Sandy Kenyon reviews 'Power Rangers'

NEW YORK (WABC) -- "Power Rangers" hits big screens this weekend more than 20 years after the original TV series first aired. And while the new movie is getting some attention for it's diversity and inclusiveness -- it features an LGBTQ superhero and one ranger with autism -- the reviews aren't exactly stellar.

The real work of a movie critic is sitting through bad films, and this one is a real salary earner. You want to stay away from the worst, and "Power Rangers" is definitely in that category. After all, how can you enjoy a movie that makes fans wait 90 minutes before they all get into their suits?

Bill Hader is adorable as a robot and Bryan Cranston kind of amusing as a guy stuck in a wall while trying to mentor the misfit teens, but it's a mystery as to how this group of charisma-challenged kids were chosen to play heroes.

The plot will be familiar to anyone who grew up watching the series, with the outsiders finding themselves in the same place at the same time for a reason.

The high schoolers are unlikely superheroes, all the better to battle Elizabeth Banks, who is almost unrecognizable as Rita Repulsa and the movie's one saving grace.

One ranger is gay and another has autism, but that winds up being besides the point, which is as unclear as the way this movie was shot. It appears more like a student film than a $100 million Hollywood production.

It represents all that is wrong with mass market movie making -- taking an old franchise that doesn't deserve to be revived, then spending a fortune to make a picture that's tired and boring and not even well crafted.