to recreate it, even if the voice filter can feel off sometimes.
While Zedd is assisted by a new set of villain in Cosmic Fury, I really don't have much to say about them. Considering Cosmic Fury only had ten episodes, they honestly didn't have much impact on me compared to the forty-plus we had with the Voids and Sporix.
Along with robot generals the Voids build to aid them, they're also assisted by a Sporix beast named Mucus through the series. She reminds me a bit of Harley Quinn when she first appeared in Batman: The Animated Series, silly but wanting to earn her boss's respect. She was a fun character to me.
Much like Venjix in Beast Morphers, we have the return of another main villain from the past in a prominent capacity: Lord Zedd. After having his evil essence resurrected by a Sporix beast and placed under its control, Zedd breaks free and escapes to plot. He would return for a multi-episode arc in season two and become the main villain for Cosmic Fury. Bringing Zedd back was a great move in my opinion, especially when you see the significance of the first American-made villain being the series' final boss. The threat of Zedd is sold well, that despite all the villains that came after him, he's still a force to be reckoned with. Zedd's original voice actor, Robert Axelrod, unfortunately passed away in 2019, so Zedd's voice would be provided by Andrew Laing in Dino Fury and Fred Tatasciore in Cosmic Fury. While it would be impossible to match Axelrod's menacing tone, both Laing and Tatasciore give their all in trying to recreate it, even if the voice filter can feel off sometimes.
While Zedd is assisted by a new set of villain in Cosmic Fury, I really don't have much to say about them. Considering Cosmic Fury only had ten episodes, they honestly didn't have much impact on me compared to the forty-plus we had with the Voids and Sporix.
Overall, Dino Fury succeeds in its own right, as an anniversary season, and as the conclusion to the continuity that began with Mighty Morphin'. I've had a wild run with this show. I started watching as a kid, fell out of it, came back and nearly gave up a couple times. Power Rangers has endured for three decades and it's hard to believe it's finally reached its end.
True, Netflix is rebooting the franchise with a 2025 target date, but between the end of the Toei partnership and moving production out of New Zealand where they've filmed since Ninja Storm, it's truly the end of an era. It's tough to say whether they'll redo Mighty Morphin' like the 2017 film did or if they'll do an entirely original premise independent from Super Sentai. I'll have to wait for more info on it and see if it piques my interest.
Before I leave my final seasons rankings, to my fellow Ranger fans who've been along for any part of the journey the last thirty years, may the power protect you.
Before I leave my final seasons rankings, to my fellow Ranger fans who've been along for any part of the journey the last thirty years, may the power protect you.
My Rankings of Power Rangers Seasons:
11. Dino Fury
