Renegades (2018)

Excellent, Without a doubt!!

Funny, strange, confrontational and subversive, this is one of the most interesting experiences you'll have at the cinema this year.

This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.

It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

Trying to find redeeming feature of this mess of a film is easy enough - some of the cinematography is excellent!. The acting, plot, and characterisation, however, are abysmal. Presumably designed as a rallying call or redemption movie with an ending so saccharine sweet as to be vomit inducing, the arrogant protagonists plan to steal ('reclaim'?) already stolen gold by stampeding through Sarajevo (or wherever - the locations get mixed up a lot) like overweight Americans deprived of fast fool for an hour who spot a McDonalds in a third world country. Unaccountably bare-fist fighting a larger number of 22 SAS 'p*****s' (seriously!! American audiences may be unfamiliar with the role of the SAS in the Balkan conflict - they are the ones that did something and died on active service...) they eventually do what the set out to do while pursued by various bad guys. Oh and they drive a tank of a bridge into a river but that's OK because they are SEALs, right? Obviously expensive to produce with some great visuals this is a film purely for Tourette's afflicted Americans who shout 'Murica' for no reason at all.

"Can you imagine what that gold could do to help my people? Will you help me get it?"There are films you can compare with a richly filled five-course dinner. First they spoil you with a tasty opener. After which a well-filled middle piece is offered. And then as an enjoyment afterwards, you're offered a delicious dessert. Satisfied you'll leave the establishment and you'll remember this treat with great pleasure. Other films are like a cozy family picnic. It's relaxed and pleasant. No extensive preparations are necessary. And when you look back on it, you think of the cosiness and life values. "Renegades" is like the McDonald's. You are served very quickly. You're eating it as quickly as possible (it's fast food, remember). And before you know it you've already forgotten what you have eaten and hungry again.There's also something positive to say about this film. The short performance of J.K. Simmons, acting in the same way as when he scolded his students as a music teacher in "Whiplash", is magnificent. And the underwater footage in the second half of the film, looks beautiful. And finally, the Bosnian girl (in real life the Dutch actress Sylvia Hoeks) is a pleasure to watch. If I had to choose between her and a nice dish filled with cevapcici, I knew what I would take. Quite obvious that she can convince a group of American Navy Seals to dive for a Nazi treasure in a lake in Bosnia. Or was it the gold bar that did it?Although this film is of the same level as that of an average television film, it's entertaining enough full of action-packed scenes and with a feel-good ending. The fragment with the tank is pure enjoyment. It looked like a modern episode of "The A-Team" with MacGyver in it for some assistance. I'm sure nobody would even know this movie if they had left out the well-known actors. But at least it would have been a little less expensive and the turnover would have been more positive. If you have a package of popcorn laying around and a little time to kill, this film is definitely worth it. But just like with the MacDonald menu, the next day you can't even remember what it was about anyway.

Great story, but the execution is just bad. You know what's going to happen, it's predictable. Give this a pass.

Terrible acting, terrible writing, terrible action scenes. Even JK Simmons couldn't save this turkey and he's one of my favorite actors. Stapleton is not good in this or anything else I've seen him in, his acting is wooden and not believeable.The actual storyline has some merit but the way it was bought to screen let it down entirely. Save yourself some time and don't watch this, it is truly awful and I feel cheated to have wasted my time on it.