[MagiRed]

Well...here it is...I've finally watched episodes 1 and 2 of Dino Thunder for the first time in almost ten years. And...it has flaws, but I still LOVE this season to death. I would dare say that it's better than MMPR, but I'm going to wait until I get past season 2/up to the Alien Ranger mini series and the end of Dino Thunder to make my judgement.

It does have flaws, yes...Connor is much harder to like at the beginning of the show, coming off as kind of an ass at times. And the robo T-rex in episode one could have been made to look much more convincing. Though, it's fun to imagine Tommy have some serious deja vu from his says as Rita's Green Ranger. I'm also annoyed that Zeltrax has that cliched evil laugh TWICE towards the end of episode two, much like how it annoyed me that Koragg had one too many cliche evil laughs that Wolzard never had to utter...Wolzard is more intimidating and overall better than Koragg, but that's another story for another day.

What it did get right was pulled off very well for my tastes and so far, it still holds up. The acting and effort is SO much better than the likes of Samurai and Megaforce now. I especially like the original troops designs much better than the Abaranger goons and the slight resemblance in the opening to Abaranger. The team's mentor and future black ranger running away from the season's bad guys, leading in to later events and the debut of the new rangers.

As much fun as people make of Tommy having perhaps one too many roles in other Power Rangers seasons, here, it just feels right to have him on as the mentor and a team ranger later on.

One more thing that suffers in this premiere is the rushed treatment of the taming of the Zords. It took much longer in Abaranger and felt more dramatic and concerning in Abaranger, though there was little development for the characters at first. The issue seems reversed here with more emphasis on character introductions and little time to actually tame the Zords and make a true sense of dread and worry.

The music is also one place where Power Rangers beats Super Sentai, in my opinion. The theme song is much better suited for action scenes, especially the instrumental for Megazord finishers than the music used in Abaranger. It's just more exciting and catchy, if you ask me.

Overall, it has it's flaws, but I still love Dino Thunder for what it is and regard it as one of the better seasons of Power Rangers, as well as a MUCH superior tribute to MMPR than Megaforce is. I look forward to talking more about it as I go through the other 36 episodes of the season.