In Macbeth, Shakespeare speaks of a love that sometimes seems troublesome, yet we accept it because it is love. We had the same feeling while watching “Renegades.” Sometimes, we find the love of our grandparents irritating, but we forgive it and accept it because, after all, it is love. In the same way, although we may not want to watch “Renegades,” we see it to the end because of the all-guns-blazing elderly guys who are of the same age as our grandparents. They are the only new thing in this film that gives us minor, if not major, “Expendables” vibes if you think about it. Experience with age and the swagger when the former two characteristics combine to uplift the latter. All in all, “Renegades” is a one-time watch, and that too because we love to see grandpas with guns.
Spoilers Ahead
‘Renegades’ Plot Synopsis: What Happens In The Film?
Former US Army soldier Carl Burton (Nick Moran) has been spending his days living on the streets of London. One day, after visiting his father’s grave, he meets his father’s friend Major Carver (Lee Majors), who offers him a place to stay. Carver then takes Burton to meet his friends, Woody (Billy Murray), Harris (Paul Barber), and Peck (Ian Ogilvy). They often have these therapy sessions where they all share to cope with memories of wars they fought. After Carver’s daughter, Counselor Judy (Patsy Kensit), gets a threat from drug lord Anthony Goram (Louis Mandylor), Carver decides to visit Goram’s men. However, his threat turns out to be fatal, as he is soon murdered. Detective Inspector Moore (Janine Nerissa) and Detective Collins (Paul Kennedy) inform Judy that her father has been killed. A pain-struck Judy tells Burton about it. After Carver’s funeral, Burton reaches out to Woody, Harris, and Peck, and they decide to make Goram pay for what he did. Woody, Harris, and Peck are old, and it seems very doubtful whether they will be able to take on Goram’s gang. They will need a proper plan and, along with weapons, a lot of guts. Do they have it? “Renegades” holds the answer.
The Brotherhood of War
Almost since time immemorial, we have all come to see films in which ex-military people share a bond that is just as strong as a family, if not stronger. “Renegades” is just another example of this. It’s not blood that binds the main characters but the horrors of war, something that only those who have felt it can comprehend. Carl Burton has been trying to cope with his nightmares, and we realize how much they have haunted him when he speaks about them to his new friends, Carver, Woody, Harris, and Peck. And it is clear that all four have been doing the same for a long time. It is always easy to share when you know that the people around you have been through the same things you have. As much as it is true in daily life, the same is the case with wars and even more so. This binds them together to the point where if one of them dies, it feels as if a part of them died too. This is what happens in this film with Woody, Harris, and Peck. All they needed was a spark, which came in the form of Burton, to remind them that they needed to not only get revenge for their lifelong friend but also serve once again for the good of society.
‘Renegades’ Ending Explained: Do the Renegades Get Goram?
They do. While “Renegades” has almost all of its gunfights overshadowed by the use of poor CGI, we do get to see Harris, Woody, and Peck go all-out on Goram’s men. However, it is Burton who snaps Goram’s neck. Perhaps, it is not how they do it but the fact that they do it that matters here. Woody, Harris, and Peck have served their country, retired, and are now living their lives as retirement allows them. They didn’t have any idea that they would have to bring out the remaining weapons in their arsenal to go against someone who killed their friend. Naturally, they don’t have many weapons to rely on. It is surprising to see how they kill so many men with so few guns, a couple of grenades, and a crossbow, but we take that for granted because we took the film for granted. It might have seemed more credible if we had Sanchez (Danny Trejo) on their team, but he decided to sit it out. After all, who doesn’t love Danny Trejo with guns?
At the end of the film, we see Burton, Woody, Harris, and Peck being approached by a guy named Palmer, who wants to recruit them into some kind of squad. This does lay the blueprint for a sequel to the film. Hopefully, the next part will have more of Sanchez alongside the four. The film isn’t new in any way but further stresses the connection among soldiers. The theory that the film seems to convey is that once someone has done time in the military, he or she is never able to get over it truly and not just from a horrors-of-war point-of-view but from the mentality-of-war point-of-view. Woody, Harris, and Peck make up their minds to go against a powerful drug lord without even thinking twice. Granted, they did it because their friend was murdered, but had one of them even tried to stop the others and make them consider the decision; things would have made more sense. The theory isn’t really workable because a war veteran, no matter how strong-willed he or she is, will not, in his or her senses, want to pick up a weapon, or so we have learned over the years via the media (film, interviews, and YouTube videos). This is because they know what it takes to kill a person, and it is a fact of life that soldiers may have fought in wars for their countries, but they never liked wars because no one likes death. And probably that is why World War I soldier, and poet Wilfred Owen asked in one of his famous lines in “Anthem for Doomed Youth”- Why do people toll passing bells for the armed soldiers who die like cattle on the battlefields.
Renegades is a 2022 action thriller directed by Daniel Zirilli.
