Renegades

This film came as close to me giving a film 1/10 as I've ever been, it's truly appalling. The writing is truly terrible and people who produce this standard of story content have no business writing anything. They clearly are just not ready or talented enough to produce anything for public consumption.

I would be hard pressed to let friends or family litmus test anything this bad, and I'm not saying this to be cute. The writing is simply atrocious, and but for the standards that have slithered below sea level in the past few years as independant films become more easily and cheaply produced, this film would never have been made.

However! Even the writing bad as it is cannot compete with the direction which defines a new level in incompetence and ineptitude. It's actually quite something that direction can be so misguided that it can even make reasonably competent actors look like they're performing in their first grade school play.

There is little point in going into detail on any other aspect of the film since the fundamentals are so underwhelming, but suffice to say, this films stinks.

I know people tend to say flippant things like 'worst film I've ever watched' etc, with movies they dislike and I can for once understand the sentiment. Truthfully, I've seen many worse films, but this IS the worst film I've seen in 2022 which is some accolade.

Really, all the marks I give for this are based around the fact it contains some people that I've always liked. Ian Ogilvy, Lee Majors, Danny Trejo, Paul Barber, etc. And in essence, I have seen a lot worse films, but if you're expecting too much, you're in for disappointment. The plot is net curtain thin, the b part actors and henchmen are really pretty awful and the editing and dialog are pretty poor at times. Also, the lady who played the investigating police officer called Moore was really awful, plus she looked like maybe she was made up to look really odd, maybe it was the intention of the film as I can't imagine anyone would choose to have things done to make them look like that on purpose.

However, in the end, it provided a basic level of entertainment and there was a element of fun, so if you're caught short for something to watch, there are worse things out there........probably....... somewhere..........with a bit of a search.

If you've nothing better to be doing & want to watch something that won't tax your brain, this is watchable.

The dialogue is pretty bad, there are some lines that make you cringe.

The acting is so-so. In the style of a made-for-tv movie.

The characters aren't very good. The bad guys are pulled straight from the pages of school of economy bad-guys. Other characters don't appear to have had much thought in how they're going to present on screen. The cops for a start are just plain terrible!

I watched this with a wink wink as to how bad it was going to be. It's not dire, but it's only just about Good. Ish....

The entire production felt geriatric; from the cliched 80's story, to the cheesy dated dialogue and poor attempts at humor. The directing by seasoned director Daniel Zirilli was horrid and very amateurish. I've seen better directing from first-time filmmakers. The entire film had zero urgency and just trotted along from scene to scene - of which also had terrible transitions from just as bad editing. The score was just too constant and annoying. You'd think having two writers at least one could come up with something original and unexpected, but instead, it was all cliched, done many times before - much better, and fully predictable. At least the cast actually seemed like they were enjoying themselves constantly downing pints, and hopefully Majors and Trejo at least got a free trip to the UK for this underwhelming production. However some of the secondary cast did seem like they needed better cast-direction, of which Zirilli failed to give. And Jeanine Nerissa Sothcott as detective Moore needs to chill with the duck-lips botox, that's just cringe to look at. It was also funny to see Tom Lister Jr. Literally call his lines in. You wont miss anything passing on this film, even if you're a fan of Trejo, Majors or Mandylor.

Right, well I have to say that I wasn't really expecting a whole lot from the 2022 action crime thriller "Renegades" as I sat down to watch it. But I figured that with the rather interesting cast ensemble that was in the movie, then there might actually be a chance that this could turn out as a good movie.

And I have to say that writers Tom Jolliffe and Jonathan Sothcott definitely were on to something here with the script that they had put together for director Daniel Zirilli to bring to the screen. But it was just a shame that director Daniel Zirilli botched the opportunity that was readily served at his disposal.

The storyline had some good aspects to it, but the movie felt clumsy and sluggish. It was partly an insanely wooden, rigid and awkward dialogue that was shunting the movie's momentum. Well, that and also the fact that the action sequences didn't really feel particularly dynamic and fluid.

I was especially taken aback with the delivery of the dialogue and the general lack of enthusiasm, commitment and commitment from the cast in general. It just took away so much from the movie. It was as if the actors themselves didn't buy into the subpar script they had to work with.

"Renegades" definitely had a great cast ensemble, with the likes of Lee Majors, Michael Paré, Louis Mandylor, Nick Moran, Tom Lister Jr., Ian Ogilvy and Danny Trejo on the cast list. Of all these talents, it felt like only Lee Majors and Louis Mandylor were actively putting in an effort into their characters and trying to make something of the movie. Personally I don't understand why they opt to put the surgically altered and silicone enhanced performers in movies, and there was one such individual in this movie here, and the alterations done to her face just ruined every scene that she was in, because it was so difficult to take her serious as an officer of the police force.

The action sequences in the movie weren't particularly exciting. And an action crime thriller should be packed with thrilling and adrenaline-packed action sequences. Sadly such things were not present in "Renegades". Sure, there were some action sequences, but they were pretty much ruined by some dubious special effects for the shots from weapon, explosions and such.

For an action crime thriller then "Renegades" was a flaccid addition to the genre. The movie brought nothing new to the genre, nor was it particularly outstanding or thrilling. So it was a rather bland and mediocre viewing experience to sit through. I did manage to sit through the entire movie, but believe you me when I say that I am never returning to watch "Renegades" a second time.

My rating of director Daniel Zirilli's 2022 action crime thriller "Renegades" lands on a three out of ten stars.