Nerdly » ‘Renegades’ Review

30th Dec2022

‘Renegades’ Review

by Kevin Haldon

Stars: Lee Majors, Louis Mandylor, Patsy Kensit, Nick Moran, Ian Ogilvy, Billy Murray, Paul Barber, Danny Trejo, Michael Paré, Stephanie Beacham, Michael Brandon, Tommy ‘Tiny’ Lister | Written by Tom Jolliffe | Directed by Daniel Zirilli

Renegades is one of those movies that on paper has all the makings of a solid direct to DVD hit. A sizeable cast of mid-tier names that you will not only know but also have a sort of nostalgic endearment toward and that’s a great thing for you guys because they do a huge service in elevating the material and hiding any problems. A story that while not exactly breaking any new ground is just this side of madcap shenanigans so that there’s a slight air of believability to its proceedings. We are talking London gangsters, low budgets and a cast and crew that doesn’t just believe in the project but are doing everything in their power to make this a must-see lower-budget indie flick and with any luck we could be talking about a sequel, maybe even franchise. Of course, this is all on paper as I said, but does it deliver?

Renegades is the story of a band of retired mercenaries living in a somewhat gangland version of London. A short while after taking in an old comrade’s son, who is living on the streets, and introducing him to his retired soldier’s circle, Carver (Lee Majors) is murdered by some local scumbags ordered by the dastardly Goram (Louis Mandylor). After the funeral our four war heroes club together their collective arsenals including a crossbow, gardening shears, an old school land mine and some wonderfully colourful one-liners before heading into all-out war on the streets that throws our Renegades balls deep into the thick of it.

Okay, let’s start with the cast because honestly speaking while Tom Jolliffe’s script is not overly strong and the dialogue can be a touch clunky at times, our core cast have managed to make it work through sheer conviction of the delivery and natural chemistry that has obviously been built over a number of years… most the cast being Brits who have no doubt worked together on numerous occasions. Even then, with each cast member revealed it kinda becomes a case of “holy shit, it’s that person” which has always been one of my favourite games. So I was happy.

Let’s kick off with our key Renegades as we have Nick Moran (Lock Stock), Billy Murray (The Bill), Ian Ogilvy (We Still Kill the Old Way) and Paul Barber (Only Fools and Horses). Four names that I know you all know, four guys that work superbly well with each other and know how to play to the other guy’s strengths.

Moran is typically taking the more serious role of the group and brings this real sense of a veteran with PTSD to the role which at times is breaking through and pretty compelling but it’s a 90-minute movie so we can’t spend too long on it which in some moments is slightly jarring as you want to understand this guy more and know why he is the way he can be. Billy Murray and Paul Barber are understandably more of the comic relief, delivering some of the best one-liners of the movie and cementing the natural chemistry of this group. Ogilvy is the Hannibal Smith of the group, level-headed but cheeky with it and is the understated glue that bonds them.

Of course, we have our ill-fated Carver played by legend Lee Majors (Six Million Dollar Man) who does a great job getting our team together laying some movie groundwork and setting the scene going forward. Supporting actor legend Danny Trejo adds Renegades to his 400+ movie filmography and is everything you want from Machete in his 3 scenes (love Trejo). Now let’s talk about the baddie of the flick, our lead Dick-Bag is Goram played by the ever-dependable Louis Mandylor. Mandylor is easily for my money the best part of this movie and manages to steal just about every scene he is in with his native Australian accent (of course this is nothing new for this criminally underrated actor).

Notable mentions to Patsy Kensit, Micheal Pare, Stephanie Beacham and Tommy Lister Jr to name a few.

You know what? I really bloody enjoyed Renegades. Sure ,at times, it’s a little bit hokey and borderlines on an action version of Grumpy Old Men but honestly the cast pull this out of the bag and turn it into an enjoyable worth-your-time watch. Daniel Zirilli is one of those directors that can make a lot with very little and here he is using gorgeous overhead shots of London, sharp editing during the action sequences to hide any constraints and a group of well-seasoned actors putting in some of their best work in a good while. Couple this with some notable names behind the scenes mostly linked with Shogun films and you have a flick that doesn’t exactly re-invent the wheel but does everything it wants to do and does it all spot on for my money.

Given everything we are working with here and the fact that we come out of this having been entertained, had a bit of a laugh and surprisingly had me wanting more from this world they have built, I am going to drop a 4 out of 5 on this one. It is by no means the best flick you will see this year but I can see what they were doing and I was impressed throughout.