By guest contributor Chris Ward
Featuring an all-star cast of familiar household names – well, they were household names thirty years ago – Renegades is a British revenge thriller that sees a group of former soldiers take to the streets of London to get revenge for the murder of former Green Beret Carver (Lee Majors), who was brutally beaten to death in the street by members of a gang of drug dealers all working for Goram (Louis Mandylor).
Carver’s daughter Judy (Patsy Kensit) is a local politician and has vowed to clean up these streets, which drug dealers don’t tend to like, and because her father put the strong arm on Goram and paid the price, Carver’s friends and former soldiers Burton (Nick Moran), Harris (Paul Barber), Woody (Billy Murray) and Peck (Ian Ogilvy) set about doing that very thing for her, only not in a very legal way. With a little help from the mysterious Sanchez (Danny Trejo), and the police always two steps behind what is going on, the streets of London are awash with (CGI) blood as the aging vigilantes use their old skills to take out a villain who doesn’t seem too keen on keeping a low profile.
Okay, so Renegades is ridiculous but just look at that cast. Along with other familiar faces such as Stephanie Beacham, Tom ‘Tiny’ Lister (in his final role before his untimely death), Michael Brandon, Michael Paré and Jeanine Nerissa Sothcott, you could say that it is just The Expendables on a (very tight) budget, with a few Brit TV names and a couple of token Americans thrown in, and you’d be right but there is nothing wrong with that when the cast are as up for it as this bunch, and you cannot help yourself but smile as Paul Barber – best known as Denzil in Only Fools & Horses – struggles to work out how to use his phone when trying to snap one of Goram’s gang; bear in mind, in the previous scene, when the gang of pensioners were gathering together what weapons they had, it was he who produced a hand grenade and a claymore from his duffel bag, so not a man to be messed with, despite his doddery persona.
Over the past few years there has been a growing theme of ‘old people doing silly things to prove they’re still relevant’ movies, such as Space Cowboys, Red, Last Vegas and Rambo: Last Blood (well, it sort of fits), and Danny Trejo himself has joined in the fun with his Bad Ass movies, during which there is a dropped line about being retired from The Expendables, and given his role here is to give Ian Ogilvy information on Goram’s gang – despite the fact that Trejo is clearly not sat at the same table as Ian Ogilvy and is talking to a fake shemp (pay attention to those camera angles and quick edits) – it is possible that there is a shared universe for Sanchez and his unlimited knowledge of everybody in every drugs gang the world over. Despite some clever camera trickery, Trejo is a welcome presence and, along with Ian Ogilvy, give the film some – only some – weight in the credibility department as they clearly seem to know exactly what film they are making and adjust their tone accordingly.
For their part, Paul Barber and Billy Murray seem to be enjoying themselves, but Nick Moran seems to be a little all over the place, his cheeky one-liners all hitting but he offsets those with some dour exchanges with Patsy Kensit, who is taking this all far too seriously – yes, we know she is supposed to be a grieving daughter but, honestly, who wouldn’t laugh at Louis Mandylor and his seemingly endless appetite for chewing scenery? – and the members of Goram’s gang have all the enthusiasm and acting range of some geezers who have just watched a Guy Ritchie movie and thought they’d have a go themselves. Which leaves Jeanine Nerissa Sothcott and Stephanie Beacham to pick up the slack, which they don’t really.
Overall, Renegades is a very enjoyable movie but possibly not for the reasons the filmmakers want you to find it enjoyable, because it is very easy to laugh at it rather than with it. Silly story aside, when our heroes do tool up and go on the rampage it is difficult not to root for them and go along for the ride, and there is plenty of violence in the final act to make it worth sticking with for those who need a fix of gritty action, but the CGI blood and pop gun sound effects do take away the seriousness of what is actually happening onscreen. Nevertheless, a movie that is essentially a mash-up of The Expendables, Death Wish and every Cockney geezer crime movie you have ever seen doesn’t really need to be analysed when it comes to all the technicalities, and if nothing else you will now have a new post-pub favourite to put on and impress your mates with, until the inevitable (and telegraphed) sequel comes along. Just imagine who they’ll dig up for that one…